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Liam Smith has been out of action since falling to Chrus Eubank Jr last September

Liam Smith’s body has once again failed him, though thankfully he’s actually withdrawing this time. BoxingScene reports that the 36-year-old is out of next week’s domestic clash with Josh Kelly after coming down with a virus.

Smith (33-4-1, 20 KO) hasn’t fought since his drubbing at the hands of Chris Eubank Jr in last September’s rematch, a defeat he attributed to rolling his ankle mid-fight and a back injury during training that compromised his weight cut. He’d previously delayed the rematch due to an undisclosed “minor” injury.

The wheels seem to have well and truly fallen off for “Beefy,” though it wouldn’t surprise me terribly to see Matchroom attempt to re-book this matchup. As for Kelly (15-1-1, 8 KO), he’ll reportedly stay on the card against a late replacement.

The September 21st Wembley edition of Riyadh Season sees Daniel Dubois defend his IBF heavyweight title against Anthony Joshua, Anthony Cacace make his first super featherweight title defense against Josh Warrington, and Willy Hutchinson challenge Joshua Buatsi for the interim WBO light heavyweight belt.

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