Ipswich heavyweight Fabio Wardley was left high and dry after the late withdraw of his opponent for Saturday's fight night in Norwich.

Wardley had already seen one opponent pull out, but on Friday night, promoter Mervyn Turner had agreed a deal with a replacement from Manchester.

However, on Saturday morning, the replacement also pulled the plug, leaving no option but to pull Wardley – who has won all four of his pro fights – from the show - ironically on the same night as the big fight night in London which featured Dillian Whyte and Dereck Chisora – two high-profile fighters with whom the Ipswich man has regularly sparred.

'My opponent has pulled himself out of the fight and has decided on the day that he doesn't want to fight me,' wrote Wardley on Instagram. 'I am truly gutted, not just for myself but for my family and friends.'

Norwich trainer Graham Everett said: 'It will take Fabio a week or two to actually get over the disappointment. But he will go again and we will get over the disappointment.'

Clacton's Joe Hurn was also absent after suffering an injury in training, but Billy Bird, from Braintree, warmed up for his English super-welterweight middleweight title fight in Ipswich in September, with a good 60:54 win over Jordan Grannum.

However, there was disappointment for local connections when Connor Vian, a Colchester-based paratrooper, lost 58:57 to Ryan Hardy from Sheffield.