The bout between Shabaz Masoud vs Jose Sanmartin due to take place on the undercard of Jack Catterall vs Jorge Linares has been cancelled. Masoud successfully completed his weigh-in on Friday alongside his opponent, but his promoter Matchroom Boxing later took to Twitter/X to confirm the fight had been cancelled. Matchroom Boxing cited ‘illness’ as the reason behind Masoud’s withdrawal. Masoud later added on Twitter that “Health comes first”, and that his coaches and family had withdrawn him as his health is nowhere near 100 percent.
The cancellation of the bout is a blow to Shabaz Masoud, who has failed to compete in 2023. Masoud scored a significant victory of the undercard of Sunny Edwards vs Felix Alvarado in November 2022 when he stopped Jack Bateson via TKO in the 12th round. Masoud’s star rose that night as he captured the WBA Inter-Continental Super Bantamweight Championship, as well as scoring the only two knockdowns on the entire card to leave a lasting impression. But Masoud has failed to compete since November 2022.
The cancellation of the bout is the second to occur this week, as rival promoters Boxxer lost their main event between Joshua Buatsi vs Dan Azeez when Dan Azeez picked up a back injury. That show is now continuing at the smaller York Hall, with Mikael Lawal vs Isaac Chamberlain now the headline act of a 4 fight show. You can read more on that story here