Alex Wassabi has pulled out of his grudge fight with KSI after confirming that he suffered a "serious injury" in training.
The YouTube rivals were due to headline at The O2 in London on August 27 on a stacked card of influencer boxing but Wassabi, who beat KSI's brother Deji earlier this year, has been forced to withdraw.
Wassabi said on Instagram : "With all these rumours going around, there’s only 2 things that are true.
"I’ve recently suffered a serious injury and I will be back very soon. You don’t play with concussions. new fight date announcement on the way."
KSI - real name JJ Olatunji - rejected Jake Paul's offer to step in for the fight on Saturday, but says he is still on the card.
He tweeted: "I will honour my word to my fans and to my opponent because my word means something unlike yours.
"The show will go on on August 27th and you or MVP won’t have a thing to do with it. Enjoy your night out buddy @jakepaul."
KSI is preparing for his first fight since he defeated Logan Paul in their professional rematch in 2019. The rivals first met the previous year in a white-collar bout which catapulted influencer boxing into the main stream.
They paved the way for Logan's younger brother Jake to turn professional and amass a 5-0 record before he saw fights with Tommy Fury and Hasim Rahman Jr collapse earlier this month. The elder Paul brother took on Floyd Mayweather in an exhibition bout last summer and will return to the ring in December.
Should KSI reschedule his fight with Alex Wassabi? Let us know in the comments section below
KSI took time out of the ring to focus on his music career but was tempted back by the prospect of avenging his brother's defeat. Deji was outpointed by Wassabi as he lost his third fight in succession and himself faces a make-or-break bout against Fousey on his brother's undercard.
The cancellation is the latest to rock the influencer boxing scene with FaZe Temperrr looking for a replacement opoonent on the same show after rapper Blueface was pulled from the event. And last month, AnEsonGib was forced to pull out of his grudge fight with Austin McBroom when he was not passed fit to compete at a professional level.
