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Steve KimESPN
The fight between WBC and IBF light heavyweight world titleholder Artur Beterbiev and contender Adam Deines scheduled for Oct. 23 in Moscow has been postponed after Beterbiev suffered a rib injury in training, Top Rank announced on Saturday night.
Beterbiev-Deines is expected to be rescheduled before the end of the year.
According to ESPN boxing analyst Mark Kriegel, who spoke to Beterbiev’s trainer, Marc Ramsey, Beterbiev was injured on Thursday during what was described as “technical sparring.”
During weight training on Friday morning, Beterbiev experienced pain that indicated it wasn’t normal soreness. An MRI on Friday revealed it was a “fracture.”
Beterbiev (15-0, 15 KOs) has not fought since he stopped former light heavyweight titlist Oleksandr Gvozdyk in a unification bout last October.
Beterbiev was scheduled to face IBF mandatory challenger Meng Fanlong in late March, but that bout was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. The fight was rescheduled, but when Fanlong ran into visa issues in his country of China, Deines (19-1-1, 10 KOs) was named his replacement.