Harpal Singh Bedi/ New Delhi
Ace pro boxer Neeraj Goyat, who met with an accident on Tuesday night resulting in severe injuries including suffered a hair line fracture on his left arm. will be out of action for some time now to recover and rehab .
The accident forced the Indian to withdraw from his fight against world champion Amir Khan next month.
Neeraj who was looking forward to his fight against Amir said in a statement , “I am really upset that this happened and I had to withdraw. I was really looking forward to fight Amir on the 12th and wanted to get back home with the much coveted pearl championship belt.”
Undeterred by his injury lay-off, the Indian Pro Boxer vowed to return to the ring much stronger. “I am recovering right now and will be in action pretty soon. I would like to apologise to my fans who had been eagerly waiting for this fight between Amir and me. I promise to return stronger and challenge Amir once again,” added Neeraj.
Speaking of the situation, Neeraj’s family feels that nothing comes above his health. “Neeraj is a fighter and will be back on his feet in no time” said Neeraj’s mother.
It was understood that Neeraj will not recover in time and be fully fit to fight Khan on the scheduled date and promoter Bill Dosanjh of Super Boxing League has moved quickly to secure Khan a new opponent in the World class former two-time World champion Billy Dib.
Meanwhile the World Boxing Council (WBC) has sanctioned the organisation’s Vacant International Welterweight title to be contested between Amir Khan and Billy Dib on Friday 12th July at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The history-making fight between British-Pakistani Khan and India’s Goyat would have been the first time the two nations had met in the boxing ring and the WBC had commissioned a special one-time Pearl Championship belt to commemorate the landmark fight.
However, with the unfortunate withdrawal of Goyat, the WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman has now given permission for the Vacant WBC International title to be on the line instead when Khan and Dib, both Two-Time World Champions, meet in the ring on fight night.
The WBC International Welterweight belt has previously been held by former pound-for-pound greats Shane Mosley and Erik Morales.
Sulaiman said, “The fight between Amir Khan and Billy Dib is now officially confirmed for the WBC International title and I’m proud that it will be contested for at the magnificent King Abdullah Sports City stadium in Jeddah. The specially commissioned WBC Pearl Championship belt that was due to be challenged for will now be contested at a future date. The winner of Khan and Dib will receive a WBC ranking in the top five of the welterweight division.”