Martyn Ford has revealed his frustration at giving up six months of his life to prepare for his ill-fated clash with Iranian Hulk.
The British star was scheduled to make his boxing debut against his rival - real name Sajad Gharibi - in London. However, having already been rescheduled, the planned April 30 meeting has now been shelved for as-yet undisclosed reasons.
Ford has now revealed his frustration at the postponement of the event. "I've given six months of my life and feel extremely frustrated to be in this position," Ford told Mirror Fighting after the fight was postponed. During his video statement, Ford appeared to suggest his rival was to blame for the late-notice cancellation of the event.
However the British star was keen to point out some of the fights which remain on the card including ex-footballer Patrice Evra's meeting with Adam Saleh. He also plans to find a new opponent next amid uncertainty surrounding his immediate future. "This is a statement I didn't want to have to release but my fight is going to be postponed," he told fans on Instagram.
"The event is still going to take place and there is some great people and some great fights on. But unfortunately my fight will not be one of them due to reasons out of my control. It doesn't take a genius to figure them all out, I don't want to talk about it, too much time and energy has been wasted.
"I am still here and I am still training hard, but there will be a debut and there will be a fight. I am just not 100 per cent sure who or when and why?"A series of concerning messages had initially cast doubts over the pair meeting in the ring, with Gharibi even claiming he had no coach ahead of the looming showdown.
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The pair came to blows in Dubai during a heated face-off before Ford questioned his rival's intentions to step in the ring publicly. Ford faced defiant responses from the Iranian star who even claimed he had made a significant weight loss for the fight.
An Iranian TV interview later showed Gharibi bursting into tears after revealing he had been disowned by his parents. After the fight was cancelled, fans now believe that Ford should pursue a bout against strongman Thor Bjornsson after the Icelandic star defeated Eddie Hall.
Bjornsson previously claimed that Ford would have needed to gain a victory in the ring before any fight could be brought into discussion. "In my opinion, Martyn Ford or Mariusz Pudzianowski make the most sense," Bjornsson said. "Martyn Ford is supposed to be fighting end of April. He obviously has to win his fight for me to consider fighting him."
