Wycombe boxer Ben Smith explained it was 'heart-wrenching' his fight at the weekend had to be cancelled due to his opponent pulling out at the last minute through injury.

Smith was billed to fight Lee Connolly in a six-round bout at the Copper Box Arena in London on the James DeGale undercard.

However, Connolly withdrew two hours before the 48-hour deadline which gave promoter, Frank Warren, the onerous task of finding a new opponent for Smith,

Unfortunately, that never materialised and Smith was left to rue a missed opportunity.

He said: "I am gutted the fight didn't go ahead. I felt in the best shape physically and mentally before any fight I had been involved in.

"It is just one of those things but it was heart-wrenching it happened right at the last minute and we couldn't find anyone else to step in.

"My camp-mate, Harvey Horn, was also fighting and to see him get a third-round stoppage was fantastic but it was also hard to take seeing him get the win with no chance of me fighting."

Despite the disappointment of missing out on his last fight in 2017, Smith said next year will definitely be his biggest yet.

He added: "We hope to get five fights scheduled before July and then later in the year have a title shot.

"I am going to have a bit of time out over Christmas then get back in the gym before a training camp to Marbella at the end of January."

"Next year is going to be massive for me and I can't wait to get going in 2018 and further my career."