By Elliot Foster

Steve Wood has insisted that his fighter will be fit enough to fight for the world title in early spring.

The Manchester-based manager looks after WBO lightweight champion Terry Flanagan, but is sure that his man will be able to make the rescheduled March 12 date for his next title defence, exclusively live on BoxNation.

Flanagan (29-0, 12 KOs), 26, was forced out of his all-North West showdown against 32-year-old Liverpudlian Derry Mathews (38-9-2, 20 KOs) with severe tendonitis in his left foot.

The fight, which is being billed ‘A Tale of Two Cities’, has been pushed back from its original February 13 date and Wood is confident that ‘Turbo’ will be fit to fight at the ECHO Arena in his rival’s backyard.

“[The injury] wasn’t much,” Wood exclusively informed Boxing Scene in a recent chat, “but it was just a niggle that needed a couple of weeks to settle down and we needed to make sure [Flanagan would] be 100 percent because he hasn’t trained for the past couple of weeks.

“I don’t think it’ll be a problem,” he continued. “Flanagan will be right as rain for the new date, which is what it is. It’s not a big deal, the fight has just been put back four weeks.”

Wood’s response about the withdrawal of his man comes after Mathews called into question the legitimacy of the injury claims from Flanagan and said that the Ancoats former Prizefighter winner pulled out of the fight because “he knows he’s in deep water.”

Tickets purchased for Flanagan-Mathews, plus a full supporting undercard, with the original date printed on will be valid for use on the new date.