by David P. Greisman
Welterweight boxer Ray Robinson has been injured in a motor vehicle crash, leaving him off a Jan. 30 show in Montreal and leaving promoter Main Events looking for another foe to face its 147-pound prospect, Dmitry Mikhaylenko, on HBO.
Robinson’s injury was first reported by Dan Rafael of ESPN.com. “Robinson hurt his back when his car was rear-ended after he left the gym following a training session this past Tuesday,” Rafael wrote.
The Mikhaylenko-Robinson fight was to be the televised co-feature to a main event rematch between light heavyweight titleholder Sergey Kovalev and former champion Jean Pascal.
Kathy Duva of Main Events told BoxingScene.com that matchmaker Jolene Mizzone "is working hard to find a suitable replacement" for Robinson that would allow the Mikhaylenko fight to remain as part of the broadcast.
It’s an unfortunate turn of events for Robinson, who lost back-to-back fights to Brad Solomon in 2009 and Shawn Porter in 2010, only to put together nine consecutive victories since then. He is 20-2 with 9 KOs.
Mikhaylenko is 20-0 with 9 KOs and is coming off an August technical knockout of Johan Perez.
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