By Elliot Foster

Chris Eubank Jr. is out of his next fight.

The Brighton middleweight (23-1, 18 KOs) had been set to defend his British title next month, exclusively live on BoxNation.

Eubank Jr. was scheduled to box former WBO Inter-Continental champion Tommy Langford (17-0, 6 KOs) over 12 rounds for the belt on October 22 at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales.

But the fight, which would have been Eubank Jr.’s first since the ill-fated clash with Nick Blackwell in March, has now been canned after the second generation suffered what has been described as “a severe injury” when he was “sparring against a 14-stone opponent two days ago.”

The injury, which is to his elbow and “has been a recurring issue for the last 18 months”, was assessed by a British Boxing Board of Control-affiliated doctor and confirmed, meaning that Eubank Jr. would be out of the clash with Langford, which was set to co-headline a Frank Warren-promoted bill alongside Liam Williams’ British super-welterweight title defence against Ahmet Patterson.

As a result, the British title has been declared vacant and the release by the Eubanks says that the Board were notified on September 16 (Friday).

“As much as we love the tradition of the British championship,” the statement said, “we will be forward thinking and be protective of our competition as the risk to them is real.

“This is seen as a positive move forward in Chris Eubank Jnr’s career.”

The team, who say that details of a press conference will be revealed in due course, says it will “use the injury as an opportunity to step aside and fight high calibre world competition in the coming future.”

Tommy Langford is now expected to face the next available contender for the vacant belt.

Matchmaker Jason McClory of Queensberry Promotions has confirmed via social media that he will remain on the Cardiff show.