Xu Can, 26-years-old, is currently the only world champion from China.

The boxer from the Fuzhou, Jiangxi province, has been out of the ring since retaining the WBA's "regular" featherweight championship by winning a unanimous decision over Manny Robles in November 2019.

Xu (18-2, 3 KOs) has been waiting for a long time to get in the ring with International Boxing Federation (IBF) featherweight champion Josh Warrington (30-0, 7 KOs).

China Daily reports that a deal was close to being finalized for a February date in Warrington's hometown of Leeds.

Whether or not that fight will proceed as scheduled is up for debate, as the British Boxing Board of Control announced on Sunday that all events scheduled for January would be off due to rising cases of a COVID-19 variant in the UK.

A decision will be made in the coming weeks if events can go forward in the UK on February dates.

"I've been confused. I don't know how long to wait, because I've been waiting from the beginning of 2020 until now," Xu said to China News.

"Agents, promoters, even coaches, sometimes tell me there might be a fight, and to start preparing. After preparing, they suddenly said it cannot be done and I have to take a break.

"I'm tired of waiting; I want to be a fighting champion. Many professional fighters I know have retired and become coaches because there is really no competition during these times. Some even changed careers and got other jobs. But I have to fight. It's my job. After all, I have waited for a year for the chance to face Warrington. My next goal is a unification war."

The 30-year-old Warrington has held the IBF title since 2018, when he beat Lee Selby. He has successfully defended the belt three times.

He's been out of the ring since October of 2019, when he knocked out Sofiane Takoucht in two rounds.