By Elliot Foster

Steve Wood has expressed his displeasure after it was revealed that one of his fighters was kicked off a free-to-air boxing card.

Colne welterweight Shayne Singleton (21-1, 7 KOs) was set to take on John O’Donnell (30-2, 11 KOs) at the O2 Arena this weekend, live and exclusive on Dave.

Singleton and O’Donnell were brought in at late notice to clash in the chief supporting contest to David Haye’s return against Mark de Mori on Saturday (January 16) after Billy Dib against Jamie Speight, which was originally named as the second-in-command showdown, was axed due to injury suffered to Dib.

But the Singleton-O’Donnell fight, which was set as a British welterweight title eliminator, was scuppered yesterday after it was confirmed that the Galway-born Londoner had pulled out.

Singleton’s manager and promoter, the aforementioned Wood, spoke about him being in negotiations to keep the 26-year-old on the bill after fans had purchased hotels, travel and tickets for the show.

However, it has now emerged that Singleton will have to wait before his next ring appearance after David Haye and his people refused him a fight on the card.

“We offered to do a six-rounder and they flat-out refused it,” Wood told Boxing Scene.

“It would have been nice for David Haye and his team to have been honourable people and kept him on the show, but it's disappointing that it hasn’t worked out.

“Once we’ve worked out what’s happening, we’ll announce something."