By Elliot Foster

Tony Dodson has been ruled out of his next fight after suffering a serious injury.

The Liverpool light-heavyweight was meant to challenge for the British title later this month but now looks set for an extended spell on the sidelines after snapping his achilles tendon.

Dodson, 35, was scheduled to put his 32-8-1 (15 KOs) ledger on the line against undefeated champion Hosea Burton (16-0, 7 KOs) at Goodison Park, exclusively live on Sky Sports.

However, their clash, which was to form part of the undercard to Tony Bellew’s showdown with South Africa’s Ilunga Makabu for the vacant WBC cruiserweight world title on May 29, has had to be canned.

“If I didn’t have bad luck, I wouldn’t have any at all,” Dodson told Boxing Scene before revealing that the injury happened on May 11 during training.

“I was sparring [ABA champion] Harry Woods in Kirkby and it happened midway through the first round.

“I went to step back to avoid a shot and felt it pop. I went straight to the doctors, who put me in a cast and told me that I needed surgery.”

‘Warrior’ Dodson is set to go under the knife at a local hospital on Thursday (May 19) and will be hoping for a TV role, working for Sky Sports on the night, after being forced to watch from the sidelines.

“People have seen me in a cast since last Wednesday, when it happened, but it’s doing my head in and I can’t be arsed with it, so I’ve taken it off until I have surgery.

“I’m gutted and devastated, but that’s life and I just hope that I can come back from it –– and if I do, I’ll need all the support I can get.”

Dodson’s challenge for the British title was due to come just 22 days after champion Burton advanced his undefeated run with a stoppage of Poland’s Michal Ludwiczak at the Manchester Arena on May 7, live on Sky Sports, as part of the undercard to Anthony Crolla’s sensational stoppage win against Ismael Barroso with which he retained the WBA lightweight crown.

‘Real Life Rocky Story’, which is the show name of Bellew’s clash with Makabu, still boasts a stellar undercard.

Sean ‘Masher’ Dodd faces Pasquale di Silvio for the vacant WBA Inter-Continental lightweight title, while Stephen Smith returns from his failed world title challenge last month in a clash for the vacant WBC Silver super-featherweight title against well-known Argentine Daniel Brizuela.

Elsewhere, Tom Farrell and Kofi Yates clash in an eliminator for the English super-lightweight title and there’s a host of local talents getting a huge opportunity to impress on the big stage in the shape of James Metcalf, Ged Carroll, Steve Brogan, Craig Glover and Scott Fitzgerald.

Meanwhile, there is action for Chester super-bantamweight Paul Economides and Merseyside heavyweight favourite David Price is back in action in his home city for the first time in almost three years.