SAM Gilley and Louis Greene will no longer collide for the vacant British super-welterweight title on June 7, with a lack of communication seemingly forcing their rematch to be scuppered.
The pair were supposed to lock horns at Portman Road – home of Ipswich Town Football Club – on the undercard of Fabio Wardley vs Justis Huni.
But instead, Greene, 17-4 (11 KOs), and his manager, Mark Roe, have ultimately decided to remove themselves from the contest after claiming that no contract was ever sent.
Their first encounter back in 2023 – which delivered fireworks from the opening bell – saw Gilley, 18-1 (9 KOs), emerge with a unanimous decision victory.
Then, with Greene returning to the win column following a first-round finish over Jack McGann several months later, a rematch was set to take place last October.
Gilley, however, ended up facing late replacement McGann – stopping him in the fourth round – after Greene pulled out due to an illness.
And yet, despite both fighters suffering from lengthy spells of inactivity, it appeared as though they would finally settle their score on a Queensberry Promotions show next month.
But while their mouth-watering clash was announced via social media on May 2, Greene and his team were allegedly left with no contract to sign.
“We hadn’t received any confirmation, and then Louis messaged me saying that someone had sent him a poster [for the Gilley fight], but I was still asking for a contract,” Roe told Boxing News.
“I’ve been in the sport long enough – and have seen all sorts of things happen – but the one thing I know for sure is that if it’s not in writing, it’s not happening.”
Roe eventually contacted the British Boxing Board of Control, informing General Secretary Robert Smith that the rematch with Gilley would no longer be going ahead.
Sure enough, Greene was left devastated by the situation, with his luck following a blistering outing against McGann in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, only going from bad to worse.
“I came back from Saudi thinking that all of the risks had finally paid off,” Greene recalled. “I’d given up everything to be a full-time fighter, and had in my head that I would fight three more times [last year].
“All those nights spent away from my kids, I felt like I’d finally proven to them that it was all going to be worth it.
“But my life has been on hold, I’m earning nothing, getting no answers, and I’m just watching all these people around me getting the best out of their lives.”
As of now, there has been no official confirmation regarding Gilley’s next outing, or indeed whether he will still challenge for the Lonsdale Belt.
But in a statement obtained by Boxing News, Lee Eaton, the Head of Boxing at Queensberry, wrote: “Louis Greene pulled out of the fight with four weeks to go without a reason.
“We honoured the contract and terms he was given back in October, when he signed a contract and then pulled out before the show due to illness.
“We rescheduled for June 7 and kept all the terms exactly the same, [but] now he has pulled out again. It’s nothing to do with Queensberry or anybody else.”
