Arnfield to miss July Winter Gardens show

He had been due to headline the show, but has withdrawn as he does not want anything to jeopardise his up-coming British middleweight title challenge against Tommy Langford, which is likely to take place in the autumn.

The Winter Gardens promotion will still take place, but without the main attraction.

Arnfield wants nothing that would risk his second challenge for the Lord Lonsdale Belt.

The Blackpool boxer said: "I would love to have fought in front of my home fans.

"Originally, I had been due to fight an eliminator on the bill at the Winter Gardens, but since then I heard that I had got a direct shot at the title against Langford and I didn't see the point of just having a ticking-over kind of fight in Blackpool.

"Steve Woods (promoter/manager) is happy with that.."

Another factor is that Arnfield is due to marry his fiancee Laura Betts on July 29.

Arnfield is hoping to make it a happy year all round by winning a British title as well.

He said: "I happen to be a big fan of Tommy Langford as a boxer - I like his style.

"We are quite similar in style - it's just the fact that I do everything better than he does."