'I even messaged him' - Ryan Farrag left 'devastated' after Marcel Braithwaite rematch collapses

While all the talk in boxing might be about Mike Tyson's controversial return to the ring, the Liverpool Olympia will play host to a huge night of action tomorrow night. The showdown between Abdul Khan and John Edwardson tops the bill; however, things could have been very different. Initially, the main event for tonight’s card was meant to be a local dust-up between Ryan Farrag and Marcel Braithwaite.

The two Scousers were meant to battle it out for the vacant IBO Inter-Continental super-flyweight title after a thrilling first encounter at the same venue back in June 2023. However, Farrag, who was beaten in the first fight between the two, will now instead be facing Adam Yahaya after Braithwaite 'disappeared' and failed to engage with the 36-year-old’s team.

“Camp has gone great, and I have just been building from the last fight really,” Farrag, who is managed by Stephen Vaughan, told Blockone Sports Boxing.

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“I had a good performance against Quaise Khademi [last time out], and it is nice to be back in the gym. It is not the fight we wanted, but it will be nice to go out and put on a performance again.”

Directly addressing the reason behind the Braithwaite fight collapsing, Farrag revealed: “He didn’t answer his phone when Ste phoned him, and if you have seen that Homer Simpson meme where he goes back into the bush, that is what I have got in my head.

“He has just disappeared. No one has heard from him. I even messaged him myself, just saying what is happening and are you taking the fight or pulling out.

“He just blanked my message and has deleted his Instagram [account]. On one side, I hope the lad is alright because I have never seen this before in boxing.

“It is a mad one, but the other side of me is just like I wanted that fight, and that first fight I had a lot of time out of the ring, and we had a great fight.

“I have been putting some serious work in recently, and I was expecting a much better performance from myself this time around. I am devastated.”

Edwardson, on the other hand, was stopped by Lewis Wood last time out, but prior to that defeat in Manchester, he had won his previous six fights, and the chance to claim the Commonwealth silver super-featherweight title now awaits him.

“When I first got offered this fight and there was no belt, they mentioned money, and I said it isn’t about the money,” he said. “If I need more money, I would just work more hours at work.

“But when they come back and say there is a belt [on the line], if I can win a belt, that is something to bring home and show the kids.

“I wouldn’t go into any fight not to win. You go into any fight wanting to win. I’ll be coming to try and mix it for the 10 rounds.”

Fellow Liverpool fighters Bryan Collins, James Heneghan, Hakeem Palmer and Ethan Brown will also feature on the card, which will be shown live on DAZN.