A back injury has forced Australian boxer Danny Green to cancel his upcoming fight against Germany's Konni Konrad.
Green, 42, had been receiving treatment for the injury but his doctors have advised he shouldn't fight until he recovers fully, the boxer said on Saturday.
"Normally I would grit my teeth as I have done my whole career, persevering through preparation with broken noses, broken ribs, broken hands ... but there is simply too much at stake," he said in a statement.
Green was scheduled to fight Konrad, 30, at Melbourne's Hisense Arena on December 2.
The boxer sustained the injury during a sparring session earlier in November.
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He doesn't want to get into the ring with Konrad before he is ready and potentially risk a long-awaited rematch with Anthony Mundine.
"It's a risk going into any fight against a world-rated opponent, and I am not going to disrespect this great sport and the public by attempting to fight with a severe and movement-hindering injury," Green said.
