Liam Smith will no longer be fighting Josh Kelly on the Daniel Dubois vs Anthony Joshua undercard on September 21.

A source confirmed to BoxingScene that a virus has been forced the Liverpudlian to withdraw the middleweight bout.

The 12-round contest was set to be Smith’s first since he was knocked out by Chris Eubank Jr 12 months ago.

Replacements are now being considered for Kelly, who is still expected to feature on the card.

It is not the first time Smith has struggled with his body, having suffered a back injury before the Eubank Jr fight and proceeding to have a weight cut that he claimed ‘𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ed’ him on the night.

Liam Smith has been forced to withdraw from his fight with Josh Kelly at Wembley

Smith has not fought since he was defeated by Chris Eubank Jr last September

The fight was a rematch with Smith having won the first meeting via a fourth round TKO.

Smith will no doubt be devastated to miss out on the chance to fight at Wembley Stadium next weekend.

Joshua will challenge Dubois for his IBF heavyweight title in the main event with the latter having been upgraded from IBF interim title holder to the IBF champion.

Three other titles will be on the line in London with England’s Josh Warrington taking on Anthony Cacace for the IBF super-featherweight crown.