Connor Coyle forced to withdraw from title fight following hospitalisation

Connor Coyle [8(3)-0] has been forced to pull out of his title fight this Autumn.

The Derry middleweight was due to box Martez Jackson [4(2)-2(0)-2] for the ABF Continental Americas belt on Saturday October 6th in St Petersburg, Florida.

‘The Kid’ was set to headline the Fire Fist show at the Coliseum, his second in succession, but has had to withdraw due to a back injury.

28-year-old Coyle was in pre-camp in Derry before linking up with coach Jim McLoughlin in Florida but has been sidelined by a persistent problem.

Coyle had been training through back pain and inflammation and this would elevate, spreading throughout his body and hospitalising the Commonwealth bronze medalist.

It has been determined that Coyle is suffering from an inflammatory infection and he has been ruled out of activity for six weeks and therefore will be unable to fight on October 6th.

Coyle said that “I’d like to sincerely apologize to my fans for being unable to compete.”

“I’ve had no choice but to withdraw, as I’m not capable of any kind of training for the next 6 weeks until I’m back to full health.”

“This is a bump in the road and I’ll be back more motivated to focus on another fight soon.”

Fire Fist Boxing’s Jody Caliguire said that “I feel terrible about this entire situation because Connor is like a son to me.”

“This is extremely unfortunate and Connor needs to get the proper rest to ensure his body is ready whenever he decides he’s healthy enough to return to training.”

Coyle, who has impressed since turning professional and has been matched well, was due to make the step up to ten rounds for the fight.

The Foylesider has fought once this year, stopping Danny Pastrana in the sixth round of their National Boxing Association Inter-Continental title fight back in July.