MALMESBURY’S Joe Hughes has been forced to wait yet again after his British title final eliminator fight fell through.

The British Boxing Board of Control had ordered a bout between Hughes and Akeem Ennis Brown to go to purse bids, with an eye on the contest taking place in the next couple of weeks.

Now, despite making a bid for the fight themselves, team Hughes have been told to go back to the drawing board after the sport’s governing body claimed the super-lightweight did not put his bid in correctly, leading to it being dismissed.

Opponent Ennis Brown also backed out of the fight, leaving Hughes back at square one as he aims to kick-start his year.

“We put a bid in for the fight but we had heard from their side of things after we placed the bid, that he was pulling out of it,” he said.

“I don’t know why they did that, they have heir own reasons. Then the board came back and they said they hadn’t received any bids.

“My manager (Andy O’Kane) phoned them up to say we had put a bid in and they said it wasn’t put in correctly, even though we have done it like that in the past and been successful.

“I don’t really know what is happening now, it’s a bit ridiculous.”

Hughes has fought for the British strap before, when he drew with Tyrone Nurse in 2017 but since then has struggled to land another shot at the title.

After writing to the board every month since his title shot last year, the Malmesbury man admits he is disappointed to be stuck in no man’s land following his latest setback.

For the time being, the 27-year-old plans to get fit enough to take a fight elsewhere to prevent ring rust while he waits to learn his next step, acknowledging he may be forced to take a contest at late notice.

“Now they might either find me another person to box in an eliminator, they could possibly put me forward for the next shot at the title, or they could just for nothing,” he added.

“It’s a bit frustrating because nothing materialised. I just have to wait and see, I’m hoping to get a fight elsewhere in the meantime.

“My manager is on the case at the moment trying to get something sorted out for me, so fingers crossed. It’s a bit of a waiting game to be honest, as it always is.

“I’m trying to train and get fit. I’ll probably have to take something at short notice and see what happens just to get in the ring.

“It’s not ideal taking things at short notice. I’ve had a few fights on local shows but the opponents want so much money to fight me I don’t sell enough tickets to cover their purse, let alone mine.

“At the minute it costs me money to fight, unless I take something at short notice where it is a decent fight.”