05.01.08 Kevin Mitchell gutted...

British super-featherweight champion Carl Johanneson has pulled out of his fight with Commonwealth king Kevin Mitchell with a bad back.

The Yorkshireman picked up the injury during training for the much-anticipated contest, which was set to take place on January 12 at York Hall, Bethnal Green.

Instead Mitchell will now defend his Commonwealth crown against Ghanaian Thomas Aryeetey, the West African and Ghanaian super-featherweight champion who boasts an 11-1 (2) record.

A quality undercard, which includes a fight between Takaloo and Anthony Small for the vacant Southern Area light-middleweight crown, remains unchanged.

Aryeetey is on the list of mandatory challengers drawn up by Commonwealth boxing officials, and went 12 rounds in August when he won his two titles in Accra, Ghana.

"I'm absolutely devastated by Johanneson pulling out," said 23-year-old Mitchell, 24-0 (17). "I trained long and hard for the fight and sacrificed my Christmas.

"But there's no point moping about. I have to refocus on Aryeetey straight away because at this stage of my career I can't afford any slip ups.

"I've already fought another Ghanaian, George Ashie, and he gave me a tough night, so there will be no cutting corners.

"Hopefully I'll fight Johanneson later this year and add the British title to my Commonwealth crown. It's always been my dream to win British, Commonwealth, European and world titles."

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