The undefeated 29 year-old light-welterweight sustained a hand injury in his successful defence of his British title against Dean Harrison in March and he exacerbated the ailment in training last week.

The three time Irish amateur champion is devasted, however he remains confident that his chance will come again.

“It’s an old hand injury and I wouldn’t go into the ring against M’Baye unless I was 100 per cent fit. I’m very confident I’ll beat him whenever the fight is. I’ll have to see if he comes through at the weekend. It’s a pity I couldn’t just fight him now but I just have to be patient.

“I talked about it with my trainer John Breen for a day or two and we decided the wisest thing to do would be to not take any sort of chance in such an important fight.

“I know when I get the chance I’ll be European champion and that will open the door to the big time.”

Londoner, Colin Lynes looks likely to be drafted in to face M’Baye on Friday night with the winner mandated to defend against McCloskey sometime around September or October.