KEIGHLEY boxer Muhammad Ali's eye injury has forced the cancellation of tomorrow night’s scheduled showdown with Otley's Jack Bateson.

Ali had been due to take on his West Yorkshire rival for the GB flyweight slot in a sell-out headline clash in Sheffield as part of the Great Britain Boxing Championships.

But the cut on his left eye – sustained at the World Championships in Doha in October – has not healed in time and doctors have advised him not to fight.

Bateson will now box Ionita Alexandru, of Romania, in an international exhibition bout.