Terri Harper’s first defence of her WBA light-middleweight title is off after challenger Cecilia Braekhus pulled out on the morning of the fight because of illness.

Harper, who beat fellow Briton Hannah Rankin in September last year to become world champion again, was set to take on Braekhus on the undercard of Chantelle Cameron-Katie Taylor in Dublin on Saturday night.

But the withdrawal of Braekhus means Harper will instead fight next weekend against an opponent to be confirmed on the undercard of Mauricio Lara-Leigh Wood II in Manchester, according to Matchroom.

Former undisputed world welterweight champion Braekhus said in a video message on Twitter: “I’ve just woken up this morning with flu – headache, fever, ear, nose, throat, the whole thing.

“I felt great yesterday at the weigh-in. I’m just heartbroken, gutted for Terri Harper of course. Sorry to all my fans. I still want to thank Matchroom and Terri for giving me this chance to fight her.

“I hope we can come back and do this real soon.”