David Haye has been forced to put his comeback fight with Manuel Charr on hold after suffering a hand injury in training.

The 32 year old was scheduled to face Charr at the Manchester Arena on 29 June as he looked to work his way up the rankings in order to become the mandatory challenger for Vitali Klitschko's WBC heavyweight title.

David Haye
David Haye is hoping to work his way into the mandatory position to face Vitali Klitschko. [Reuters]

But now the former WBA heavyweight champion has been forced to withdraw after injuring his hand on Sunday night.

"I'm absolutely gutted to have to pull out of this fight," said Haye. "I pick up injuries now and again in training, and sometimes carry them into fights, but this was one I simply couldn't recover from in time. I need to rest it up for at least four weeks.

"I apologise to Charr and to everybody involved with the promotion. But most of all I want to say sorry to the thousands of fans who bought tickets to the fight.

"I felt it was important to let them know about the cancellation as soon as possible, so they can now make other plans. As soon as I am told I can resume full training, my loyal fans will be the first to know."

Haye had been on a self-imposed hiatus from the ring after defeating Dereck Chisora in five rounds at Upton Park last year. He stated that he would retire from boxing unless given the chance to face one of the Klitschko brothers but he soon decided that it was too early to walk away from the sport.

The Londoner hopes that the fight can be rescheduled as victory would once again propel him into the mix for a world title opportunity and the chance to become a two time world heavyweight champion.

Having recently signed a deal to work with Matchroom Promotions, Eddie Hearn quickly took to twitter to reveal that a show would still go ahead on 29 June, but without Haye.

Hearn said: "Bear with me. The team are working on a new announcement re the Haye card. Can confirm it will go ahead on June 29...details very soon."

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