Louis Greene should have been fighting for a British and Commonwealth title this weekend - but instead finds himself left out in the cold.

Greene had been hoping for a much-anticipated rematch against Sam Gilley, after losing out in their first title fight for the commonwealth super welterweight belt in October 2023, an epic that was named Contest-of-the-Year at the British Boxing Board of Control Awards.

The rematch was due to take place last October, but Greene had to pull out due to illness.

In between those dates, Greene produced a stunning first-round stoppage to beat Jack McGann at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh in March last year.

Greene vs Gilley 2 was still on the cards, and the ‘Medway Mauler’ was bang up for the rematch but the wait for a confirmed date went on, with life on hold for the Strood boxer who was getting increasingly frustrated.

Greene’s dad and trainer, John claimed they repeatedly asked for information from their expected opponent’s promoters Queensberry but said they were “fobbed off”.

The first time they had an idea of a date for the rescheduled rematch was when they saw a promotional poster on their rival’s social media account advertising a June 7 clash.

Despite a date being announced, the Greene camp said that no new contract was produced, and manager Mark Roe told Boxing News: “I’ve been in the sport long enough – and have seen all sorts of things happen – but the one thing I know for sure is that if it’s not in writing, it’s not happening.”

Queensberry’s head of boxing Lee Eaton claimed that Greene had pulled out of the June 7 fight “without a reason” and that a contract from the rescheduled event in October “kept all the terms exactly the same.”

Greene’s team still needed a fresh contract, with a new date and venue, to sign.

It’s a saga that’s left the Medway boxer and his team exasperated - especially after having experienced the highs of their win in Saudi with so many eyes on that fight.

Greene said his life “has been put on hold” and with nothing still in writing, his team eventually gave up on facing Gilley this weekend, .

Gilley will now fight Chatham’s Gideon Jonas (7-5) in an eight-round contest at Portman Road this Saturday – on the undercard of Fabio Wardley vs Justis Huni – to keep himself ticking over while Greene remains in limbo.

It’s now 15 months since that win in Saudi.

Dad and trainer John said: “Lou is a former Commonwealth champion himself, he’s boxed all around the world and taken on anyone, anywhere, with some great knockouts, and he deserves a bit more respect.

“We came back from Saudi last year on a high but everything’s been on hold. Lou had to cancel a family holiday to see his best mate get married in Cyprus and couldn’t attend my stepson’s stag do - he’s just been left sitting on the shelf.

“He’s been pulling his hair out and getting stressed about it – and there was still no contract.

“Lou’s an exciting fighter, he’s never any trouble to deal with, we don’t make rash demands. He got ill in October but since then we’ve been back in the same position, waiting for a date. We finally get the date but then we can’t get a contract and you think, ‘What’s going on?’

“We’ve been banging our heads against the wall, wondering what to do. It’s all been very odd.

“Lou is blameless in all of this. He has earned his stripes, he’s trained his heart out, been sparring all over the place and if he had a contract then this Saturday he would have been in there. It would have been a cracking fight and we would have been 100% confident as well.

“We’ll now get this weekend out of the way and once the dust is settled we can look to see what the future holds.”