David Haye withdraws from June 29 fight vs. Manuel Charr, cites hand injury

David Haye has withdrawn from his June fight against Manuel Charr. (Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images)

Former WBA heavyweight champion David Haye announced on Tuesday that he is withdrawing from his fight in June versus Manuel Charr.

The British boxer said he injured his hand on Sunday while training and will need at least a month to rest it. Haye (26-2) was scheduled to fight Germany's Charr (23-1) June 29 in Manchester, England. It would have been only his second time fighting since losing the WBA title to Wladimir Klitschko in July 2011.

Haye, 32, said he is "absolutely gutted" to have to withdraw from the fight and apologized to Charr, according to The Sun:

"I’m absolutely gutted to have to pull out of this fight. 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."