JOE Hughes says that he’ll have to stay streetwise in the gym after his IBO international super-lightweight title defence was postponed.

The 24-year-old was due to defend his international strap against Georgian Mikheil Avakyan at the Bath Pavilion on Saturday but the weekend’s bill, which was being promoted by Hughes’ trainer and manager Andy O’Kane and Trowbridge’s Contender Gym, has been delayed until July 18 after a number of undercard bouts fell through.

Malmesbury man Hughes (11-1) now has to bide his time for an extra five weeks before taking on Avakyan (29-19-4) whilst also attempting to finalise his shot at the English title.

Purse bids for a clash between Wiltshire’s mandatory challenger and current holder Tommy Martin (11-0) were due in this week and Hughes insists he will resist any temptation to pull out of his IBO defence.

“Tommy Martin is fighting in Liverpool on June 26 and I said to him that I’d come up and fight him then but I don’t think his promoters, Matchroom, wanted it – I think he did though,” said Hughes.

“I’m mandatory, so he can’t fight anyone else for it, but I don’t think it will happen until September.

“I could pull out (of fighting Avakyan) but like I’ve always said, I want to stay active. If I lose my IBO belt, I wouldn’t be able to fight for the English but that’s not my plan.

“It is frustrating that the show got cancelled because I’ve felt ready for the last three weeks. But that’s the way it is and I’ve just got to be smart now.

“I’ve had a little bit of time out of the gym because I can’t overdo it. But I’m sure the next few weeks will fly by.”

Hughes got his hands on his IBO title when he stopped Georgia’s Jaba Shalutashvili in Bristol on April 18.