Zsolt Erdei Out of Sept. 29 HBO Card with Rib Injury

Former light heavyweight and cruiserweight titlist Zsolt Erdei has pulled out of his September 29 HBO fight with Isaac Chilemba due to broken ribs suffered in training.

"I can't express enough how disappointed I am," said Erdei. "I wanted this fight so badly. To be honest I was so upset when this happened that I thought I would retire, but after speaking with my family and friends I have decided that I will be back. Fighting is my life and I am going to be coming back soon as possible."

Erdei (33-0, 18 KO) is a genuine sporting star in Hungary, and after a brief flirtation with retirement, signed with American promoter Lou DiBella a while back. Under DiBella, he's fought twice in smaller bouts, beating Samson Onyango in 2010 and Byron Mitchell in June 2011. He has not fought since then, and probably won't fight in 2012.

Now 38, Erdei's time for that elusive true major fight in the boxing world is running short. Frankly, it doesn't seem like it's going to happen.

The HBO card will still go ahead. The scheduled super middleweight main event with Edwin Rodriguez facing Jason Escalera is still on, as is a super bantamweight fight between Luis Orlando Del Valle and Vic Darchinyan. A third fight will be announced soon, according to the press release. It's a shame, because the two undercard fights were both a lot more interesting than the main event.