Groupe Yvon Michel (GYM) and InterBox, will cancel the May 25 undercard to the Lucian Bute-Jean Pascal showdown that had to be postponed when Bute suffered an injury to his left hand, the Canadian promoters announced on Wednesday.

The card was to take place at Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and would have been part of a split-site HBO broadcast that included the rematch between Mikkel Kessler and Carl Froch that takes place in London on May 25.

“After internal discussions, InterBox and Groupe Yvon Michel (GYM) have jointly decided against promoting a boxing event on Saturday, May 25, at the Montreal Bell Centre,” read the statement, “preferring to wait until Lucian Bute recovers from surgery to his hand. HBO has confirmed interest in broadcasting the Bute vs. Pascal bout when the new date is known.”

Although Kessler-Froch II will still air on HBO (in the U.S.), it is not known if it will still be broadcast live in parts of Canada now that Bute-Pascal has been postponed without any Quebec card taking place on May 25. 

“InterBox holds the rights to Canada of the May 25 IBF and WBA World super middleweight titles unification bout between Carl Froch and Mikkel Kessler,” the statement read, “and will announce shortly its intentions regarding broadcast throughout Quebec.”

Bute, a former IBF super middleweight beltholder, will undergo surgery this week to remove bone fragments from his hand and recovery is anticipated to take a few weeks, according to the press release.

Pascal (27-2-1, 16 knockouts), a former RING/WBC light heavyweight champ, is coming off a unanimous decision triumph over Aleksy Kuziemski last December that helped him to rebound from the unanimous decision loss to Bernard Hopkins in May of 2011.

Bute (31-1, 24 KOs) is coming off a unanimous decision victory over previously unbeaten Denis Grachev last November, which helped him to rebound from last May’s fifth-round knockout loss to Froch that dethroned him as IBF titleholder.

The promoters will now focus on a June 8 clash of southpaws featuring RING and WBC 175-pound champion Chad Dawson against hammer-fisted super middleweight contender Adonis “Superman” Stevenson on HBO from Bell Centre in Montreal, which is co-promoted by Gary Shaw Productions.

“Certain undercard bouts signed for May 25th will be presented on the June 8th card. More details to follow shortly,” the statement read.

All tickets already purchased for the Bute vs. Pascal Gala will be honored by the Bell Centre for the rescheduled date.

Lem Satterfield can be reached at [email protected]