Fans will no longer have to speculate whether Israil Madrimov will go through with two fights in a span of just nine weeks.

The former WBA junior middleweight titlist was forced to bow out of his Dec. 21 clash versus Serhii Bohachuk. A bout with bronchitis was offered as the reason for the withdrawal, as revealed by Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority.

Bohachuk (24-2, 23 knockouts) will remain on the show, headlined by the Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury Ring/unified heavyweight championship rematch in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Ring No. 6 junior middleweight will now face England’s Ishmael Davis (13-1, 6 KOs) in a scheduled 12-round contest.

“It was confirmed by doctors this evening that Israil Madrimov is suffering from acute bronchitis and has to withdraw from the Dec 21 fight with Bohachuk,” Alalshikh announced on Saturday. “British fighter Ishmael Davis will replace Madrimov, who will now rest and recover for his scheduled Feb. 22 fight with Vergil Ortiz.”

Alalshikh, the new owner of The Ring magazine and website, heads the group who has funded the ongoing Riyadh Season boxing events.

The development comes just five days after Madrimov (10-1-1, 7 KOs) was confirmed as Ortiz’s opponent on the stacked Feb. 22 show headlined by the Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol Ring/undisputed light heavyweight championship rematch, also in Riyadh. Immediate speculation surfaced as to how Madrimov, The Ring No. 2 junior middleweight, could go through with two tough matchups back-to-back in such a short period.

That speculation can come to an end, although it led to many publicly questioning the validity of Madrimov’s illness.

Nevertheless, Bohachuk keeps his fight date while Davis gets a second straight late opportunity in place of an unavailable contender. The 29-year-old Leeds native replaced former WBO 154-pound titlist Liam Smith in a middleweight bout versus Josh Kelly on the Sept. 21 Daniel Dubois-Anthony Joshua undercard. Smith dropped a competitive 12-round, majority decision on a show that marked Riyadh Season’s UK launch.

Bohachuk is also coming off a narrow defeat. He dropped a majority decision to Ortiz (22-0, 21 KOs), The Ring’s No. 5 junior middleweight, in their Aug. 10 Fight of the Year contender in Las Vegas.

Ortiz claimed the interim WBC junior middleweight title previously held by Bohachuk. He will now defend the belt versus Madrimov, who is expected to recover well enough in time to honor the February 22 fight date.