Mark Jeffers has told The Ring of his disappointment that a fight with unbeaten Cuban Osleys Iglesias appears to be off.

The proposed super middleweight fight had been targeted for The Ring's third event, which takes place in New York on a July 12 card headlined by Edgar Berlanga vs. Hamzah Sheeraz. Shakur Stevenson-William Zepeda also is scheduled from the undercard.

“They offered me a fight against Iglesias. I accepted it, they accepted it, but it just seems to have fallen through unfortunately, which I’m gutted about,” Jeffers told The Ring.

On April 23, Camille Estephan of Eye of The Tiger, Iglesias’ promoter, had taken to X and posted that “Jeffers is next.”

Iglesias is searching for another opponent for the New York date.

It seems likely that Jeffers (20-0 7 KOs) will stay busy on the undercard of the vacant European 168lb title fight between Callum Simpson and Italy’s Ivan Zucco which takes place at Barnsley’s Oakwell Stadium on June 7.

“They were trying to get it for an IBF final eliminator because he's ranked number four, I think I'm number seven.”

Jeffers, a former English champion, has been calling for a big name for some time. A fight with the quality of Iglesias would have represented a major step up for the 27 year-old from Chorley, and it would've helped him prove that he, too, is capable of becoming a serious force at 168lbs.

“It’s unfortunate. Mark has accepted everybody. His time is coming, there’s no doubt about that,” Jeffers’ manager, Kevin Maree, told The Ring.

Iglesias (13-0, 12KOs) turned professional in 2019. The 27 year-old southpaw has made three defences of the IBO title he won by stopping Ukraine’s Andrii Velikovskyi in '22, but he too has been looking for a way to break out.

In early April, the IBF gave Iglesias and former European champion, Kevin Lele Sadjo, a deadline to confirm their interest in an eliminator for their belt. BoxingScene reported that representatives of Sadjo, ranked No. 3 by the IBF, and Russia’s Vladimir Shishkin who sits atop the governing body’s ratings, took issue with that decision and challenged the ruling.

Jeffers would have loved to have leapt the queue, but facing Iglesias would have given him the type of challenge and platform he has craved regardless of title implications.

“Everyone's avoiding him. I was like, ‘I'll fight him, no problem.’ People say it's a massive step up but, honestly, you only step up when you fight these people so that's exactly what I want. Unfortunately, it looks like that's not happening,” he said.

“I can remember them saying that about Jack Catterall when he fought Josh Taylor. ‘He’s never boxed that level before’ Well, that's not his fault. He can only fight at that level when he fights them and look what he did.

“It was a bit of a sickener when I found out it wasn’t coming off. Everything was pretty much done. They sent the offer through, we accepted it and they were up for it. I just don’t know how it didn’t come off in the end.”

Instead, it seems likely that Jeffers (20-0 7 KOs) will stay busy on the undercard of the vacant European 168lb title fight between Callum Simpson and Italy’s Ivan Zucco, which takes place at Barnsley’s Oakwell Stadium on June 7.

“They offered me a fight against Iglesias. I accepted it, they accepted it, but it just seems to have fallen through unfortunately, which I’m gutted about,” Jeffers told The Ring.

“They were trying to get it for an IBF final eliminator because he's ranked number four, I think I'm number seven.”

Former English champion, Jeffers, has been calling for a big name for some time and although a fight with the quality Iglesias would have represented a major step up in quality for the 27 year-old from Chorley, it would also have given him long awaited opportunity to prove that he too is capable of becoming a serious force at 168lbs.

“It’s unfortunate. Mark has accepted everybody. His time is coming, there’s no doubt about that,” Jeffers’ manager, Kevin Maree, told The Ring.

Iglesias (13-0, 12KOs) turned professional back in 2019 and has strung together 13 consecutive wins. The 27 year-old southpaw has made three defences of the IBO title he won by stopping Ukraine’s Andrii Velikovskyi in 2022 but he too has been looking for a way to break out.

In early April, the IBF gave Iglesias and former European champion, Kevin Lele Sadjo, a deadline to confirm their interest in an eliminator for their title belt. BoxingScene reported that epresentatives of Sadjo - ranked at number three by the IBF - and Russia’s Vladimir Shishkin - who sits atop the governing body’s ratings - took issue with that decision and challenged the ruling.

Jeffers would have loved to have leapt the queue but facing the talented Cuban southpaw would have given him the type of challenge and platform he has craved regardless of any title implications.

“Everyone's avoiding him. I was like, ‘I'll fight him, no problem.’ People say it's a massive step up but, honestly, you only step up when you fight these people so that's exactly what I want. Unfortunately, it looks like that's not happening,” he said.

“I can remember them saying that about Jack Catterall when he fought Josh Taylor. ‘He’s never boxed that level before’ Well, that's not his fault. He can only fight at that level when he fights them and look what he did.

“It was a bit of a sickener when I found out it wasn’t coming off. Everything was pretty much done. They sent the offer through, we accepted it and they were up for it. I just don’t know how it didn’t come off in the end.”