The EBU have officially ordered Shakan Pitters vs. Bradley Rea for the vacant European light-heavyweight title after stripping Daniel Blenda Dos Santos of the belt.

Pitters (20-2, 7 KOs) was first scheduled to fight for Euro honours back in February but then-champion Dos Santos had to pull out of the bout on fight week after failing a brain scan.

The fight was rescheduled for April 4 at York Hall but this time it was Pitters to be removed from the contest on fight week after suffering a chest injury, leaving Rea (20-1, 10 KOs) to step in and fight Dos Santos (22-1, 10 KOs).

Hours before Dos Santos and Rea were due in the ring for their main event clash, however, the Frenchman fell ill and pulled out too.

With two pull-outs in as many months and uncertainty surrounding his health, the EBU have decided to strip Dos Santos of their 175-pound title.

Pitters and Rea have now been ordered to fight for the vacant strap on a show which is set to be promoted by Izzy Asif's GBM Sports on a date yet to be determined.

It's good news for both men, who have faced a combined four postponements in 2025 so far.

Rea was also supposed to feature on the Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol undercard in Riyadh on February 22, but his opponent Constantino Nanga injured himself two weeks before the fight.

Pitters was last in action on February 7, knocking out Bahadur Karami in two rounds after his fight with Dos Santos fell through.

Rea has spent two years rebuilding himself, fighting on small hall shows and growing into a light-heavyweight frame since losing an English middleweight title fight to Tyler Denny by unanimous decision at the end of 2022, winning six times since then.