A spider has put an end to Joseph Parker’s hopes of beating Dereck Chisora on October 26 in London.

It was the one outcome nobody saw coming, much less predicted, but it’s true.

Due to an illness resulting from a spider bite, Parker will be unable to meet Chisora in what many deemed a 50/50 battle of contenders and now a flurry of other heavyweights are racing to form a disorderly queue, waiting for the call from promoter Eddie Hearn, the man whose job it is to keep a Sky Sports Box Office pay-per-view intact.