Carl Froch has suffered a television blackout, with his world title clash against Jermain Taylor failing to secure a deal with a UK broadcaster.
Froch defends his WBC super-middleweight title against American Taylor in Connecticut on 25 April.
The contest in Mashantucket will be shown live by US broadcaster Showtime.
But Froch's promotion team Hennessy Sports confirmed on Saturday that his fight with Taylor will now only be available online and not on UK TV.
Froch's promoter Mick Hennessy had been in talks with both ITV and Setanta Sports but after weeks of negotiations a deal failed to materialise, with the credit crunch and recession being blamed.
Unbeaten Nottingham fighter Froch told BBC Sport in March that he found it "laughable" that Britain's only world champion had not been able to secure broadcasting rights for the first defence of the title he won by beating Jean Pascal in December.
At the time he was still hopeful a TV deal would be struck but now fans must watch the fight online, with Hennessy Sports eager to prevent a total blackout.
The news is especially surprising when you consider that Taylor, 30, is a marquee name of the sport and a former undisputed middleweight world champion.
"Big industries, small industries are suffering and sport is no different," Froch told BBC Sport.
"The last time there was a recession was the 1930s so it's frustrating that I've become world champion at this time."
Froch, who is unbeaten in 24 fights with 19 knockouts, defeated Canadian Pascal on points in a bruising and thrilling encounter at the Nottingham Arena.
The fight was considered a British boxing classic at the time and Froch had hoped that having finally become a world champion, he would gain the recognition he felt he deserved.
But despite not being able to secure a deal with a UK broadcaster, he is confident future paydays will follow.
"I'm not in the sport for the money, I'm in it because I love it," he said.
"It's frustrating to not get the publicity and the coverage that we want. We'll be out of this hole soon and I'm confident I'll be world champion for a few years and will benefit as a later date."
Froch's bout against Taylor will be broadcast live by BBC Radio 5 Live.
Story taken from news.bbc.co.uk
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