JOHNNY ARMOUR’S long-awaited return to the ring has again been postponed after the Chatham fighter was struck down by the flu bug.

Armour, 36, was building up to his English bantamweight title clash with Dale Robinson, which was also been used as a British title eliminator, on December 17.

He had to call the fight off after being laid low for more than a week and he said he will now move up to super-bantamweight for his next fight instead, as he is finding it difficult to get down to the 8st 6oz bantamweight limit.

Armour hasn’t fought since losing his WBU title to Nathan Sting in July 2003, a fight for which he felt he was under-prepared, and he wasn’t about to make the same mistake again.

He said: "I’m struggling to get my weight down. I’m getting older and it’s becoming harder.

"That’s what happened when I faced Sting. It was the worst I have ever fought and I think it’s a good idea to move up to the 8st 10oz limit. I’ll be stronger and my punches will carry more power."

Armour said he would be targetting a warm-up fight before challenging for a title. The Chatham man has fought at super-bantamweight before when he faced Carlos Navarro in 1998 for the WBU title and was stopped in four rounds.

A downbeat Armour said: "I’m gutted that I’ve had to call the Robinson bout off. I had a flu jab a couple of weeks ago and then a couple of days later I was struck down with a bug my girls had picked up.

"I just can’t believe my bad luck. I was doing 10-mile runs at the weekend easily and my weight was good and I was getting into peak condition.

"I’m having to call the fight off because it’s only three weeks away and to miss a week’s training is too much. Last time I made the mistake of being under-prepared and I’m not going back into the ring unless I’m 100 per cent.

"This was my Christmas present and winning the English title would have set me up for the New Year."