Rob Norton and Herbie Hide is off

The British cruiserweight title bout between Rob Norton and Herbie Hide is off – and Dean Harrison's West Midlands derby with Frankie Gavin is also on hold.

Hide, who asked to challenge champion Norton, has lined up an eliminator for the WBC world title, where he is still highly ranked by the organisation's governing body.

It leaves Stourbridge's Norton struggling to find an opponent for what he hopes will be the final defence of his crown, as he needs to beat one more challenger to claim a Lonsdale belt outright.

Twice, the champion has put the belt up against David Dolan, fighting to a points win and then a draw, which opened the possibility of a third meeting between the two.

That was shot to bits when Dolan was beaten for the English title by Terry Dunstan last month, putting Dunstan ahead of him in the queue for a shot at the British title.

Then there's Jon-Lewis Dickinson, who shot into contention after winning the cruiserweight Prizefighter last April.

But, since then, Dickinson has lost two fights in a row and has been pulled out on two occasions, first with a badly swollen eye and then a broken jaw.

The lack of a clear contender continues to pose a headache for Norton who, at age 38, wants to establish his legacy before hanging up his gloves.

Another long waited fight for the West Midlands, the derby showdown between Wolverhampton's Harrison and Birmingham's Gavin, is also unlikely to take place before April.

Gavin, England's only world amateur champion, will instead next be in action on February 19 at London's York Hall, where he will box an eight rounder.

Commonwealth light heavyweight champion Tony Bellew is expected to top the bill, but it won't be Harrison and Gavin in chief support.

Promoter Frank Warren is adamant the two will only meet in a title fight and wants 'Funtime' Frankie – who last fought in September – to get back into the swing of things with a warm up first.

Harrison could also take another fight in the meantime, after spending the best part of the last four months training without ever getting into the ring.

'Deano' is known to want a rematch with Scott Haywood, who beat him for the English title in a contentious points call in September 2008.

Haywood, from the Frank Maloney camp of fighters, hasn't boxed himself since last July and should be looking for a big fight as his next move.

And Wolverhampton's Steve Saville will not fight on February 28 as part of a Pat Cowdell-promoted dinner show at Birmingham's Holiday Inn as planned.

The former Midlands lightweight champion, who lost his title in December, is planning to return to the ring in April.