Nate Campbell vs Juan Guzman Fight Called off as Guzman Failed to Make the Weight Limit for Lightweight Division
The much-awaited fight between WBA/IBF/WBO lightweight unified champion Nate Campbell and former two-division world champion undefeated Juan Guzman was called off on Saturday night as Guzman first failed to make the weight for lightweight limit and then, while expecting to go into the ring for a non-title fight against Campbell, Guzman pulled himself out of the bout, citing health concern. The Dominican boxer was supposed to challenge Campbell’s WBA/IBF/WBO lightweight titles at the Beau Rivage Theatre in Biloxi, Mississipi, USA on September 13, 2008. As the fight has been cancelled out, Nate Campbell still holds on to his lightweight titles.
Earlier on Friday, Juan Guzman was weighed 3.5 pounds over the lightweight limit of 135 lbs. Following the day’s weigh-in, Guzman needed to go to the hospital as he was suffering from dehydration and needed to recover fluids in his body. After that there was a speculation in the media that the former WBO super bantamweight/super featherweight champion would not be able to make the weight and his title defense against Nate Campbell would not come into existence, but it was expected that Guzman would go on as a non-title bout on Saturday night. However, even a non-title bout was not materialized at the end as Guzman pulled out of the fight.
Nate Campbell expressed his disappointment at the Guzman’s decision to pull out of the fight. The American boxer said that he had trained hard for the fight and even interested to fight against Guzman over 30 pounds. Don King, the promoter of the fight, also revealed his disappointment claiming that Joan Guzman should have fought over the weight.
Joan Guzman team said that their boxer was suffering from dehydration caused by his attempt to meet the lightweight limit and his health condition was not in a position to go on to the ring. Nate Campbell, who defeated former lightweight champion Juan Diaz, formerly undefeated, in his previous bout through a close split decision and looked pretty much confident following the reports of Guzman pulling out of the fight arrived. Campbell said that he was still world champion with all of his belts intact. He would now go back to the drawing board and train.
It is not yet confirmed if the two would face against each other in the near future or the bout would remain off. However, it is pretty much confirmed that promoter Don King has lost a good chance to make some quick cash in due to the cancellation of the fight. Showtime channel was covering the bout live, and they would also face some loses due to the pull out of Juan Guzman from the bout.
Related articles:
