by Francisco Salazar

Looks like the welterweight bout between Nick Casal and Francisco Santana will not take place on August 15.

A source told Boxingscene.com this past weekend Casal reportedly backed out of the fight that had been agreed upon about a month ago.

The bout was to take place at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, Calif. and was to be televised on ESPN2.

No word yet if Santana will remain on the card. Since he resides about in Santa Barbara, which is about an over half hour drive to Santa Ynez, it is likely he could remain on the card.

Casal (22-4-1, 17 KOs) has not fought in almost three years, when he stopped former prospect Michael Anderson in the third round in October of 2011. He was reportedly scheduled to face Ruslan Provodnikov in the first half of 2012, but had to pull out of the bout after suffering head injuries from an attack by a group of men in his hometown of Niagara Falls, N.Y.

Santana (20-3-1, 9 KOs) is coming off his best win to date as a pro on June 6, when he defeated Eddie Gomez by unanimous decision over 10 rounds. He has won his last eight bouts in a row.

In the main event, lightweight contenders Rustam Nugaev (27-6-1, 17 KOs) and Denis Shafikov (33-1-1, 18 KOs) meet in a 12 round scrap.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. He also covers boxing for the Ventura County (CA) Star newspaper, RingTV, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing