Andrew Cancio’s Top Rank debut has been delayed yet again.
BoxingScene.com has been informed that Cancio’s 10-round, 131-pound fight against Saul Rodriguez has been scratched from Top Rank’s ESPN+ show September 12 in Las Vegas. Cancio, a former WBA super featherweight champion, and Rodriguez couldn’t come to a financial agreement for a bout that was supposed to be part of the Egidijus Kavaliauskas-Mikael Zewski undercard at MGM Grand Conference Center.
Cancio (21-5-2, 16 KOs) signed a multi-fight contract with Bob Arum’s promotional company in January, but he still has not fought on a Top Rank card. He was supposed to fight April 25 and then July 16, but the April 25 card was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and his July 16 fight failed to materialize due to various issues related to securing his opponent.
Golden Boy Promotions terminated Cancio’s contract after he lost his WBA 130-pound title to Rene Alvarado in their rematch November 23 in Indio, California. Cancio, who works a full-time job operating a jackhammer for Southern California Gas Company, has not boxed since he lost to Nicaragua’s Alvarado (32-8, 21 KOs).
The 31-year-old Cancio, of Ventura, California, upset previously unbeaten Alberto Machado by fourth-round knockout to win the title in February 2019 in Indio. Cancio knocked out Puerto Rico’s Machado (22-2, 18 KOs) in the third round of their immediate rematch to retain that title in June 2019.
The 27-year-old Rodriguez (24-1-1, 18 KOs), of Riverside, California, had hoped to re-establish himself by beating Cancio. Once considered a top prospect, Rodriguez suffered a third-round knockout defeat to Miguel Gonzalez (25-4, 22 KOs) in June 2019 in Temecula, California.
The Kavaliauskas-Zewski card was officially announced Wednesday.
Lithuania’s Kavaliauskas (21-1-1, 17 KOs) will fight for the first time since WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford (36-0, 27 KOs) stopped him in the ninth round December 14 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Quebec’s Zewski (34-1, 23 KOs) has won eight straight fights since Russia’s Konstantin Ponomarev (34-2, 13 KOs) beat him by 10-round unanimous decision in December 2015 in Las Vegas.
In the co-feature September 12, Colombian contender Miguel Marriaga (29-3, 25 KOs) and Joet Gonzalez (23-1, 14 KOs), of Glendora, California, will meet in a 10-round featherweight fight.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.