By Rick Reeno
The ring battle never happened. The legal battle has yet to begin, but it will. The aftermath of last Saturday's nixed bout between WBA/WBO/IBF lightweight champ Nate Campbell and Joan Guzman has left a lot of angry people and post-event courtroom battles are in the future.
It all began when Guzman failed to make the lightweight limit last Friday at the Beau Rivage Resort and Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi, hitting the scales at 138.5-pounds. He was given two-hours to shed off additional weight, but he never returned to weigh-in for a second time. The following day, Guzman elected not to fight with only a few hours to go before fight time, advising a member of the Mississippi State Athletic Commission that he was too dehydrated.
Campbell's co-promoter, Terry Trekas, tells BoxingScene.com that someone has got to pay.
"Nate is out $400,000 dollars. All of this stuff going around about Guzman not being medically cleared to fight is bullsh*t," Trekas said. "I was told by by the Mississippi State Athletic Commission that Guzman will be placed on an administrative suspension, not a medical suspension. The reason he won't be on a medical suspension is because a doctor cleared him and he still refused to fight. After the doctor cleared him, the Mississippi State Athletic Commission explained the consequences to him and he still refused."
As Jon Lewis (head of the Mississippi State Athletic Commission) would tell BoxingScene earlier, Guzman could only be fined a max of $500.00 dollars, something that Trekas is actually happy about.
"I'm not upset over that. If the state hits him with a $250,000 dollar fine and we took him to court and won a judgement, the money owed to the state would take precedence over the money owed on the judgement," Trekas said.
As far as Campbell, his next fight will probably come against his IBF mandatory, Ali Funeka.
