By Francisco Salazar

It was supposed to be a world title elimination bout between two unbeaten welterweight contenders. Instead, it is a showcase featuring one of the two fighters.

Carlos Ocampo will face Dario Ferman tonight, Zanfer Promotions matchmaker and liaison Sean Gibbons advised BoxingScene.com Friday afternoon.

The 10 round bout will take place at the Gimnasio Rodrigo M. Quevedo in Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Mexico. The fight will top a live Azteca TV telecast throughout Mexico and will air in the United States on beIN Sports en Espanol (11 p.m. ET/ 8 p.m. PT).

Ocampo (21-0, 12 knockouts) was penciled to face Konstantin Ponomarev in an IBF title elimination bout. Ocampo and Ponomarez are ranked number three and four by the IBF, respectively.

Ocampo is also ranked number 11 by the WBO.

Several rumors floated about as to why Ponomarev, who is originally from Russia, and his team decided not to travel to Mexico to face Ocampo, which would likely have been a compelling fight between two unbeaten fighters. Ponomarev's co-promoter had stated that they wanted to have trainer Abel Sanchez in the boxer's corner, but he was already working a different fight in California and they also felt Ocampo had too much of a home-field advantage.

In his last bout on Jan. 14, Ocampo, who resides in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, won a one-sided 10 round decision over Daniel Echeverria.

Ferman won his first 13 bouts as a row, but has lost three of his last four, two of them by knockout. In his last bout on Sept. 8, Ferman lost a six round unanimous decision to Julian Rodriguez.

The 33-year-old Ferman, who resides in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, made his pro debut at the age of 29 in May of 2013.

In the co-feature, Jose Quirino Jr. (15-2-2, 6 KOs) will square off against Victor Emanuel Olivo (14-1-1, 6 KOs) in a junior bantamweight bout.

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