By Elisinio Castillo

In a sudden turn of events, trainer Ismael Salas has bailed on former world champion Yuriorkis Gamboa (25-1, 17 KOs) - who returns tomorrow night in Réunion Island, which is a French department in the Indian Ocean.

Gamboa's fight will be part of a loaded show which is headlined by Alfonso Blanco defending his WBA interim-middleweight belt against hometown hero Hassan N'Dam.

Salas was expected to arrive a few days before Gamboa's scheduled clash against South African Malcom Klassen (33-6-2, 17 KO's), but it was clear on Friday that Gamboa's father Carlos would be in charge of guiding him in fight, which is his first after one year of inactivity.

"Thanks to God my father is already here with me, but Ismael will not be in my corner," Gamboa told George Ebro. "I had the support of another Cuban coach, Pedro Diaz, but my father will be the one to lead me in there."

Gamboa explains that he had to leave for France a little earlier than Salas, in order to acclimate to the environment, and then Salas was going to meet up with him on December 10.

But according to the Olympic gold medal winner - Salas demanded plane tickets for him, his wife and son - something that was rejected by the organizers of the event - who emphasized that they would only pay for a plane ticket for the coach.

Another complication arose, when photos were posted on social media that showed Gamboa training in France with Pedro Diaz - who happened to be there by chance as he's training N'Dam for the main event.

When Salas saw the photos, he refused to work any further with Gamboa and left the Cuban boxer hanging in the wind.

"Ismael was very annoyed with me and sent me a very strong message, barring me from entering his gym in Las Vegas and saying that it was better that I stay with Pedro," Gamboa explained.

"I don't think that's fair to me. I have been alone out here and Pedro has been helping me to make the weight. Thanks to him I have been able to prepare myself these days. What could I do? Pedro had offered me his hand from one Cuban to another Cuban.'

"I'm sure that there will be very good things coming up in 2017, but I can not say anything else for now. This incident has been very unfortunate with Salas, who like me is from Guantanamo. We should be together above anything."