Scott Quigg Apologetic For Failing To Make Weight For Valdez
By Elliot Foster
Scott Quigg has failed to make weight for his fight with WBO featherweight champion Oscar Valdez.
The Englishman came in nearly three pounds over the nine-stone limit for his clash with Valdez at the StubHub Center in California on Saturday.
The fight will still go ahead, but the 29-year-old challenger –– a former holder of the WBA Super title a division south at super-bantamweight cannot claim the Mexican's crown if he hands him the first pro loss of his career.
Quigg came to the scales and weighed in 2.8 pounds over the 126lb limit, while Valdez tipped the scales at 125.8lbs for their ESPN-aired clash.
Should Quigg win the fight, the title will be declared vacant, but Valdez will remain champion with a victory.
The California State Athletic Commission –– which has fined Quigg 20 percent of his purse, with half of the sanction going to the champion and half to the Commission itself –– stated that the challenger, under its rules, was unable to attempt to strip any more weight off due to being more than two pounds over the championship limit.
This was Quigg’s big chance to shine, his US debut, too, and it now represents a missed opportunity on one of the grandest stages of all –– not to mention the fact that he has has blown his chance of becoming a two-weight world champ.
“Going from the spars, the fans are going to be in for a real treat,” he said prior to the weigh-in. “This is a great opportunity.
“It’s going to be packed full of Mexicans and they’ll probably boo me in, but I’m planning on being cheered out.”
But the tune quickly changed afterwards, when an apologetic Quigg revealed that even he was baffled at the severe miscalculation regarding the weight.
"Everything was on track, my body seems to have frozen," said the Briton.
"I've still got to figure it out. I'm so focused, so disciplined. Yesterday I was only three pounds over.
“It just wouldn't budge. I've done everything. I apologise to Oscar and his team. I have tried and tried, there's nothing more that I can say.
"I've still got the fight ahead of me. I still have to stay focused. I’m a pro through and through and it's not acceptable. I've put the work in and am still going to get the victory."
