By Rick Reeno

Contrary to reports of a Joan Guzman (29-0, 17KOs) vs. Yuri Romanov (21-2, 14KOs) title bout taking place on May 1 in Las Vegas, BoxingScene.com has been informed that the IBF plans to bypass Guzman due to his administrative suspension in Mississippi.

I reported the news two weeks ago regarding the IBF‘s approval of a Guzman-Romanov bout for the lightweight title that was left vacant when Nate Campbell was unable to make weight for his mandatory defense against Ali Funeka on Feb. 14.

When the IBF approved the title bout, they [by error?] overlooked Guzman’s trouble with the Mississippi commission. Guzman’s administrative suspension stems from his inability to make weight for last September’s title bout with Nate Campbell. After Guzman was unable to make weight, Campbell agreed to fight him at a higher weight, but Guzman complained that he was feeling sick and refused to move forward with the fight.

To my knowledge, none of the other commissions are honoring Guzman’s administrative suspension from Mississippi, which makes the IBF’s decision a bit strange. At the same time the issue has not been tackled by another commission, that I know of, and the suspension could very well prevent Guzman from fighting in one state or another.