by David P. Greisman

Contrary to what promoter Boxing360 posted on Twitter and Facebook on Friday — and correcting what this site posted because of that — it was Mike Mollo and not Franklin Lawrence who failed a physical prior to their scheduled heavyweight fight, according to reports from BoxingTalk and FightNews.

“According to Lisa Butler, a representative for Dover Downs Casino, there was an issue with Mollo's CAT scan and he could not get doctors' clearance to participate in tonight's bout,” wrote Michael Walters of BoxingTalk.

“[A]n irregularity was found on Mike Mollo’s MRI, causing his heavyweight bout with Franklin Lawrence to be scratched,” wrote Rick Scharmberg and Kurt Wolfheimer of Fightnews.

This contradicts what Boxing360, which promotes Mollo, posted online the evening that the bout was supposed to have taken place:

“Greg [Sirb] the commissioner at Dover, Delaware has cancelled the fight between Mike Mollo and Franklin Lawrence due to Franklin Lawrence not passing the physical exam,” the posting said.

Mollo, a 31-year-old who is 20-3-1 with 12 knockouts, was to have made his return to the ring for the first time since fighting to a draw with Gary Gomez in August 2010.

Lawrence, 36, is 17-2-2 with 12 knockouts and last fought in October, a second-round technical knockout win over Raymond Ochieng.

David P. Greisman is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Follow David on Twitter at twitter.com/fightingwords2 or on Facebook at facebook.com/fightingwordsboxing, or send questions and comments to fightingwords1@gmail.com