By Fernando Gaztambide

London - Earlier today in London, the official weigh-in took place for the expected world championship fight between Puerto Rican boxer Emmanuel 'Manny' Rodríguez (17-0, 12 KO) of Vega Baja and the former world champion Paul Butler (26-1, 14 KO) of England.

The contest takes place tomorrow, Saturday, May 5 from the O2 Arena (Millenium Dome) Greenwich.

As BoxingScene.com reported earlier, Rodriguez scored 117.7 pounds on the scale and Butler was way over the weight at 121.5 pounds. Butler was allowed two hours to make the weight, but refused to weigh himself in a second attempt.

Because of what happened, the vacant IBF bantamweight world title will remain at stake, but only Rodríguez is capable of winning he title. If Butler gets the victory, the title will remain vacant because he failed to meet the regulatory weight of 118 pounds.

Rodriguez is not worried about the weight and had no hesitation in seeing the contest go forward.

"I'm ready to fight whoever it is and that includes Butler with those extra pounds. I do not care [about the weight], that's why I accepted. He is not a 122 pound fighter. He has fought at 115 and 118 pounds. I'm not worried that he did not try as hard to make the weight and now he's heavy. He depends a lot on his speed and he's going to diminish a bit with those extra pounds, but I'm not going to count on that either. I just hope for the best version of Butler. In the end, the title is going to Puerto Rico," said a confident Rodriguez.

The fight will be broadcast in Puerto Rico and the United States by AWE (A Wealth of Entertainment) from 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm, Eastern Time. In Puerto Rico you can only see it through Liberty, channel 295 HD when calling customer service and paying $ 6.99. In the United States, check the following link for detailed information by state: http://www.awetv.com/wheretowatch/