Guzman backs out of lightweight championship bout against Campbell
BILOXI, Miss. — Unified world lightweight champion Nate Campbell walked away from the Beau Rivage Casino still the champ and untouched when his bout with Joan Guzman was called off Saturday night in an unusual chain of events.
Guzman went to his promoters about four hours before the bout and said he wasn't feeling well enough to fight. The fight was already on the ropes following Friday's weigh-in.
Guzman weighed in at 138 1/2 pounds Friday, more than three pounds heavier the 135-pound benchmark. Guzman was given a two-hour grace period to re-weigh in, but he never returned to the scale.
"I did all that I could to make it happen," Campbell said. "I said that I'd fight him no matter what he'd weigh in at. At the end of the day, I thought it was important to me to make the fight stay together."
Campbell's IBF, WBA and WBO championship belts would not have been on the line if he had fought. Guzman (28-0, 17 knockouts) vacated his WBO junior lightweight crown for the opportunity to fight Campbell (32-5-1, 25 knockouts).
