Lee Selby’s featherweight title bout is canceled over challenger’s health issue
The International Boxing Federation featherweight title fight between England’s champion Lee Selby (23-1, 8 KOs) and challenger Jonathan Victor Barros (41-4-1, 22 KOs) was canceled Friday when Barros failed an undisclosed Nevada State Athletic Commission medical requirement.
A promotional official who declined to specify Barros’ issue because of medical privacy rules said Argentina’s Barros didn’t provide his blood, vision and physical tests until Wednesday.
“I’m not too sure what happened, I’m just so disappointed. This was my big chance to shine and now it’s been taken away from me,” Selby said of his scheduled Las Vegas debut.
He appeared before a throng of U.K.-heavy fans estimated at 5,000 at MGM Grand and told them, “I’m terribly sorry. I’m almost in tears.”
Selby is in prime position to stage a title-unification bout against Northern Ireland’s World Boxing Assn. featherweight champion Carl Frampton (23-0, 14 KOs) should Frampton defeat Los Angeles’ former three-division world champion Leo Santa Cruz (32-1-1, 18 KOs) in the Showtime-televised main event Saturday.
Should Santa Cruz win, secondary WBA featherweight champion Abner Mares of Hawaiian Gardens said he’d be willing to travel to Belfast, Northern Ireland, to fight Selby in the co-main event to Frampton-Santa Cruz III in the summer.
In light of Barros’ withdrawal, however, Selby said he might opt to take an interim bout in the next few months to keep busy.
“I’d like to fight as soon as possible,” Selby said.
Follow Lance Pugmire on Twitter @latimespugmire
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