The bantamweight tournament finale featuring Joseph Agbeko vs. Abner Mares has been canceled. This comes after news that Agbeko had suddenly collapsed late Monday night or very early Tuesday morning. The exact details of the incident are still a bit sketchy, but essentially what happened was that Agbeko had a case of sudden onset sciatica as the result of the long flight. Surely, the weight drain and intense training leading up to a bout had something to do with the problem. But regardless of the causes, the thing that remains clear is that Agbeko vs. Mares is off.
For the bantamweight tournament, it means that there will be no champion crowned this weekend. For the fight card, also featuring Vic Darchinyan vs. Yonnhy Perez, it’s not known at this time if there will be any last minute bouts added to the card. However, it seems unlikely that it would be canceled altogether, since the consolation bout can still go on. It also shows that even a condensed tournament like this, as opposed to the six-man, three-year Super Six, can still encounter troubles along the way.
Hopefully this incident was random and singular for Agbeko, he will be cleared and be shown to be at full health in short order, and Agbeko vs. Mares can be rescheduled as soon as possible. Right now though, that’s all still up in the air.
As of this time, Showtime has not made an announcement, and there has been no official word from the fighters’ camps either.
Keep on checking back with ProBoxing-Fans.com for more updates regarding the cancellation of Agbeko vs. Mares and the latest on the future of the bantamweight tournament, as well as this Saturday’s fight card.
