By Luis Sandoval
It was reported earlier by BoxingScene’s Jake Donovan that Joan Guzman had come in 8 pounds overweight for his fight against Vicente Mosquera for the interim WBA Junior Welterweight title. Weight issues have plagued Guzman’s career as this is not the first time he’s failed to make the contractual weight for a fight.
Mosquera’s advisor Anthony Gonzalez reached out to BoxingScene to clear up some of the comments that were made by Guzman’s manager Jose Nunez. Nunez has said Mosquera’s camp was understanding and appreciative of the advanced notice given to them regarding Guzman’s lack of making weight. Gonzalez said they had no advance notice whatsoever.
“They gave us 15-20 minute notice that he was coming in heavy. I've never spoken and I don't even know who this guy Jose Nunez is. I'm not disrespecting him or anything but I've never gotten a phone call or anything from anybody else. We kind of heard through rumors [that Guzman was heavy] so we started verifying and 15 minutes before the weigh in is when we found out about it” Gonzalez would tell BoxingScene.
“All the communication between the Mosquera camp and the Guzman camp has been between me and Henry Revalta [of Aquinity Sports]. At no time have we had any communications with this gentleman Jose Nunez. At all. Zero.”
Make no mistake about it, Gonzalez as well as Vicente Mosquera himself are extremely upset at Guzman coming in heavy despite Nunez making things appear to be smoothed out. Things are still currently being worked out in order to try to salvage the fight and have it go on.
“We're working on trying to save the fight and basically all props go to Henry Revalta of Aquinity Sports who's a stand up guy and obviously the face of Aquinity. He's the one who's been working hard and trying to sort this thing out. So the only one doing any work on that end is Henry Revalta and he's embarrassed with the whole situation and deservedly so. I mean 8 pounds over in a world title fight? There's no way in hell we would've we would've said 'okay, we'll give you the 8 pound advantage'” said Gonzalez.
Some of the things being considered to make the fight a possibility is a second weigh in and obviously monetary compensation for Mosquera. Seeing fighters come in over weight is nothing new but what makes this situation difficult is we aren’t just talking about a pound or two; we’re talking about 8 pounds. Guzman wouldn’t have even made the Welterweight limit coming in at 148 pounds.
Gonzalez advised that things can change minute to minute as discussions are ongoing but as of now, nothing has been finalized.
“It's a lot of weight. We are basically talking about 2 weight categories. It's a junior welterweight fighting a junior middleweight because you jump into that category above 147. Honestly, we have no doubt in Mosquera's skill and ability to beat this guy. He's an ex world champion just like Guzman is. Mosquera is very hungry and eager to prove his worth but the only thing is you have to be very careful when you're talking about giving up 8 pounds” said Gonzalez.
More updates to come as things develop.
You can follow Luis Sandoval on Twitter @Truewest007. You can also tune in to BoxingScene Radio, Boxingscene’s official audio show every Tuesday from 6-8PM PST with hosts Ernest Gabion, Luis Sandoval, and Ryan Burton.
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