THE promising career of Adam Azim took a mini hit after his fight, albeit little more than a tune-up, fell through at the 11th hour last weekend.
Following a short-notice call-up, the 23-year-old was supposed to collide with Elliot Chavez, a far more limited operator, on the undercard of Callum Simpson vs Ivan Zucco.
But while both combatants hit the scales at 143lbs last Friday, Chavez was ultimately withdrawn from their co-main event slot the next day.
The British Boxing Board of Control (BBBoC) arrived at its decision after it emerged that the Mexican, who has previously campaigned at lower weights, had used a sauna to shave off his last few pounds.
As a result, rising super-lightweight star Azim, 13-0 (10 KOs), was left with no opponent and, in turn, the absence of an opportunity to sharpen his tools.
“It was very frustrating,” Shane McGuigan, his trainer, told Boxing News. “But we have bigger opportunities and bigger fights [still to come].
“There’s going to be many highs in Adam’s career, and that was just a low point. It’s never nice to have a fight fall through, but if it had been a world title opportunity – or something of a much greater scale – then it would have been way more sickening.”
While the practice – for weight-making purposes, at least – is banned under the BBBoC’s jurisdiction, Chris Eubank Jr, who publicly alluded to his use of a sauna, was nonetheless permitted to lock horns with Conor Benn in April.
Naturally, the Board’s previous decision-making has only added to the frustration of McGuigan, who insists that, in any case, Azim will soon land a far more meaningful matchup.
“[Chavez] has boxed as low as 130lbs,” McGuigan continued. “So it’s not like Eubank, where he’s been boiling himself down for a long period of time.
“This kid jumped in [the sauna] to literally get just a few pounds off, and it came back to bite him and us.
“We spoke about taking [Chavez] for a rehydration test, but they [the Board] just said, ‘look, if Adam hurts this kid, what position would that put us in?’ We had to accept that.”
Regarding Eubank’s very public weight-cut, meanwhile, McGuigan added: “At the end of the day, the managers and promoters are thinking about money; they’re not thinking about [Eubank’s] health and safety.
“The other side is going, ‘let’s get him as low as we can; let’s keep him at a certain weight; let’s try and put these causes in; let’s try to cap and hinder his performance.
“So it was a collective f*** up, really, and a big issue. I don’t think I would’ve stood for it [as a trainer].”
Adding further clarity to both situations, BBBoC General Secretary Robert Smith said: “With Mr. Eubank and Mr. Benn, we had to check their weights over a period of time, six weeks or so, knowing what their weights were – and we were satisfied with their weights.
“With regard to the boxing over the weekend, we had a notification come through from a medical officer from [the Mexican Boxing Commission], saying they were concerned that [Chavez had] posted a social media piece of him going into a sauna to make weight.
“At that point, after discussions with our own doctors, it was decided that he should be withdrawn from the bout.
“We can’t ignore a commission. I’d be very upset if a commission from around the world ignored what we advised.”
