Selby-Barros fight called off due to licensing issues

Lee Selby - Photo: Esther Lin/Showtime

Jan

Lee Selby had plans to entertain the fans who traveled thousands of miles from Wales to Las Vegas to see him defend the IBF featherweight title against Jonathan Victor Barros on the undercard of Saturday night’s highly anticipated rematch between Carl Frampton and Leo Santa Cruz.

Unfortunately, that fight will no longer take place.

Word came in shortly after Frampton and Santa Cruz hit the scales that Barros would no longer face Selby due to the Argentine being unable to meet “Nevada State licensing requirements.”

Selby – who was slated to make second title defense – was clearly gutted by the news and spoke to those in attendance.

“I came here, prepared well and made weight but, for some reason, my opponent cannot fight,” Selby (23-1) said. “I’m terribly sorry and I’m almost in tears. This is a big stage and my chance to shine. But, trust me, I’ll be back.”

Selby hopes that he can line up another fight in the near future and put himself in position to challenge Frampton in a fight that would do massive numbers over in Belfast. Obviously, that would take Frampton successfully defending his WBA (Super) featherweight title against Santa Cruz. Regardless of the winner, Selby wants to step up next.

“I want to get a quick win under my belt and challenge the winner of Frampton-Santa Cruz,” he said.

UPDATE:

The following statement was given by Bob Bennett, executive director for the Nevada State Athletic Commission:

“Barros was not approved to fight by the NSAC because he failed to submit his application and medical records to include blood test results. Based on these facts the fight was scratched. The NSAC continue to consider the health and safety of the fighters as our number one priority.”