No IBF title fight in Riyadh: Delgado won't travel – Espinoza has a new opponent too
Lindolfo Delgado will not face Arthur Biyarslanov for the vacant IBF title on Saturday. Trainer Robert Garcia cites safety concerns. Espinoza's opponent Parra had already dropped out.
Graphic: TERRA WORLD NEWS (own graphic based on the sources listed)
The Canelo vs Mbilli card in Riyadh has lost a world title fight: Lindolfo Delgado (24-0, 16 KOs) will not face Arthur Biyarslanov for the vacant IBF super-lightweight title on Saturday. "Fight's off," his trainer Robert Garcia said on ProBoxTV's "BoxingScene Today". He pointed to the security situation and attacks on Riyadh's airport: "Why would we risk ourselves going over there without being safe?"
According to BoxingScene, Delgado also did not receive his travel documents in time. Garcia called a late arrival plus a weight cut for a world title fight "unbelievable, impossible, ridiculous". Biyarslanov is already in Saudi Arabia. Whether he gets a replacement opponent was unclear; the IBF had not commented, according to Boxing News.
There had already been a change last week: WBO featherweight champion Rafael Espinoza now defends against Nicaragua's Ricardo Blandon (21-6) instead of Lorenzo Parra. According to WBO president Gustavo Olivieri, the Middle East Professional Boxing Commission did not authorise Parra's participation. "In boxing, things like this happen," Espinoza said.