Essomba's Commonwealth title defence called off '“ but fight goes on

Iain Butcher had been confident of dethroning the flyweight champion in Edinburgh on Saturday but failed to make the 8st limit.

The unbeaten Sunderland-based fighter will still box the Scot at Meadowbank, but at super-flyweight with no title on the line.

It is a bitter blow to the 28-year-old as manager Phil Jeffries explained.

“I couldn’t believe it when I took the phonecall,” said Jeffries.

“It’s unprofessional in my book. They wanted the fight, so why hasn’t he made the weight?

“Thomas has, he got himself into fantastic shape with (trainer) Sean Casey.

“At least he still gets to have a fight, It’s top of the bill over 10 rounds but at super-fly.

“He’s trained long and hard for this so needs the bout.

“I will have to look at getting a new defence for Thomas, so I’ll be getting in touch with the Commonwealth Council to see what they say about the situation.”