Miguel Marriaga’s 10-round featherweight fight against Mark John Yap has been canceled by the Nevada State Athletic Commission after Yap weighed in 8.7 pounds over the limit Wednesday.
Yap weighed in at 136.7 pounds for the 128-pound fight, while Marriaga was at 127.3.
The fight was scheduled to headline a Top Rank on ESPN card on Thursday at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas after replacing the original main event — a light heavyweight battle between Eleider Alvarez and Joe Smith Jr. that was canceled in late June after Alvarez suffered a shoulder injury during training.
The new main event on Thursday will be a 10-round lightweight battle between Felix Verdejo and Will Madera.
This is the second time Marriaga has had a fight canceled at the last minute in 2020. He was scheduled to face Shakur Stevenson on March 14 at the Theater at Madisodddddddddddddddddddn Square Garden in New York, but it was canceled two days before due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Marriaga (29-3, 25 KOs) is on a four-fight winning streak since losing back-to-back bouts against Oscar Valdez and Vasiliy Lomachenko in 2017. Yap (30-15, 15 KOs) is 1-2 after moving up from featherweight in 2019.
Verdejo (26-1, 16 KOs), once considered a blue-chip prospect, has an opportunity to step up in the main event against Madera (15-0-3, 8 KOs) and show he can contend in the lightweight division.
“Having passed the initial test of the scale, it is time to demonstrate [Thursday] in the ring the result of all my dedication, effort and perseverance,” Verdejo said after the weigh-in. “It will be different to fight in ‘The Bubble’ at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas without my fans, but I have no doubt that I will carry in my heart, my family, my people of Puerto Rico and all who have supported me throughout my career.”