Levy Marroquin is out of his fight with José Alday for the Combate Americas bantamweight championship; former title challenger Gustavo Lopez steps into the main event.
Early Thursday morning, it was announced that title challenger Levy Marroquin was out of Friday’s match-up with José Alday for the bantamweight championship in Combate Americas. Former title challenger Gustavo Lopez will now step-in for the main event against Alday.
Per Combate Americas, Marroquin was pulled from the bout after Dr. Ken Ota of the Arizona Boxing Commission ruled that he was dealing with influenza type symptoms. Marroquin entered the bout after winning the company’s Copa Combate one-night tournament last year. Marroquin was forced to pull out of a bout earlier this April due to medical issues as well.
Lopez had previously had a chance to compete for the bantamweight championship before in 2015 when he faced promotional star John Castaneda. Castaneda went on to win the bout by second round TKO but missed weight for the bout and was not awarded the title with his victory. Since then, Lopez has gone 2-1 and is coming off a loss to Andrew Ewell in King of the Cage in February. In Combate Americas, Lopez has finished all of his wins and holds a 4-1 record in the company. Lopez was not previously scheduled to fight on the card.
José Alday (11-3) shocked the world when he stepped up on five days notice in April to take on the aforementioned Castaneda who holds the most victories in the company. In regards to the opponent change, Alday said “I feel good. All I want is that belt. The opponent doesn’t matter.”
The bout will continue on as a three round championship, as was previously scheduled prior to Marroquin’s removal from the event. The championship is only on the line for Alday as Lopez weighed in at 136 lbs Thursday. Lopez said in an interview that he was contacted about the fight on Wednesday of this week and that he weighed 158 lbs at the time. Alday weighed in at 134.2lbs.
The bout will take place tonight from the Celebrity Theater in Phoenix, Arizona. The bout will be simulcast on Unvision and Univision Deportes in Spanish and on the DAZN app in English.
