The mystery of the vanishing opponent. Lee Selby's challenger is already too overweight for world title fight, and now he can't be found...

IBF featherweight champion Lee Selby is meant to be fighting unbeaten challenger Eduardo Ramirez on the Copper Box bill this Saturday (December 9).

But on Thursday the day before the weigh-in Ramirez not only came in too far overweight to contest the world title on Saturday, he has subsequently vanished.

Frank Warren, who promotes Saturday’s show, revealed, “We’ve got to find the opponent, he’s gone on the missing list. That’s why we started [the press conference] late. We’ve been looking for them in their hotel room, they’re not in there. All their kit’s in there. They’ve disappeared. Hopefully they’ll be here.”

When it comes to Ramirez’s status with his weight and the title, Warren noted, “Just to get the record correct, they weighed in four pounds over the check weight yesterday, which means he’s eight pounds over weight going in. The British Boxing Board of Control said he cannot come in any lower than 9st 2lbs for health and safety reasons, for his own health.”

He continued, “And if the fight goes ahead, I’m sure it will go ahead, Lee will remain champion whatever the result of that fight. That’s from the IBF. So we’ve got a bit of a problem at the moment, hoping this fella will show up. His kit’s in the hotel. But him and his team are all on the missing list. To say it’s unprofessional is an understatement but we are where we are.”

It caps a nightmarish year for Lee Selby, who kept his cool, saying, “It is frustrating but to be honest in my career, this last year leading up to fights, nothing shocks me no more. I just remain professional, look after myself, make sure I’m on weight and I’m ready to fight.”