Agbeko collapses. Fight with Mares off....

Saturday night's bantamweight tournament main event between Joseph Agbeko and Abner Mares is off.

This was after Agbeko collapsed on Monday night after his flight with "sudden onset sciatica ." The next day (yesterday) Agbeko saw Dr. Richard S. Gluckman in Los Angeles, who immediately ruled him out of the fight.
Press-related activities for all fighters have continued but an official announcement is expected soon.
There is no word yet from Don King Promotions on whether or not the consolation fight between Vic Darchinyan and Yonnhy Perez will still take place.
Eric Gomez of Golden Boy Promotions says that they're trying to get Tomoki Kameda (18-0, 12 KO) in for a fight with Mares, and that the assumed best available option, Golden Boy's Eric Morel, is not available. Kameda is young (19) and has been fighting mostly in Mexico, and has been training as he had a TBA date set for May 7 in Japan. We'll update further with more developments.
Either way, this is a big blow to boxing fans who were looking forward to this show. The tournament was a hit in the semifinals and had built up a lot of good press going into this weekend
Sciatica (or sciatic neuritis) is a set of symptoms including pain that may be caused by general compression and/or irritation of one of five spinal nerve roots that give rise to each sciatic nerve, or by compression or irritation of the left or right or both sciatic nerves. The pain is felt in the lower back, buttock, and/or various parts of the leg and foot. In addition to pain, which is sometimes severe, there may be numbness, muscular weakness, pins and needles or tingling and difficulty in moving or controlling the leg. Typically, the symptoms are only felt on one side of the body. Pain can be severe in prolonged exposure to cold weather.
Although sciatica is a relatively common form of low back pain and leg pain, the true meaning of the term is often misunderstood. Sciatica is a set of symptoms rather than a diagnosis for what is irritating the root of the nerve, causing the pain. This point is important, because treatment for sciatica or sciatic symptoms will often be different, depending upon the underlying cause of the symptoms.

SOURCE: Scott Christ with additional files from Ziray

 

PIX: Agbeko in a pose with Mares at a press conference