The Montreal Gazette reports (link via BoxingScene.com) that 140-pound contender Herman Ngoudjo will be without trainer Howard Grant this Friday night in Montreal when he fights Juan Urango for the vacant IBF junior welterweight title. Grant has been suspended until the end of March for shoving referee Marlon B. Wright after the controversial finish to the Bute-Andrade fight in October. Grant also trains Librado Andrade, of course, and that fight took place in Montreal, too.

Whether you thought Wright's officiating sucked or not, and I certainly did (not even so much the result being Bute winning, but the way Wright handled it all), rules are rules, and you can't go around shoving officials. These are the consequences, and the commission made the right call.

Ngoudjo (17-2, 9 KO) lost a good fight and close decision last January against Paulie Malignaggi, then the IBF titleholder, and followed that with a summer win over Souleymane M'baye on ESPN2. Ngoudjo's other loss was a close but in my opinion clear decision (like the Malignaggi fight) against Jose Luis Castillo. That same night as Ngoudjo's loss to Castillo, Urango (20-1-1, 16 KO) lost to Ricky Hatton. His draw came against Mike Arnaoutis in 2004, and he's currently on a three-fight win streak, including his brutal knockout of Carlos Wilfredo Vilches last April, which was his last fight.

It's a pretty interesting fight for the title Malignaggi vacated in order to fight Hatton in November, and we'll have live, round-by-round coverage and scoring on Friday night. We don't do a ton of ESPN cards live, but this is a fairly significant one, and more than worth watching.