Dan Rafael of ESPN.com reports that Edison Miranda has pulled out of his January 9 title shot against Robert Stieglitz due to illness. Promoter Dan Goossen explains the situation:
"He's been sick, a combination of the flu with a severe nasal infection," Goossen said. "He's been fighting it and fighting it. It's just has been an uphill battle and [Monday] we met with him and he just looks terrible, and certainly weak. He's just not capable of being ready for Jan. 9. It's a terrible blow to all of us. He was devastated when reality hit and he knew he couldn't fight."
He also says they'll be willing to reschedule if Stieglitz's camp would like to, but if not, they'll just move forward.
I cannot blame Miranda for not fighting if he's sick. This could seriously be a last good shot at a major title. Miranda (33-4, 29 KO) has come up short against his best opponents, and Stieglitz was about as good a titlist as Miranda had a real shot to beat. I'm sure Goossen is totally serious about putting a rescheduled fight together as soon as possible, because it's a good fight for Miranda and about as good a fight as Stieglitz is going to get, too.
There's no word on whether or not Stieglitz will go ahead with a substitute opponent on January 9 or wait for Miranda to recover from his illness.