Shannon Courtenay set to be stripped of WBA title after missing weight for Mitchell fight

Shannon Courtenay will still fight Jamie Mitchell despite missing the weight

Shannon Courtenay is set to be stripped of her WBA bantamweight belt after missing the weight for her title defence against Jamie Mitchell.

Her bout will go ahead and promoter Eddie Hearn believes Mitchell will be allowed to fight for the belt.

"Shannon Courtenay has missed weight and I'll let her make a statement," Hearn told IFL TV.

"She's not going to make that weight and I think Jamie Mitchell will have a chance to win that WBA bantamweight title.

"Shannon's got to get over that emotionally and go and put on a performance."

Courtenay only won the world title in her last fight in April when she beat Australian rival Ebanie Bridges on points.

There was also drama in the weigh-in for the main event between local rivals Anthony Fowler and Liam Smith.

Fowler's team complained about Smith's weight while he was on the scales and the Liverpudlian was forced to strip down and weigh in behind a towel.

Among the verbal melee on stage which involved Fowler's coach Shane McGuigan and members of Smith's team, Smith did eventually weigh in at the 154lb limit.

Fowler and Smith then had words for each other during the final face-off between them, but the main event goes ahead as planned.

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