In dramatic scenes at the weigh-in before his planned lightweight championship bout with Martin Gethin the Sheffield boxer failed to make the mandatory weight of 9st 9oz.

He was a pound and a half over the limit - and unable to make any inroads in that in the hour he was granted by British Board of Control officials.

The Sky-televised fight remains on..but if Fewkes wins he won't be awarded the belt he has been aiming for since walking into Glyn Rhodes' gym 12 years ago at the age of 11.

If Gethin wins, at the Harvey Hadden Leisure Centre in Nottingham this evening, he will be English champion, however.

It all represents a sickening blow to Fewkes, who some saw as a rival to British golden boy Amir Khan.

He must now decide whether to campaign at the light welterweight division, although most observers think he is too small for that.

The same boxer had to pull out of a previous important bout because of gastro-enteritis.

Rhodes said he was "devastated" by the weight issue and said: "I am going to have to sit down with John this morning and talk about where we go from here."

That heart-to-heart is probably not ideal preparation for tonight's fight - and Fewkes will have to get over the psychological pressure of his situation if he is to chalk a win against a bigger, more aggressive boxer.

Fewkes isn't the only boxer who struggled to make weight ofcourse.

And he has denied suggestions in the past that his lifestyle isn't entirely conducive to that of an elite champion.

But this afternoon he was facing the prospect of climbing between the ropes with Gethin, who successfully made the weight and must now be regarded as favourite.

Ironically, Fewkes had told the britishboxing.net website website his week: "I really want to be able to call myself the English champion, but I want a lot more than that.

"After Gethin I definitely want (British lightweight champion John) Murray. and I'm sure that Glyn Rhodes and Frank Maloney will make sure I am his next mandatory contender."

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