Diego Corrales turned the tables on himself.

Robbed of a big payday when his last opponent couldn't make weight, Corrales vowed never to disgrace the sport by not being at the proper weight himself.

So what happened on Friday? Corrales weighed in a whopping five pounds over the weight limit for his WBC 135-pound title defence against Joel Casamayor.

``It's terribly ironic,'' promoter Gary Shaw said. ``I'm shocked. I don't know what to say.''

The fight was in doubt after Corrales came back a short time later and weighed 139{, then was given two hours to get down to 137. He made it down to 139, and representatives of both fighters huddled to see if the fight could be salvaged.

Corrales lost his WBC lightweight title on the scale for not making weight and will be fined by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and likely have his licence suspended.

That's what happened to Jose Luis Castillo, whose failure to make the weight against Corrales last June forced the cancellation of the fight and cost Corrales a US$1.3 million payday.

Castillo was fined $250,000 and had his license suspended for the rest of the year for not making the weight.

``There will be a fine,'' said Keith Kizer, executive director of the Nevada commission.

When Castillo couldn't get within three pounds of the weight for the last fight, Corrales said he wanted to punch him for not making the weight. A few days ago he said he didn't regret not fighting because it would not be fair for a bigger fighter to fight a smaller one.

``I stood on level ground and explained to everybody if he didn't make weight there wouldn't be a fight,'' Corrales said. ``I made the right decision.''

Shaw said he personally checked on Corrales 10 days ago to see if he was on track to make weight, and the fighter weighed just a shade under 142 pounds. Fighters generally tend to lose several pounds in the last two weeks before a fight, so Shaw said he wasn't concerned.

If the fight goes on it would be a non-title fight and Casamayor would get half of any fine levied by the Nevada commission on Corrales. He also would get part of Corrales' purse, assuming the two fighters can reach agreement on fighting.

Corrales was supposed to return to the ring Saturday night for the first time in nearly a year. It didn't figure that his opponent's weight would be a problem because Casamayor knows something about making weight from being on the Cuban national amateur team.

And Corrales had always made the weight in his career, despite being a six-footer carrying the weight of a much smaller man.

True to form, Casamayor weighed the class limit of 135 pounds. But the weight of his opponent was a shocker.

Corrales gained fame in a May 2005 fight against Castillo that has already become legendary.

Both fighters have a lot at stake. For Corrales, it's proving that his knockout loss to Castillo in their rematch was a fluke. Casamayor, meanwhile, must show he still has his superb boxing skills and reflexes at the age of 35.

``I expect a war out of him,'' Corrales said. ``For some reason they find glory and their old youth when they fight me.''

Casamayor (33-3-1, 21 knockouts) stopped Corrales the first time they met, knocking him down twice and finally winning in the sixth round when bleeding caused by a faulty mouthpiece left Corrales swallowing blood. But Corrales also knocked Casamayor down in that fight, and came back to win a decision by outboxing him in their second fight.

He is a 2-1 favourite this time in the fight for the WBC lightweight title, but the crafty Casamayor believes the odds should be reversed.

``I learned that this guy (Corrales) comes one direction _ forward. He is a one-dimensional fighter,'' Casamayor said. ``I can beat him any way. I feel like I won both fights. I know him like my own son.''

Corrales (40-3, 33 knockouts) has had a year to recover from his fourth round knockout by Castillo, a break caused largely the failure of Castillo to make weight for their third fight. Castillo also didn't make weight in the second fight, but Corrales went on and fought him anyhow.

It proved a mistake, when Castillo overwhelmed him with a left hook that floored Corrales.