LONDON, England - Almost as soon as Adam Azim opened his eyes, he knew something was not quite right.

His fight with Eliot Chavez was only hours away but the usual buzz of a fight morning was absent in the hotel when he woke up.

“Usually someone will come and wake me up or knock on the door and check everything’s good,” Azim says to The Ring. “There are always people around and I can hear the team from my bedroom.

“But that morning I woke up and nobody was around, not even my dad or anyone else from the team.

“I thought it felt strange but decided to start getting switched on for the fight like I normally do. I put on some boxing videos and started shadow boxing but then I got a knock at the door.

“I open it and there’s Shane [McGuigan] who looks a bit upset and angry. I asked him what was going on and he just said ‘fight’s off’.”

Chavez, the 30-year-old Mexican, had been photographed in a sauna during his weight cut and, as per British Boxing Board of Control rules, would not be allowed to fight Azim as a result. Given it was fight day, there would be no chance of securing a late opponent.

What that incident means is that precocious junior welterweight Azim (13-0, 10 KOs), who is still just 23, has now not boxed since February 1 meaning that 2025 was turning into an alarmingly inactive year for a man who had been climbing rapidly towards world title level. That the lay-off followed the best win of his career, the ninth-round stoppage of former world champion Sergey Lipinets, made it even harder to take.

“That performance was probably the best of my life,” Azim says of the win at Wembley Arena.

“The only person to have stopped him before me was Jaron Ennis so my performance reflects that I did well and I now deserve to be on the world stage.

“Obviously then I wanted to build on that in June but to get that news that my fight was off so late was frustrating.

“Overall It has been a frustrating period for me, especially that incident in June. Imagine waking up in the morning, ready to go but then I get a knock at the door saying my fight is off.

"But everything happens for a reason and I think I’m in a better position right now anyway because I’m going to be fighting on a huge show.”

Now five months on from the fight that never was, Azim will face California-born Kurt Scoby (18-1, 16 KOs) at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as part of the undercard for Chris Eubank Jr’s rematch with Conor Benn on November 15, live on DAZN.

Azim had been expecting to fight Zaur Abdullaev on the show until a visa issue prevented the Armenia-based Russian from proceeding with the fight.

“I don’t really mind who I fight,” Azim says. “The result will be the same.

“What I want is the opportunity to put on a show on a great card like this which is full of other great fighters. The goal is the same for me regardless of who my opponent is.

“I’m always stepping up through the levels and performing in the ring when it matters. I feel like I’m progressing well and I want to be world champion at some point in 2026. I’m not looking past my next opponent but that’s my goal.”

Azim is currently The Ring’s No. 10 ranked junior welterweight while he has also cracked the top 10 with two of the four major sanctioning bodies. A victory over Scoby will help to boost him even further up the rankings and also pave the way for a big fight in February.

It is understood that Boxxer, his long-time promoter, are hoping to build a BBC show that month with Azim topping the bill. A big victory on terrestrial television could supercharge his crossover appeal before he pauses for the holy month of Ramadan, which runs from February 17 to March 18 in 2026.

“That is most definitely the plan,” he added. “Straight after this fight, if I win well, I could get another big one before the fasting period begins.

“I want to get a fight before then and it could be on BBC. That audience would be huge for me and if I can capture that market on the BBC then I can become a crossover star.

“The next two fights are so important now; first on a huge show at Spurs where all the eyeballs will be on it and then straight into a BBC show.”