Joseph Adorno was almost on weight when he woke up Friday morning in Orlando, Florida.

The unbeaten lightweight just wasn’t sure he’d even have to weigh in Friday afternoon for a 10-round fight against Iron Alvarez the next night at Caribe Royale Resort. His promoter, Vito Mielnicki Sr., was in the process of negotiating a higher-profile fight for Adorno – a 10-rounder versus unbeaten lightweight contender Michel Rivera, which Showtime will televise March 26.

Once that deal was finalized Friday afternoon, Mielnicki made the organizer of Saturday’s show, Undisputed Promotions, aware that Adorno could not fight Alvarez last Saturday night.

Not only was it risky in terms of Adorno potentially getting cut or injured, even had Adorno won and left the ring unscathed, he would’ve been placed on a standard 30-day medical suspension by the Florida State Boxing Commission. That would’ve prohibited Adorno (14-0-2, 12 KOs) from facing the Dominican Republic’s Rivera (22-0, 14 KOs) on March 26 at The Armory in Minneapolis.

Adorno did step on a scale at 137 pounds Friday afternoon, two above the contracted weight for his fight with Alvarez. Mielnicki made it clear, however, that his fight with Tampa’s Alvarez (14-1, 10 KOs) was never going to happen.

“There was negotiations going on for a bigger fight, so I had to do what was best for my fighter,” Mielnicki told BoxingScene.com. “Once everything was going back and forth, I just pulled the fight. I wasn’t [on site], so when I found out it was a 30-day suspension [if he fought], I called Tim Shipman [assistant executive director of the FSBC]. They were gonna suspend him and I said, ‘Look, it’s something bigger than that. And this is a paid bout, so it’s at my discretion. I’m paying for this fight.’ Joey didn’t do anything wrong here. I just want people to understand that.”

Alvarez was paid his full purse for his trouble. Mielnicki also will reimburse Undisputed Promotions for the tickets that were returned once Adorno was removed from the card at the 11th hour.

“I had to do what’s best for my fighter at that point,” Mielnicki said. “That’s what my job is. And the promoter of record, whatever he lost in returned tickets or anything else, that’s being compensated back to him. The other fighter was paid and we’re waiting for the ticket settlement that came back in returns, and they’re all being paid as well.”

The 22-year-old Adorno, of Allentown, Pennsylvania, missed weight for three of his fights when he was under contract with Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc. Mielnicki, whose GH3 Promotions has fighters affiliated with Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions, signed Adorno to a multi-bout deal once his contract with Top Rank expired last year.

Adorno has settled for draws in each of his last two fights, both eight-rounders.

He fought to a split draw with Mexican veteran Hector Montes (17-7-4, 11 KOs) in January 2020 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. In his subsequent bout, he fought Jamaine Ortiz (15-0-1, 8 KOs), of Worcester, Massachusetts, to a majority draw last April 24 in Kissimmee, Florida.

Though Ortiz has proven to be a developing prospect worth monitoring, the 23-year-old Rivera represents a step up in class for Adorno.

Their fight will open Showtime’s tripleheader March 26. Australian junior middleweight contender Tim Tszyu (20-0, 15 KOs) is set to encounter Cleveland’s Terrell Gausha (22-2-1, 11 KOs) in the 12-round main event.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.