Mercado is now off the Claressa Shields vs. Kaye Scott card at State Farm Arena. DAZN coverage begins at 8:30 p.m. ET.
Hilley was brought in after original opponent Emmanuel Tagoe came in at 150 pounds Friday for a fight contracted at 140. Mercado then agreed to face Hilley at 146, already giving away six pounds from the weight he had trained to make.
Arriving at 155 made Hilley a questionable rescue option. He needed to lose more than eight pounds Saturday morning just to get within the commission’s allowable range.
Once the cut began going badly, his trainer had little reason to keep pushing it. Hilley had accepted the fight with virtually no notice. Draining him for hours to get him onto the scale at 146.6 might have produced a fight, but not necessarily a worthwhile one.
Mercado had already done his part. After Tagoe missed by 10 pounds, he accepted a replacement six pounds above his original contract. There is only so much accommodation a fighter should be making on the day of a bout.
Hilley, 32, was never an ideal opponent. He had lost an eight-round unanimous decision to Joshua Pagan in May 2024 and stopped journeyman Jerome Rodriguez in 54 seconds last September. The attraction was that he was available and willing to fly to Atlanta.
That wasn’t enough to save Mercado’s place on the card.
Mercado, 24, loses a payday and a fight after making concessions to two opponents in less than 24 hours. He’s the only fighter in this mess who actually made the weight he agreed to make.
