Ireland's Dean Byrne found filling in for Frankie Gavin at 24-hours notice too much of a tall order, as he was forced to retire after eight rounds against French welterweight champion Frank Haroche Horta at the Bowlers Exhibition Center in Manchester on Friday night.

Byrne's trainer Anthony Farnell and chief second Dean Powell chose to pull their fighter out of the contest after he began to ship heavy punishment from the busy Frenchman. Byrne had entered the ring with an unblemished 15 win record (6 KO's) but the writing was on the wall by the middle rounds, and 31 year old Horta (27-8-5, 10 KO's) showed just why he is unbeaten in his last 10 fights, and has never been stopped in his professional career.

Birmingham's Frankie Gavin was supposed to have boxed Horta  for the WBO Inter-Continental welterweight title on Friday, but instead chose to pull out of the fight just 24 hours before. No excuse has been given, and Gavin has not been seen or heard of since.

A furious Frank Warren, Gavin's promoter, could only say ''It’s total madness. Between him and Kevin Mitchell... I said to Jimmy Tibbs, what do you put in the water down there.''

Reports suggested that Gavin had walked out on legendary trainer Jimmy Tibbs and his son Mark, and made his way to the house of his former trainer Anthony Farnell.

''He’s just gone.'' Warren told Boxing News Online. ''I heard he went to Anthony Farnell’s house. I wouldn’t even talk him into fighting because if I did and something happened it would be my fault. It’s things like this where boxing really doesn’t help itself.''

Warren has been there before of course. In May 2006, his WBO world featherweight champion Scott Harrison pulled out of a scheduled title defense in Belfast that was to be screened live on ITV. That December, Harrison failed to turn up for the weigh-in of his scheduled WBO title defense against Nicky Cook. He was  subsequently stripped of his WBO title and had his boxing license revoked by the B.B.B.C. Harrison has not boxed since, and has subsequently served more than two years in a Spanish jail cell for assault. He failed in an attempt to regain his boxing license earlier this month. 

No one wants to jump to similar conclusions over Gavin. The fighter is nicknamed ''Funtime'' Frankie for his apparent love of the nightlife, and he has been accused of lacking the necessary discipline and commitment needed to get the most out of his undoubted talent.

In 2007, Gavin became the only British fighter ever to win a gold medal at an amateur World Championships. His first taste of controversy would come the following year when Gavin failed to make the lightweight limit in Beijing, and was sent home from those Olympics. He turned pro soon after under the Frank Warren promotional banner and is undefeated in 11 fights (8 KO's). 

In May of this year, Gavin looked distracted and lacked concentration yet nevertheless won an easy 12 round decision over former British champion Young Mutley. He came close to tasting defeat for the first time in his most recent bout in July, scraping by on a split 12 round decision against former professional footballer Curtis Woodhouse.

It remains to be seen if Frankie Gavin can make the most of his God-given talents, but one thing is for certain - if he is to make it in arguably the toughest division in boxing – the welterweights – he will have to show a whole lot more commitment to the sport than he is currently displaying.