Australia’s first major boxing show of 2024 has descended into chaos — and the main event cancelled — after headliner Renold Quinlan hit the scales almost five kilos heavy for his bout against Sydney ‘KO King’ Bilal Akkawy.

The two camps almost got physical at the official weigh-ins inside Fox Sports’ Sydney studios, with officials eventually having to separate the two teams.

Soon after, promoters No Limit decided the main event would be called off.

Initially it was thought Quinlan would have two hours to drop the weight however, after discussions, it was decided the discrepancy, 4.8kg, was too much.

BOXING: Goodman v Schleibs & Hardman v Saavedra | WED 13 MAR | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.

‘WILL BE STRIPPED’: Big risk in Tszyu’s global boxing gamble revealed

Fox Sports Australia understands talks were initially underway for Quinlan to potentially face Akkawy in next Wednesday’s Pay-Per-View event headlined by undefeated rising star Sam Goodman.

Instead, Quinlan will now fight Troy Pilcher, who steps in on just 36 hours’ notice.

Previously, the 8-0-1 Queensland heavyweight knocked out Haze Hepi on the undercard of Tim Tszyu’s fight with Carlos Ocampo on the Gold Coast last year.

After Quinlan stepped from the scales, both teams were caught up in a fiery exchange.

“You’ve done the wrong thing and now you want to talk,” Akkawy’s father and trainer Mick could be heard shouting at Quinlan who, after weighing in heavy, appeared to then be asking for a catchweight fight instead.

It is understood the weight discrepancy came about because Quinlan thought the fight was taking place at cruiserweight (90.8kg), instead of at an 86kg catchweight.

Regardless, the drama is a tough one for Akkawy who, long regarded as one of the nation’s biggest punchers pound-for-pound, has fought just twice in the past four years due to ongoing injury dramas.

“Lose the weight. Lose the weight.

“A man’s word is a man’s word. Don’t f…ing tell me cruiserweight …”

Quinlan’s team also appeared to be upset by something that was said during the fiery slanging match, replying: “Don’t use that word. “Don’t come and use that word.

“In five minutes we’ll go (outside) and I’ll dance with you. I’ll dance with you.”

As a result of the drama, No Limit decided to call the headliner off, meaning top billing this Wednesday night will now be given to promising New Zealand super welterweight Viliami Liavaa – who is himself looking to catapult into a fight with Australia’s Nikita Tszyu on the card at Moore Park.

Liavaa fights Sydneysider Anton Markovic and hopes, with a win, to challenge the younger of the Tszyu brothers.

After going undefeated through the first six fights of his career, Liavaa then undertook a huge step up in competition last March against tough Caboolture product Ben Hussain – only to be stopped in the fourth round.

From there, the young fighter then disappeared from the ring for a year in a bid to improve his game and now returns for the opening to a huge month for Australian boxing, dubbed ‘March Mayhem’.

Goodman, who is already a mandatory for Japanese megastar Naoya Inoue, has decided to roll the dice and risk his world ranking against brash Melburnian Mark Schleibs, who he recently slapped during a press conference to launch the Wollongong Entertainment Centre fight.

Watch Wednesday night’s No Limit fight night from 7.30pm AEDT on Fox Sports Channel 503 and Kayo