Nick Ball and TJ Doheny had to be separated by security after their weigh-in at BOXPARK in Liverpool today after the latter missed the contracted 126-pound limit by 1oz (0.6lbs).

Irishman Doheny (26-5, 20 KOs) was covered by the towel as he stepped onto the scales before being told he had an hour to shed the weight.

Paul Stevenson, Ball's head trainer/manager, was unhappy with flickering scales floating below and above the limit but an hour later, all was good with Doheny weighing 126-pounds on the dot.

This means Ball (21-0-1, 12 KOs) will defend his WBA featherweight title against Doheny in Saturday night's main event at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, to be shown on TNT Sports in the UK.

After Doheny, 38, missed the limit, he came face-to-face with Ball but both men immediately began to throw verbal jabs in each other's direction.

The altercation ended when Doheny nudged Ball in the chest before the champion came back and shoved his opponent away by the neck.

Doheny was left irate and did his best to escape security's clutches but was eventually pulled away from Ball, who came in at 125.9 pounds.

Ball's last fight was against Ronny Rios in October and he won by 10th-round TKO, having captured his world title against Raymond Ford in Riyadh last summer.

Doheny is a former IBF junior-featherweight champion and is competing at 126 pounds for the very first time against Ball.

He last fought against The Ring's No. 2 pound-for-pound fighter and undisputed junior-featherweight champion Naoya Inoue in September, losing by seventh-round TKO after suffering a back injury during the bout.