Former two-division world champion Emanuel Navarrete can
call himself a three-division world champion after scoring a thrilling come
from behind ninth round knockout of Liam Wilson on Friday night at the Desert
Diamond Arena in Glendale, AZ to win the vacant WBO Jr. Lightweight world
championship. A very competitive fight from the outset, Navarrete as is his
custom tried to overwhelm Wilson with high volume punching. What appeared to be
setting up to be a close tactical fight suddenly changed in the fourth round
when Wilson connected with a flush left hook to the jaw that sent Navarrete
down hard in a corner of the ring for the first time in his career. The
fighter, who had held world titles in the Jr. Featherweight and Featherweight
divisions prior to this fight, appeared to drop his mouthpiece following the
knockdown, which bought him crucial extra seconds to try and compose himself.
Despite this, Navarrete was clearly hurt and appeared to be out on his feet at
this stage of the fight, but somehow managed to pull himself together and
survived the round.
As the fight progressed the two fighters continued to
exchange heavy punches with the relative unknown Wilson, who was challenging
for a world championship in only his thirteenth professional fight more than
held his own, even as Navarrete eventually regained his composure and resumed
throwing punches at a high rate. What had become almost an instant classic had
a sudden conclusion in the ninth round when Navarrete connected with a flush
right hook in the opening seconds that dropped Wilson. Wilson was able to get
up, but had no answer for what become an all-out assault as Navarrete continued
to throw punches relentlessly until the Referee Chris Flores stepped in and stopped
the fight. Official time of the stoppage was 1:57 of round nine. Emanuel
Navarrete advances to 37-1, with 31 Knockouts. Liam Wilson falls to 11-2, with
7 Knockouts.
Also on this card:
Undefeated Jr. Welterweight contender Arnold Barboza scored a hard-fought ten round unanimous decision over
former two-division world champion Jose Pedraza. A highly competitive fight,
Barboza’s quicker hands, ability to get off first, and forcing the combat
proved to be the difference between the two fighters. Barboza was also able to
withstand a late rally from the former world champion that saw several heated exchanges
of offense between the two fighters. Official scores were: 97-93, and 96-94 (On
two scorecards in favor of Barboza. Arnold Barboza advances to 28-0, with 10
Knockouts. Jose Pedraza falls to 29-5-1, with 14 Knockouts.
2020 Olympic Silver medalist Heavyweight Richard Torrez moved
to 5-0 in his career with a first round knockout of late replacement James Bryant. Torrez immediately put Bryant in survival mode with
heavy punches from the opening bell. A flush left uppercut from the southpaw
stance put Bryant down in the latter seconds of round one. Following the end of
the round, Bryant informed his corner that he had injured his ankle and the
bout was stopped. Richard Torrez advances to 5-0, with 5 Knockouts. James
Bryant falls to 6-3, with 4 Knockouts.
Jr. Lightweight Andres Cortes
remained unbeaten in his career by scoring a ten round unanimous decision over Luis
Melendez. An at times ugly fight to watch due to dirty tactics and grappling
between the two fighters, Cortes outworked and out landed Melendez over the ten
round bout. Cortes however, was badly cut in round six over his left eyelid as
a result of an accidental clash of heads. Despite the gash over his left eye,
Cortes’ corner managed to keep him in the fight and he was able to win the
fight by sweeping all three official judges scorecards. Official scores were
100-90. Andres Cortes advances to 18-0, with 10 Knockouts. Luis Melendez falls
to 17-3, with 13 Knockouts.
Undefeated Middleweight Nico Ali Walsh, grandson of
Muhammad Ali, remained unbeaten in his career by scoring a six round unanimous decision
over a very “Game” Eduardo Ayala. Ayala put Ali Walsh to the
test early in this fight as he found a home for his right hand. To Ali Walsh’s
credit, he took the shots of Ayala well and responded in the second round by
dropping him with a flush right hand to the chin that sent Ayala down and hurt.
Ayala showed his mettle by continuing on and, despite taking significant
punishment through the remainder of the fight at the hands of Ali Walsh, did
make it to the final bell in his hometown. Official scores were: 60-53, and
59-54 (On two scorecards) in favor of Ali Walsh. Nico Ali Walsh advances to
8-0, with 5 Knockouts. Eduardo Ayala falls to 9-3-1, with 3 Knockouts.
Rising Jr. Welterweight prospect Lindolfo
Delgado scored a lopsided eight round unanimous decision over veteran Clarence
Booth. What had all the appearance of a workmanlike performance for Delgado,
which was largely highlighted by his movement and timing of his offense, Delgado
was able to nearly end the fight in the eighth and final round when he dropped
Booth with a short right hand to the temple. Booth was able to get up and,
despite being on unsteady legs, was able to make the final bell. Official
scores were: 80-72, and 79-71 (On two scorecards) in favor of Delgado. Lindolfo
Delgado advances to 17-0, with 13 Knockouts. Clarence Booth falls to 21-7, with
13 Knockouts.
Lightweight Emiliano Vargas,
the son of former world champion Fernando Vargas began the evening by moving to
3-0 in his young career in scoring a four round unanimous decision over Francisco
Duque. Both fighters had no issue engaging each other on the inside for the
majority of the fight. This worked to Vargas’ advantage as he frequently ripped
left hooks to Duque’s body and generally landed the harder shots in a fight,
which was the first time Vargas had to go the distance in order to win.
Official scores were: 40-36 (On all three official scorecards) in favor of Vargas.
Emiliano Vargas advances to 3-0, with 2 Knockouts. Francisco Duque falls to
1-2, with 0 Knockouts.
While it was expected by some to see
Emanuel Navarrete become a three-division world champion and etch his name
along with many great world champions who are from Mexico that have won world
titles in three weight divisions including Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. Erik Morales,
and Marco Antonio Barrera to name a few. What was not expected however, was to
see an early candidate for Fight of the Year honors for 2023. Outside of the
controversy of a potential long count in the fourth round, this fight between
Navarrete and Liam Wilson, who was a replacement for former Jr. Lightweight
world champion Oscar Valdez, who had to withdraw from this fight due to injury,
turned out to be a classic. A great fight that simply because it turned out to
be a great fight, should see a rematch.
“And That’s The Boxing Truth.”
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