Liam Wilson says Emanuel Navarrete has agreed to rematch for the WBO super featherweight title – and potentially in Australia — if his controversial world title robbery is eventually declared a ‘No Contest’.
In what shapes as yet another bizarre twist to the championship loss Wilson describes as both a “robbery” and “piss take”, a push is underway to now have the pair redo the bout Down Under.
While the Queenslander concedes there are no guarantees of getting Navarrete on homesoil – or even having his title loss overturned – Team Wilson have launched protests with both senior WBO officials and the Arizona State Boxing & MMA Commission.
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Should the gutsy Caboolture fighter fail in his bid, the 26-year-old will likely turn his attention towards an all-Australian blockbuster – with George Kambosos and Paul Fleming two potential contenders.
Speaking on the morning after his loss however, Wilson stressed the only fair result was for the fight to be declared a No Contest and a rematch ordered.
It comes after referee Chris Flores gave Navarrete a long count of 27 seconds after being knocked down in the fourth – which also included the two-time champ spitting out his mouthguard to stall for time.
“It should have been over in the fourth,” Wilson said on Sunday morning, seated in the lobby of the fighter hotel.
“I should be world champion.
“So it should definitely be ruled a No Contest.
“It’s blatantly obvious what happened.
“I’m not trying to sit here and fool the public.
“The whole world saw it.
“My job is to fight and I did that. I won.
“So I want this called a No Contest, and then we rematch for the exact same belt. And in Australia if we can do it.”
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Head coach Ben Harrington then revealed Wilson and Navarrete had actually spoken back at the team hotel after the fight, where the Mexican agreed to exactly that.
“They were talking about potentially fighting in Australia and he (Navarrete) said he would be willing to come to Australia if the money is right,” Harrington said.
Having now watched several replays of that fourth round, Wilson not only still feels convinced he was robbed, but suggested the long count awarded to Navarrete was “a pisstake”.
It followed a bizarre couple of days that also saw Team Wilson claim the Mexican superstar had weighed in heavy after the official scales were tampered with.
“I can handle losing,” the Aussie said.
“But it’s hard to stomach that I lost the way I did.
“I feel the chance to win was taken away from me by the referee. It should’ve been over in the fourth.
“Watching it all back since, (the count) looks worse than what I remember in the ring.”
Wilson also revealed that, before the fight, Flores had told both fighters “he’d call it at eight seconds if we weren’t looking good”.
That, of course, never happened.
Wilson also questioned if, after Navarrete spat out his mouthguard, Flores then just as deliberately put it back in upside down.
“A lot of people don’t know that when the ref put the mouthguard back in, he put it upside down in his mouth,” he said, suggesting the time it took to then turn it all around saved the Mexican even more time.
“To me it was just a big piss take.
“Hats off to Navarrete, it’s not his fault. He got to his feet and then got momentum.
“But it all looked well and truly planned to buy him some time.”
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Harrington, added: “It was a piss take.
“And we hate talking like this.
“We’re real boxing people so saying ‘we were robbed’ – it’s not us.
“The last thing you want to do is cry foul but it’s just so blatant … we all saw the count, it was ridiculous.
“At worst, the referee should take a point from Navarrete for spitting his mouthguard.
“I was actually a little bit suss on that ref (from the start).
“He was the one in the meeting talking everything Mexican to Navarrete.
“I thought, ‘hang on, these guys are tight’.
“But this isn’t the first time this has happened.
Scales tampered with before weigh-in? | 01:29
“Look at Skinny Hussein and Manny Pacquaio, the referee after 30 years comes out and makes that admission (of a long count).
“It’s horrible.”
Wilson later added: “I don’t want to sound like a sore loser but this has my dream since a kid.
“And it got taken from my hands.
“That’s shit
“But what gives me motivation is seeing my whole country back me through this.
“I feel like a hero back home and I want to do those people proud.
“Whether a rematch happens? I don’t know.
“But regardless I’ll go back home and start getting ready for that or another hard fight in Australia.”
