Liam Wilson

Aussie boxer Liam Wilson is set to take on Emanuel Navarrete for the world title. Read more here.

Emanuel Navarrete is looking to become a three-division champion, while Liam Wilson is ready to eliminate any doubt about what kind of fighter he is.

Round 4: Wilson comes out of the blocks hard in the fourth round, but Navarrete is able to weather the storm early. Wilson slips but regains his composure, before finishing the round on the receiving end of some hard punches in the corner. The Aussie scores with a left hook, before the pair trade blows in the clinch. Navarrete punches his way through the second-half of the round to regain some momentum, landing some aggressive shots. Round 2: Both men miss wildly, before Navarrete boxes his way out of the corner and forces Wilson back. Wilson clips Navarrete and staggers him again late in the round! The referee steps in and calls the fight as Navarrete continued to get the better of Wilson. Navarrete hurts him with some good body shots and a right hook to the chin. Round 6: Navarrete continues to act as the aggressor but Wilson hangs with him. Navarrete continues to mount the pressure and lands some massive bombs with Wilson up against the ropes. Navarette's body shots continue to land and he backs Wilson up in the corner, landing a quick flurry of punches to the head. Navarrete drops Wilson early in the ninth round but the Aussie gets up and continues.

The visiting Australian contender was stunned at his announced weight of 126.3 pounds during Thursday's official pre-fight weigh-in. Navarrete stepped on the ...

Wilson and his team insist that the boxer was roughly 129 ½ pounds on the same scale barely twenty minutes prior to the start of the session. “I take a lot of confidence and I’m ready for this fight. “I’m gonna get in the ring. If the theory offered by Wilson and his team is accurate, then Navarrete would have been more than two pounds above the maximum 130-pound junior lightweight limit. Navarrete needed two tries to get within the featherweight limit for his previous outing, a sixth-round knockout of Eduardo Baez last August 20 in San Diego, California. “I was sitting in a room ten minutes before the weigh-in. A fight-day meeting with the Arizona commission has been requested by Steve Scanlan, Wilson’s manager, and No Limit Boxing, Wilson’s promoter in Australia. I went on the official scales for the official weigh-in and I was [nearly] four pounds under, magically. The yet-to-be-identified commission member is then observed repeating the movement shortly before Wilson officially weighed in for Friday’s televised main event. How can I lose four pounds before the weigh-in,” questioned Wilson. In fact, the session began with Francisco Duque initially coming in 2 ½ pounds over the agreed-upon 134-pound limit for his scheduled four-round fight with Emiliano Vargas (2-0, 2KOs). Navarrete stepped on the same scale at 129.2 pounds under the supervision of the Arizona Boxing & MMA Commission ahead of their vacant WBO junior lightweight title fight at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona (Friday, ESPN, 10:00 p.m.

Aussie boxer Liam Wilson knocked down Emanuel Navarrete in their world title fight, but the Mexican was allowed to continue. Read more here.

At one stage the Australian seemed poised to pull off one of the greatest upsets in boxing history before a ninth-round technical knockout loss to Emanuel ...

Wilson walked straight into a vicious right hand in the ninth that dropped him to the canvas. The advice to the underdog: “Do not stand in front of this man.” Navarrete is one of the finest fighters to come out of Mexico. Wilson lost his father, Peter, at the age 16; there were bouts of doubt and depression after his only loss, which he subsequently avenged, to Joe Noynay; and he broke his hand in his last fight, against Matias Rueda. After a nerveless first round, Smith returned to the corner. Navarrete survived what Wilson’s corner thought was a prolonged count and was hit again by Wilson’s final punch of a dominant round.

Emanuel Navarrete has secured his status as a three-division champion, outlasting Australia's Liam Wilson in a brutal and thrilling contest in Arizona.

Round 4: Wilson comes out of the blocks hard in the fourth round, but Navarrete is able to weather the storm early. Wilson slips but regains his composure, before finishing the round on the receiving end of some hard punches in the corner. The Aussie scores with a left hook, before the pair trade blows in the clinch. Navarrete punches his way through the second-half of the round to regain some momentum, landing some aggressive shots. Round 2: Both men miss wildly, before Navarrete boxes his way out of the corner and forces Wilson back. Wilson clips Navarrete and staggers him again late in the round! The referee steps in and calls the fight as Navarrete continued to get the better of Wilson. Navarrete hurts him with some good body shots and a right hook to the chin. Round 6: Navarrete continues to act as the aggressor but Wilson hangs with him. Navarrete continues to mount the pressure and lands some massive bombs with Wilson up against the ropes. Navarette's body shots continue to land and he backs Wilson up in the corner, landing a quick flurry of punches to the head. Navarrete drops Wilson early in the ninth round but the Aussie gets up and continues.

Liam Wilson's team have lodged a protest after he floored Emanuel Navarrete in the fourth round before losing their WBO world title fight by stoppage.

The count was long in that fourth round, everyone knows it was long. Top Rank, their own promoters, said the count was long. In just his 13th professional fight and US debut Wilson quietened a hostile 5,100-strong crowd and eventually earned their respect, the low-profile father of two set to return to Queensland with his reputation hugely enhanced. A devastated Wilson struggled to speak through tears in his dressing room after the fight, memories of his late father front and centre given he had dedicated his world title crusade to him. But with a partisan crowd in Arizona roaring him back to life, the two-division champ added a third to his tally when he eventually stopped Wilson with a minute remaining in the ninth round. - The Wilson team complained that Navarrete was given a long count to be able to recover

A rising Australian star almost pulled off an upset for the ages, as boxing fans were left seeing red over one controversial moment. 3 min read.

Now I know that I’m capable of doing that and I was able to do it in great fashion,” Navarrete said after the fight. I needed to know that I could get off the canvas and come back to win the fight. “I thought the count was about 20 seconds but we will review it and see what happens.” Lots of folks feeling the same way. Wilson talking about those extra seconds the ref gave Navarrete. The first time in his 40-fight career he’s been knocked down.

Mexican Emanuel Navarrete has beaten Aussie Liam Wilson to claim the WBO super featherweight title by TKO i...

Navarrete entered the fight an overwhelming favourite, but found it tough going early on. The count was long in that fourth round, everyone knows it was long. It was a whopping 27 seconds between Wilson inflicting the blow and the fight recommencing. Top Rank, their own promoters, said the count was long. Then in the sixth round, Wilson once again looked to have inflicted damage on the Mexican with a series of heavy right hooks right on his jaw. In the fourth round of the fight in Arizona, Wilson made a crucial knock-down that appeared to leave Mexican opponent Emanuel Navarrete rattled.

'His eyes were f***ed': Aussie star shattered after 27-second KO count costs title.

“Initially, I went to the corner,” he continued. I just want to be in championship fights or close enough.” “I thought ‘f…ing hell’. I perform really badly. It’s a shame.” “I just want Australia to know I am a true champion. “And I want the next one to be worth it. “So I just want to take hard fights. But it shouldn’t have got there.” “I only want to take hard fights. “And I felt it was a knockout. “It looked like he was definitely gone and it’s a shame it took a lot of time for him to get back up, to get his composure and senses back.

Australian fighter Liam Wilson will return home without the WBO super featherweight belt he thought he'd won in shocking, upset fashion.

“It was an unbelievable performance,” he said. “And I feel like this one was worth it and I want the next one to be worth it.” He still shocked the world. “He really showed he is world-class. “Liam is a warrior, he is the type of fighter people love to watch and support. “He was wobbly after he got up, but it shouldn’t have got to there,” a battered Wilson said, while pondering on what would have been Naverrete’s first loss since 2012.

'A big piss take': Robbed Aussie's fresh ref claim as plans for world title rematch revealed.

“Hats off to Navarrete, it’s not his fault. It should’ve been over in the fourth. “I feel like a hero back home and I want to do those people proud. “He was the one in the meeting talking everything Mexican to Navarrete. “To me it was just a big piss take. “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. “But it’s hard to stomach that I lost the way I did. “Watching it all back since, (the count) looks worse than what I remember in the ring.” “I feel the chance to win was taken away from me by the referee. “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. “So I want this called a No Contest, and then we rematch for the exact same belt. 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.