Queensland’s Liam Wilson will feel hard done by as an extended 10-count arguably robbing him of victory against Emanuel Navarrete.
Wilson dropped his opponent towards the end of the fourth round, and the Mexican star appeared to spit his mouthguard out to gain extra seconds to recover.
The referee too failed to restart the action as soon as possible, giving Navarrete important seconds to recover that allowed him to see out the round.
Navarrete came back into the contest as he started to mix his shots, however, Wilson was able to rock him again at the end of the sixth.
Liam Wilson hurts Emanuel Navarrete with a left hook counter, then drops him in RD4 ? #NavarreteWilson pic.twitter.com/62fqF0USnb
— RINGOFHIGHLIGHTS (@ringofhighlight) February 4, 2023
That would the last meaningful offense from the 26-year-old Wilson as Navarrete gained control.
In the ninth, Navarrete unloaded shot after shot. Wilson’s return of fire wasn’t there and on wobbly legs, the referee halted the contest to give Navarrete the win.
Wilson’s team post-fight was not pleased with the extended count and immediately filed a protest with the Arizona Boxing & MMA Commission. This adds to the allegations post-weigh-in that the scales had been tampered with in Navarrete’s favour.
Wilson drops to 11-2 in his professional career while Navarrete is able to keep his decade-long undefeated streak going to move to 37-1 as a professional.
