By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing
“Watching it all back since, (the count) looks worse than what I remember in the ring,” WBO #3 super featherweight Liam Wilson (11-2, 7 KOs) told Fox Sports regarding his world title loss to newly crowned WBO 130-pound champion Emmanuel Navarette (37-1, 31 KOs)
“It should have been over in the fourth,” Wilson stated. “I should be world champion. 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.
“I can handle losing, 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.”
Wilson’s got somewhat of a case, yes Navarete spit out his mouth piece on purpose but he did that because he was hurt and needed more time to recover after being hurt and knocked down. However if anything, an eventual rematch would settle the score.
I don’t know what is the big deal about the count. Navarrete was up wayyyyyyy before the count had reached ten. He got extra time to recover because he spit out his mouthpiece, and that is a whole different thing than having been given a longer count because he didn’t get up on time. I’m not saying it was right of him doing it, anybody that’s a boxing fan knows that against the rules. But he’s not the first guy to do it and won’t be the last. All fighters will do whatever they have to do to get the win.
Jose Luis Castillo vs Diego Corrales, is one of the more notable fights to me where that has happened. The two best fighters of the lightweight division at the time, and Corrales twice spit the mouth piece and gained and advantage from that when he was on the verge of getting knocked out.
Everybody knows what happened after that. And instead of every body complaining like the robbery of the century, most people remember it as one of the best fights ever.
Once again, don’t get the big deal about something that happens quite often in the sport.
I agree. The situation he’s talking about didn’t happen. Navarette was up well before the count so I agree he’s had a right to be sour over the mouthpiece issue but I’m not convinced he had the title all but won at that point.
Navarette was REALY hurt, he couldn’t have recovered in a normal 10 count thus given Wilson a much better chance of finishing the fight.
Wilson got cheated and a big money fight will now be made for Navarette but it’s business as usual in the corrupt boxing “business”.
Nah…this was completely normal gamesmanship….certainly nothing that deserves a no contest.
Let go bro…they’ll disregard your request & it’ll turn your head inside out complaining…train hard as your opportunity for another championship belt will present itself sooner than you think.
Not going to happen. Just accept it (the result) and move on.
I hate to break it to you, Colson, but Wilson is correct, and the results WILL be changed to a NC.
Now go have a vape.
Let’s see what happens and you cannot state ‘fact’ on the matter just yet. I’m not saying Wilson is wrong – he may well have been mistreated – but the best he can hope for is a rematch i.e. there is no way, in my view, this result can be changed to a no contest. But let’s see what happens. I believe that boxing needs to address the issue of fighters spitting out their mouthguards. It should be a disqualification – if boxing wants to firmly address it but since when does ‘boxing’ want to address anything seriously?
Zero chance LeKaren
The weigh-in offers more grounds for the rematch. It was utterly blatant cheating.
While the referee intentionally gave a long count, even considering the mouthpiece, it is not as bad as trying to say that Wilson somehow came in at 126 pounds. It’s clear to everyone what happened. They altered the scales by a significant margin so Navarrete could make weight.
It would be comical if was another sport – but this is boxing, a sport where people’s lives are at stake.
This was for the Jr. Light weight title, 130 lbs.
I hate to say it, but, Wilson is a trillion percent in the right and right. That would be the right call. The ref did give Navarette preferential treatment. The count was ridiculous and unfair.
It’s not over until it’s over , my friend . You knew what you were brought in for , so must’ve finished the job . In the hostile territory must win by KO to get a draw
Probably should have pressed more to get him out of there the next round while he was still hurt. Wilson at +750 was looking good until then.
Wilson got knocked out! But there was some cheating going on there! Navarrette won’t get past the elites in that weight class!!
If a fighter spits out his mouthpiece on purpose, then he should have to fight the remainder of the round without it. Otherwise every boxer can just spit out their mouthpiece whenever they get hit with a good shot & then get extra rest.
I’ve always thought that too. They want to spit it out then it’s on them to continue hope the dental plan covers the damage.
re match is fair and right
Not going to happen kid. However, you put up agreat fight and you will be getting other opportunities. If anything they should have took a póint away for spitting out his mouthpiece.
I got hit in the Adam’s Apple once during a fight & my whole mouthpiece came loose & I nearly choked on it. I didn’t spit it out like a coward; I simply got on my bike & put it back in place. As far as I’m concerned, purposely spitting out a mouthpiece to get extra rest is an act of cowardice!
Wilson learn to use your size as an advantage. When Navarette got into a rhythm you should’ve clinched and bullied him into the corner forcing him backwards would’ve been the key to winning but instead you kept your head on the line of fire and elected to trade looking for counters while backpedaling. Bad gameplan or refusal to listen and of course your request will inevitably be denied.
This was not a long count, it is of course a sham that a fighter can get away with spitting out their mouth piece, but as so many have mentioned before it’s not a long count. I think it might be worth considering a rule that deducts a point from a fighter for purposefully spitting out their mouthpiece, but I doubt that will happen. If this decision was overturned you’d have hundreds in the backlog to consider overturning too. One that comes easily to mind is Corrales vs Castillo, it can’t get more blatant than that one and yet it was a career defining win for Corrales.
It’s like a low blow. If you do it more than once a point deduction will follow.
I agree Wilson KO’d Navarrete in the 4th round. When Navarrete spit his mouthpiece the referee should have stopped the fight.
It won’t be overturned. But certainly one would wonder, if the referees last name was not FLORES, and the match had been in Australia and this had happened. Would the outcome have been different. Certainly a point should have been deducted for spitting out the mouth piece. But also, if Navarette had continued with out these distractions, would the fight have ended any differently? Had Wilson knocked him down at the beginning of the round, perhaps he would be world champion today.
Navarette does get up before the ten count. But He is very unstable. He looks over to his corner and is most likely directed to spit out his mouthpiece this eats ten seconds off the clock meaning more time for Navarette to clear his head andless time for Wilson to capitalize on his opportunity. Without spitting out his mouth piece this fight may very well have ended in the fourth round. If a no contest isn’t awarded. An immediate rematch should be.
Guy’s, if the ref would have taken a point away from Navarrete it would have given him even more time to recover and maybe KO Wilson even sooner! Either way Navarrete wins by KO END OF STORY!!!
It is called experience, Navarrete is a veteran boxer therefore with a lot of experience, and knows very well the game, so he survived, recovered, and after that whipped Wilson’s ass. The Aussie boxer waste his opportunity of finishing Navarrete in the fifth round, wasn’t intelligent and agressive enough, and lacked of killer instinct, so he should stop crying and complaining, and better luck for him next time, but I doubt it, in a rematch, El Vaquero is going to win again and is going to kayo him again, but even sooner than in this one.
Based on the facts, an immediate rematch should be ordered with a competent referee, but boxing rarely does the right thing.
no rematch for liam he took a beat down navarrate just to strong liam has a good left hook but nothing else liam should stay in australia and work on defence navarrate going to australia to fight liam would not do him any good navarrate should fight next contender diaz
We have rules in place. Just because he took advantage of a rule it doesn’t mean the rule gets changed to give you a better result. If a righter loses a mouth piece the ref calls time if there is a break in the action and it gets cleaned and replaced. If the fighter spits it out on purpose the same thing happens, but the ref can deduct a point. If the fighter does it again the same rule is applied, but at a point the ref can disqualify the fighter. Bottom line is the righter use a tactic that has been used many times and in my bigger fights than this. Just because Wilson lost it doesn’t give him the right to expect special treatment. If you want the rule to change sure stand up and point out how it cost you to lose a fight, but do expect some special treatment. Tyson bites a fighter, we have rules for that, Holyfield bites a fighter… well that got overlooked by many, but the same rule applies. Spitting out a mouth piece is just a tactic and we all remember the best case example with Corrales. If they didnt change that result or alter the rule after that fight why would you expect a special alteration for you? Suck it up and move on.
On side note Chris Byrd former HW champion fell onto hard times. For years he struggled medically and has issues walking, talking and so much (severe neuropathy and chronic pain). I don’t think its been talked about and I’m not sure why. He spent several leaves talking about how boxing almost killed him. Now he has fought hard to recover and guess what. At 50 years old he wants to come back to boxing! I always say do what you want with your life, but Im stepping back on this one. He almost took his life because of the pain and damage to his body. Now because he worked so hard to recover his first thought it to climb back into the ring? Somebody needs to stop this man. (Thoughts?). Hate mentioning it here, but as a fan of boxing for 38 years this wasnt well known and Im just hearing about it.
27 SECONDS TO RECOVER—WAS THE REF NAVARETTE’S DAD ?
Sure know about ” home” decisions or promoter’s pet. I fought last year and lost, but video clearly showed I landed more punches and more significant punches. Sad, it was a rematch that I thought I won that one too. Wilson, hold your head high, your people know, and I’m sure bob arum saw that and will be reaching out to give you a contract.
I thought they already figured the spit out the mouth piece trick?
Wilson was not sitting neutral per the rules Navarrete made a move for a move alerting the referee of Wilson’s position, the delay was on Wilson. Wilson was trying to bum rush a fallen opponent but instead Wilson had to be instructed to enter the neutral corner position so the boxing match could continue by the rules.