Filipino pugilist Charly Suarez (18-1, 10 KOs) should’ve won a hard-earned title on Sunday. Instead, his gritty performance will go down as a loss—for now at least—after Emanuel Navarrete (40-2-1, 32 KOs) retained his WBO junior lightweight title with a controversial unanimous decision victory at Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California.
Navarrete won a razor-thin decision, 78-75, 77-76, and 77-76, after the fight was called off in the eighth round due to a nasty cut on the Mexican’s left eyebrow, which he sustained in round 6. Referee Edward Collantes ruled the cut as being caused by an accidental clash of heads, even though replays later on clearly showed it was caused by a punch—a left straight that grazed Navarrete’s eyebrow.
Collantes’s ruling allowed the fight to go to the scorecards after ringside doctor Dr. Robert Ruelaz’s recommendation to stop the fight just before the start of the eighth round. Had Collantes ruled the cut was caused by a punch, as was the case here, Suarez would’ve won the fight by technical knockout. Had the fight not been stopped, the Filipino felt he could’ve stopped Navarrete, whom he sensed was losing steam.
“Maybe in the late rounds, I think I [would have] knocked him out,” Suarez said after the fight. “I saw he [was] tired. And his punches is not strong enough.”
Emanuel Navarrete in Control Early, Charly Suarez Coming in Strong Late
Navarrete was in control early in their boxing fight, outlanding Suarez in four of the first five rounds as he relied on his volume punching. But the Filipino fought fire with fire, standing in front of the Mexican as they traded big shots and quick combinations.
Suarez began asserting himself in the sixth as blood gushed out of Navarrete’s nasty cut. He continued pressing the action, landing some crisp right hands on the champion, who appeared to be having trouble seeing out of his blood-soaked left eye.
CompuBox stats further underscored how close this championship fight was, with Suarez throwing 412 punches to Navarrete’s 366 and the champion outlanding the challenger, 98-86. Both men threw over 250 power punches (252 for the Mexican, 302 for the Filipino), with Navarrete landing 82 and Suarez connecting on 75.
Was Charly Suarez Robbed and Will He Get Rematch?
The California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) actually reviewed available footage to ascertain whether or not Collantes made the right call. The commission ultimately ruled in favor of the referees decision as angles available to the CSAC at that time could not provide undisputable evidence to overturn Collantes’s initial ruling.
However, ESPN later released an angle that appears to show a Suarez left straight causing the said cut. With this footage, it is possible that the CSAC could rule the fight a no-contest, according to Sports Illustrated and BoxingScene. In such case, a rematch could be in order between the two combatants.
The 36-year-old Charly Suarez is certainly hoping for an immediate rematch. Top Rank’s Bob Arum seems to agree that another fight is, indeed, needed given the inconclusive ending of the first bout. However, Navarrete’s difficulty making the junior lightweight limit of 130 pounds might complicate talks of the rematch.
