Aussie underdog Liam Wilson takes on Emanuel Navarrete in WBO super featherweight title bout

Australian fighters recently developed a habit of upsetting the fight establishment. Australian boxers are not intimidated by being viewed as underdogs, as evidenced by their victories over Manny Pacquiao at Lang Park, Teófimo López in New York, Teófimo Kambosos, and Mairis Briedis on the Gold Coast. That's fantastic news for Liam Wilson (11-1, 7 KOs), who will face Mexican knockout artist Emanuel Navarrete (36-1, 30 KOs), who is presently riding a ten-fight winning streak, for the WBO super featherweight world championship on Saturday afternoon (AEDT). Amazingly, Wilson will finally have a chance in his 13th bout as a professional. If those facts alone are not enough to tip the scales against the challenger, his side is also claiming that a controversial weigh-in was interfered with to let Navarrete to enter much above the 59 kg super featherweight limit. The Queenslander weighed 126.3 lb, which is over two kilogrammes under the limit, which is almost shockingly low. It would be Wilson's lightest weigh-in for a professional bout and virtually under the featherweight limit if the scales were true. But given that Navarrete topped the scales almost exactly on the limit, interference would raise severe questions about whether he actually weighed less than the limit.I expected him to act more professionally given that he is a two-time world champion. It all makes sense for him; he is not gaining weight and it is evident that the scales have been tampered with to make him gain weight. Twenty minutes before to the official weigh-in, Wilson claims he weighed himself and was "barely under" the restriction. His crew is in uproar, especially after video appeared to show a guy touching the weigh-in scales before the big event. The paradox is that the drama paradoxically gives the combatant confidence.

What he had done was either ignore me or hadn't prepared like a genuine champion, he concluded. According to Wilson's manager, Steve Scanlan, he will be "demanding answers" and may decide not to participate in the fight. Wilson asserted that he will probably still enter the ring, particularly in light of the fact that he has already defeated a fighter who entered the bout heavily. It hasn't altered my perspective... He said, "I'm using this as inspiration." Despite the controversy, Wilson's potential in this bout is his greatest since turning professional. Wilson will be keeping a promise to his late father, who he said he would become a world champion right before he passed away when Wilson was only 14 years old, by participating in this bout.However, it might have been so much different, as is so frequently the case in such a harsh sport.On the undercard of Tim Tszyu's three-round annihilation of Steve Spark in Newcastle, Wilson was humiliated by Joe Noynay.In the contest, Wilson was knocked to the ground four times, seriously wounding the Queensland fighter's high hopes.Wilson returned six months later and defeated the Filipino fighter in Brisbane, despite the fact that he was over nine pounds over the weight restriction. After defeating Matias Rueda in Brisbane, he switched the WBO Asia Pacific belt he had won for the WBO International strap, moving him up to third place in the WBO rankings and giving him a chance to challenge Shakur Stevenson for the vacant championship.

Despite being a clear underdog entering the ring in Glendale, Arizona, the Caboolture boxer has a chance to join IBF cruiserweight champion Opetaia as Australia's sole active male boxing world champions.A two-weight world champion with cannon balls for fists who hasn't lost in more than ten years stands in the 26-year-path. old's The 28-year-old Navarrete is the undisputed favourite based only on lineage. The quick-punching Navarrete is the current WBO featherweight champion, a title he has worn since October 2020. He is on a 30-fight, ten-year winning run.Navarrete is a champion at featherweight and super bantamweight as well, but this will be his first time moving up to the 130-pound (58.9 kg) limit. Wilson, though, feels that the Mexican will lose because of the strength that comes with weight gain.

As the Australian stared down on the Mexican champion throughout the bout, Wilsweight's advantage in height was made clear. In comparison to Navarrete, Wilson claimed to be "larger, stronger, and just naturally bigger as a person." "I think I will win quite easily if I can establish my dominance early in the battle," the fighter said.Wilson is taller, Navarrete said to reporters through a translator, but he added that there was "nothing to be concerned about." I know hard-hitting boxers, the man continued. It's typical for me. Navarrete will become just the tenth Mexican boxer to win world championships in three separate weight classes if he prevails. The achievement of another objective in his career would be to become a three-division world champion, he stated.