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Photo: Mikey Williams / Top Rank The California State Athletic Commission voted unanimously Monday to change WBO super-featherweight champion Emanuel Navarrete’s May 10 unanimous-decision victory over Charly Suarez to a no-contest, with the WBO immediately ordering a rematch.
Reviewing a series of replays that showed a Suarez punch landing exactly where a cut opened widely over Navarrete’s left eyebrow in the ESPN-televised main-event bout at San Diego’s Pechanga Arena, the commissioners ruled “the only fair thing to do” was to convert the outcome to a no-contest.
If the proper replay had been available to officials in the minutes after a ringside doctor stopped the fight over the severity of Navarrete’s cut, Suarez would’ve been declared the winner because Navarrete was unable to continue because of the cut caused by a legal punch.
Instead, referee Edward Collantes, shielded from the incident, had previously ruled the sixth-round cut was caused by an accidental headbutt, sending the bout to the scorecards, which supported Mexico’s three-division champion Navarrete, 77-76, 78-75, 77-76.
“Suarez punched [Navarrete] directly where he got cut, but I’m always against changing a loss to a win,” commissioner Dr. AnnMaria De Mars said at Monday’s meeting.
“It was bang-bang, and hard to see,” before a definitive replay surfaced approximately 30 minutes after the bout was stopped, said another commissioner.
Top Rank Vice President of Boxing Operations Carl Moretti said in the meeting that his company will honor the WBO’s request for a rematch and will do it in a “timely” manner.
Navarrete 39-2-1 (30 KOs) is currently on medical suspension from the California commission until July 9.
Ricardo Navalta, an attorney for Philippines’ Suarez 18-0 (10 KOs), said he understood the commission’s ruling, but wanted to emphasize the toll of the event on his fighter.
“These guys spend their whole lives for a night like this. To feel that you didn’t get a fair shake, that’s pretty tough. This kid has already been deprived of his moment,” Navalta said.
