‘It's been eating at me': The heartbreaking loss that drives Liam Wilson back to world title contention

News.com.au

5 hours ago

Liam Wilson's controversial loss to Emanuel Navarrete stings, but that's not the fight that keeps him up at night.
The 29-year-old feels he was robbed by a controversial decision that night in Arizona against Navarrete, but the result was out of his hands.
It's his loss to Oscar Valdez last year that really stings, and is the driving force behind his quest to earn a third world title shot.
That night, back in Arizona again, he says he was on his way to fulfilling the world title promise he made to his dying father many years earlier.
Wilson rattled the Mexican early on, but couldn't capitalise on his advantage, and was eventually stopped in the seventh round.
And that's the result that still eats him up inside.
'I don't have any regrets with the Navarrete fight, because I believe I caused the upset and I should be world champion,' Wilson told CODE Sports after making weight at 58.84kg for his must-win bout against Argentina's Ayrton Osmar Giminez (58.6kg) in Cairns on Wednesday.
'The Valdez fight though …
'I felt like I let the opportunity to become world champion slip through my fingers.
'The fight was going well, but I didn't stick to the game plan, and that's where I lost the world title.
'That eats at me more than the Navarrete fight. Because that was nothing to do with me or with Navarrete.
'With Valdez, it was all my own undoing.'
Wilson was devastated after the Navarrete fight, but was still able to walk away feeling like a world champion after the referee gave the Mexican an excruciatingly long count after being knocked down.
Being stopped by Valdez though, forced Wilson to reckon with what went wrong.
'It's been eating at me because I've had to come back to the drawing board and really recognise where I went wrong and how I can be better,' he said. 'Against Navarrete, I was just hard done by, so I didn't come back to the gym and work on things to get better.
'The whole world knows I should've been world champion, and I was sort of satisfied with that.
'But the Valdez fight … I was en route to becoming the world champion and just … I let it slip through my fingers.
'That's the one that hurts me the most.'
That doesn't mean he doesn't want revenge against Navarrete. Indeed, the three-division world champion is still at the top of his hit list.
But it won't mean anything unless he can get past Gimenez on Wednesday night.
'I want that rematch with Navarette, whether he has a world title or not,' he said. 'I want that fight back.
'My whole resume is about fighting the best opponents and the toughest fighters out there.
'I'm gonna have another one on Wednesday against Giminez, who reminds me a little bit of Sergio Martinez.
'He's 22-1 and he's ranked number 14 in the world, he's tough as nails and I'm going to have a tough night in the office.
'He boxes and moves and has a good jab, so I'll have to take that away from him. It'll be something new for me, but I'm something new for him too. He hasn't fought anyone like me before.'
A win over Gimenez in his co-main event bout will put Wilson within touching distance of a world title shot once again.
It's the same situation for Wednesday's headliner Liam Paro, who made weight comfortably at 65.2kg ahead of his showdown with American Jonathan Navarro (64.96kg).
'I need to work my way up and earn my stripes again,' Paro said. 'That's when we can talk about world titles again.
'For now, it's about getting the job done in good fashion, then I'll be knocking on the door of another world title shot.
'But for now it's strictly business. Navarro's here to fight and it's gonna be a cracker.'
How to watch Liam Paro and Liam Wilson
The fights are being broadcast on Fox Sports Channel 507 and streamed on Kayo Sports from 7pm.
The main event between Liam Paro and Jonathan Navarro will be simulcast on Fox League from 9pm.