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| Emanuel Navarrete got away with could have been a major upset by Charly Suarez as a cut above the left eye became the center of controversy. Top Rank Boxing |
MANILA--Charly Suarez and Emanuel Navarrete put up a classic Filipino-Mexican clash in front of a sell-out crowd at the Pechanga Arena in San Diego, but it ended disappointingly.
The clash ended after the seventh round when Navarette suffered a gruesome cut in his left eyebrow from what seemed like a straight left from Suarez in the sixth.
However, the referee ruled it an accidental headbutt that caused the bloody mess on the Mexican champ, as the ringside physician halted the bout before the eighth round, resulting in a technical decision.
With Navarrete winning the early rounds, the three judges scored it 78-75, 77-76, and 77-76 for him as he escaped with a now controversial win to keep the WBO junior lightweight title.
Fight commentator Tim Bradley believed that it was the solid Suarez punch that caused the bleeding and that Suarez, who suffered his first loss as a pro, should be given the TKO win.
For the Filipino faithful, it would have been a different story if the fight continued after the eighth as the cut visibly disrupted "Vaquero's" vision as the 36-year-old Suarez, who is hungry for world title supremacy, smelled blood and immediately connected effective combinations, hurting the Mexican.
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