RIC Navalta, the manager of Charly Suarez, has asked the aid of the World Boxing Organization in their plea with the California State Athletic Commission to overturn the controversial unanimous technical decision that enabled Mexican Emanuel Navarrete to keep his WBO junior lightweight title at the expense of the Filipino fighter in their title clash last May 11 (May 12 in Manila).
The CSAC is scheduled to hold a hearing on the case today (Monday in the US), with the California boxing body inclined to either award a no-contest or a technical knockout in favor of Suarez, according to news reports.
The ring physician stopped the match in the seventh round at the Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California, after Navarrete suffered a severe cut on his left eyebrow, ostensibly a result of a head butt, which the video boxing replay supervisor affirmed.
But a more thorough video review of the incident showed clearly that the cut was caused by Suarez’s left hook and not a head butt, which should have given the 36-year-old underdog from San Isidro, Davao del Norte a victory by TKO.
In asking the CSAC to make an official review of the video of the incident, Navalta also requested that it “engage with the WBO to support the following corrective actions:
“An official review of the official fight footage of the WBO Rules and Officials Committee;
“A correction of the official result from a decision to a technical knockout in favor of Charly Suarez, or alternatively, a declaration of a No Contest, with a mandated rematch due to a misapplication of the rules affecting the match’s outcome.
Navalta said the appeal was “submitted in good faith, with the shared goal of protecting the integrity of the sport, ensuring the CSAC regulations are properly applied, and that fighters are awarded outcomes consistent with the rules under which they compete.”
Whether the verdict winds up as a no-contest or a TKO triumph for Suarez, a rematch that the public is clamoring for would likely be held to decide who is the better boxer between the two protagonists following their exciting and action-packed initial encounter.
