Controversial Cut Saves Lackluster Navarrete from Defeat Against Hustling Suarez; Muratalla Decisions Abdullaev for Interim IBF Title – Boxing Results

Luck was on the side of WBO super featherweight champion Emanuel Navarrete (40-2-1, 32 KOs) on Saturday night, with the tired, badly conditioned fighter suffering a cut that led him defeating challenger Charly Suarez (18-1, 10 KOs) by an eight round technical decision at the Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California.

The ringside doctor advised that the fight be stopped in the eighth round due to a cut over Navarrete’s left eye. The cut was ruled to be caused by a headbutt, but replays from ESPN showed it was from a punch from Suarez.

Navarrez fought reasonably well in two of the seven rounds, but was out-hustled by the trimer and better-conditioned Suarez in the others. The judges scored it 78-75, 77-76, and 77-76. I had Suarez winning 79-74

Suarez’s team wants a rematch, but that’s unlikely to happen. Navarrete and his promoters at Top Rank will take any win they can at this point. They’ll likely target one of the other champions or focus on another business-level fight like the one they just had against Oscar Valdez. In theory, Navarrete should give Suarez a rematch, but history tells us that he and Top Rank won’t do it. They didn’t give Robson Conceicao a rematch after he was clearly robbed of a victory against Navarrete, and that was an even more one-sided fight than tonight’s.

Navarrete looked in poor shape tonight, and he would have lost the fight if not for the ringside doctor having it stopped. Even with that, Suarez should have won the fight because he was got the better of Navarrete in five of the seven rounds.

Muratalla defeats Abdullaev

In the chief support bout, lightweight contender Raymond Muratalla (23-0, 17 KOs) beat Zaur Abduallaev (20-2, 12 KOs) by a 12-round unanimous decision to win the IBF interim lightweight title. Muratalla used his powerful jab and uppercuts to win most of the rounds. Abdullaev landed some big shots in every round and staggered Muratalla in the sixth. The scores were 119-109, 119-109, and 118-110.

After the fight, Muratalla said he wanted to fight IBF lightweight champion Vasily Lomachenko next. That has no chance of happening in this lifetime. Loma won’t come back for a low-paying fight against Muratalla where he has nothing to gain financially, and has a chance of being robbed like we saw with poor Suarez. Lomachenko was already robbed once against Devin Haney. He’s not going to let that happen a second time in favor of an up-and-coming fighter.