Charly Suarez requesting WBO to enforce mandate and direct Emanuel Navarrete to negotiating table

On the heels of his impressive first-round knockout over established contender Manuel Avila Saturday night (July 18), Filipino super featherweight Charly “King’s Warrior” Suarez and his promoter, Sampson Lewkowicz, are requesting the WBO to follow up on their previous mandate and order unified WBO/IBF junior-lightweight champion Emanuel Navarrete to begin negotiations for a rematch.

Fighting in the night’s co-main event at the NOS Events Center in San Bernardino, California, and live on ProBoxTV, Suarez, 19-0 (11 KOs), of Manila, brutalized and knocked out Avila, 26-3-1 (9 KOs), of Fairfield, California, at 2:31 of the first round to maintain his mandatory WBO No. 1 status and win the WBO International super featherweight championship.

Citing a desire to stay sharp while waiting to rematch Navarrete, and despite returning from nearly 14 months inactivity, 37-year-old Suarez showed no signs of ring rust and passed the potentially tough test with flying colors, landing several other crisp right hands before the finishing right-hand blow at 2:31 of the opener.

Suarez and Navarrete met for the first time in May of last year and the fight was halted in the eighth due to a Navarrete cut over his left eye that was ruled to have been caused by an accidental headbutt.

After going to the scorecards, the three judges’ original verdict was a unanimous technical decision in favor of Navarrete. However, the fight was changed to a No Contest when the California State Athletic Commission reviewed video replays that showed the cut had been caused by a punch and that, ultimately, Suarez should have been awarded the victory.

The WBO ordered a rematch between the pair, however Navarrete, who was only the WBO champion when he faced Suarez, was first permitted to unify the title against then IBF champ Eduardo Nunez.

Navarrete won the fight by eleventh-round stoppage.

“By destroying Manuel Avila, Charly Suarez proved once again he is the top contender to Emanuel Navarrete, and we ask the WBO to enforce their order and direct his team to start negotiating for a rematch,” said Sampson Lewkowicz.

“Thank you to Garry Jonas and ProBoxTV for giving Charly this high-profile opportunity to show his talents and make a strong case for another title shot.”

“Charly’s dream is to be world champion, and we feel he deserves another shot at the title,” said Suarez’s manager/trainer Delfin Boholst. “Avila was a capable opponent, and Charly had no problem with him. We are ready for another shot at the world title.”