Just weeks after his controversial world title defeat, Aussie boxer Liam Wilson has revealed his plan to take on former unified lightweight champion George Kambosos in an all-Aussie showdown.
Wilson was on the brink of of one of the biggest upsets in Australian boxing history when he dropped Emanuel Navarrete while fighting for the vacant WBO super featherweight title.
The Mexican favourite was allowed 27 seconds to recover, after spitting out his mouthguard and prolonging the count, before rallying in later rounds and stopping the Aussie in the ninth and become a three-division champion.
Wilson’s team have launched a protest over the extended stoppage, hoping for a rematch or the bout to be ruled a no-contest, but whatever happens they’d like to take on Kambosos soon.
‘Either way, if it (the Navarrete fight) comes off as a no-contest and there’s a rematch for the title, I’m down for it,’ Wilson told ABC Sport.
Just weeks after his controversial world title defeat, boxer Liam Wilson (pictured before his bout with Emanuel Navarrete) has revealed his plan to take on former unified lightweight champion George Kambosos in an all-Aussie showdown
Wilson was on the brink of of one of the biggest upsets in Australian boxing history when he dropped Emanuel Navarrete while fighting for the vacant WBO super featherweight title
‘Or even if they keep it as a loss and a rematch is allowed and I’m fighting the champion this time in Navarrete, if we can get the rematch for that belt, I’m all for it.
‘If it’s not the rematch, I’d love to have an all-Australian showdown with George Kambosos. Those are the only two fights I’m really thinking about at the moment.
‘I’d step up to lightweight, where he’s comfortable, I’m all for that as well.’
Kambosos etched his name in Australian boxing folklore with a stunning points victory over Teofimo Lopez in their 2021 unified lightweight championship grudge match by stripping him of his WBO, WBA and IBF titles.
However, since then the Aussie has lost his titles in back to back bouts with Devin Haney.
CEO of No Limit Boxing George Rose says he expects Navarrete to turn down a rematch with Wilson – instead choosing to take on fellow Mexican Oscar Valdez.
‘They’ll do that (bout). Depending on how long Liam wants to recover – he did have a long camp over there in the United States as well – depending what he wants to do and is ready to go again, we’ll just go from there,’ Rose told foxsports.com.au
Wilson could make a claim to fight the winner of Valdez and Navarrete, but Rose isn’t confident when that would be.
Kambosos etched his name in Australian boxing folklore with a stunning points victory over Teofimo Lopez in their 2021 unified lightweight championship grudge match by stripping him of his WBO, WBA and IBF titles
However, since then the Aussie has lost his titles in back to back bouts with Devin Haney
‘It honestly depends when they fight,’ he said. ‘They’re notoriously slow with their turnarounds of fights over there in the States. Over here, a lot of our guys like to fight regularly, they want multiple fights every year.
‘Liam could end up having a few fights before they even have that title fight.’
Kambosos recently declined the opportunity to fight Shakur Stevenson and is weighing up a number of options as to who to fight next.
An all-Aussie super fight with Wilson would be lucrative and potentially a good way to get his career back on track.
An all-Aussie super fight with Wilson would be lucrative proposition to Kambosos
Wilson’s manager Steve Scanlan believes Wilson will give Kambosos a run for his money, too.
‘Liam has the utmost respect for George. He knows he was a unified world champion, but it would be a wonderful opportunity for Liam to showcase what he has got against a great fighter like George,’ he said.
‘Liam is not afraid to take risks and we all believe in him so much. If he really wanted to have a crack at George Kambosos and the opportunity is there for him to do it, we would absolutely look to start talks on it.
‘George has the speed and the experience but then again, Liam has the potential to knock anybody out.
‘Kambosos against Liam Wilson would be a cracker … I don’t think there would be a bigger fight in Australia.’
