Risky propositio for Charly

So much is at stake when WBO No. 1 superfeatherweight Charly Suarez takes on dangerous Manuel Avila in a scheduled 10-round bout at the Orange Show Events Center in San Bernardino, California, on Saturday night (Sunday morning, Manila time). Suarez, 37, is in line for a second shot at WBO champion Emanuel Navarrete or a rumored big-money fight against comebacking Ukraine superstar Vasyl Lomachenko but a loss to Avila will throw both options out the window.

Suarez hasn’t fought in over a year or since his highly-controversial duel against Navarrete in San Diego. He was clearly robbed of the crown when referee Edward Collantes ruled Navarrete unfit to continue at 0:01 of the eighth round due to a cut over his left eye. The outcome went to the scorecards when Collantes said the cut was opened by an accidental headbutt. At that point, Navarrete was ahead on the three judges’ scorecards with Lou Moret and Fernando Villarreal tallying 77-76 and Pat Russell, 78-75. So Navarrete retained the title via a unanimous technical decision. However, a video replay showed the cut was caused by a legitimate punch, leading the WBO to later nullify the verdict and declare a no-contest.

WBO’s decision was a travesty. Why declare a no-contest when Navarrete should’ve lost by a technical knockout? Justice wasn’t served. Suarez won it fair and square. He was robbed not once but twice. First by Collantes and second by WBO. To make matters worse, WBO didn’t order an immediate rematch despite the murky ending and allowed Navarrete to meet Eduardo Nuñez in a WBO/IBF unification title bout in Arizona last February. It’s like a conspiracy by the boxing powers to keep Suarez out of the championship picture.

Navarrete, 31, is obviously avoiding another meeting with Suarez. After defeating Nuñez, he’s now in talks to battle WBC ruler O’Shaquie Foster. The longer Navarrete takes to agree to a rematch, the older Suarez gets. That appears to be Navarrete’s gambit.

Avila, 34, is a trialhorse. Since turning pro in 2010, his career has been interrupted by layoffs of two, three and four years. But Avila has won his last three outings, the most recent was only two months ago. His record is 26-2-1, with nine KOs and his losses were to three-time world title fighter Joet Gonzalez and former IBF superfeatherweight champion Joseph Diaz.  From the US, the undefeated Suarez messaged that he’s ready for Avila. He can’t afford to lose.