Emanuel Navarrete survives early scare, musters TKO to become 3-division champion

Emanuel Navarrete had to dust himself off from a knockdown en route to a ninth-round technical knockout over Liam Wilson to capture the vacant WBO world super featherweight title and become a three-division champion earlier today at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, USA.

Navarrete, 28, was sent for a trip to the canvas with a barrage of punches in round 4 as the massive underdog Wilson proved that he was not in any way a walk in the park. Out on his feet and hurt, the Mexican rose to beat the count and continued to fight.

Navarrete took control of the bout in the second half as he unleashed his patented volume punching to the head and body that bloodied the Australian. Smelling blood, Navarrete trapped Wilson to the ropes in round 9 and unleashed clubbing punches.

With Wilson still on his feet but not punching back, the referee prompted to stop the contest at the 1:57 mark of round 9. The win improved Navarrete's professional record to 37-1 with 31 knockouts while Wilson dropped to 11-2 with 7 knockouts.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News