Following unified junior lightweight champion Emanuel Navarrete’s (40-2-1, 33KO) highly controversial May 2025 narrow technical decision win over Charly Suarez (18-0, 10KO), which was later ruled a No Contest, the WBO has finally ordered a rematch to take place.
The momentum of the fight was moving in the challenger’s favor before the bout ended in round 8 due to a cut above the champion’s left eye. The referee ruled that the cut came from an accidental clash of heads, and the fight went to the scorecards. Since Navarrete was slightly ahead, he was awarded the narrow decision. However replays would show that the cut was likely due to a punch thrown by Suarez, in which case the stoppage would have resulted in Suarez winning the bout and Navarrete’s title.
Since their fight, Navarrete became a unified 130lb champ by stopping Eduardo Nunez in the 11th round to win the IBF 130lb belt last month. Now with Navarrete and Suarez having 20 days to reach an agreement before a purse bid is ordered, the unified champ must decide whether to go ahead with a risky title defense against the man who nearly defeated him, or vacate the WBO belt and pursue other opponents.