‘It kills me’: Aussie Liam Wilson blasts referee’s dodgy act in boxing robbery

Australian boxer Liam Wilson has accused a referee of using seriously dodgy tactics to rob him of his maiden world title.

The referee puts the mouthguard back in.

Australian boxer Liam Wilson has slammed the referee that robbed him of a maiden world title, claiming he helped his wounded opponent with a dodgy mouthguard tactic.

Wilson lost his WBO super featherweight world title fight on Saturday to Emanuel Navarrete after the Mexican secured a stoppage victory in the ninth round.

But many believe the fight should have been over well before then after Wilson knocked Navarrete to the canvas with a brutal combination in the fourth round.

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Referee Chris Flores inexplicably gave Navarrete 27 seconds to recover, far longer than the standard standing eight count, before allowing the fight to continue.

In a series of delaying tactics, Navarrete spat out his mouthguard only for Flores to pick it up and put it back in his mouth upside down.

Wilson believes the referee put Navarrete’s mouthguard in upside down in a deliberate ploy to buy him more time.

“There was a lot of fiddling around, buying time,” a shattered Wilson told reporters on Sunday.

The ref picks Navarrete’s mouthguard up.

And puts it back in upside down.

“He picked the mouthguard off the ground after he spat it out and he put it in the fighter’s mouth upside down. Just fiddling around. There’s another 10 seconds there.

“It’s enough to get your composure back and at least finish off the round. It cost me time as well because I could have got in there.

“Fair play to him. I think his corner was in his ear. I think he looked at his corner and they told him to spit it out. I think he was in a world of trouble.

“When he got dropped he was trying to grab the rope and he wasn’t anywhere near the rope. I feel like the ref was on his side because he put the mouthguard in upside down.

“It is what it is. You have to do what you have to do to win.”

The 27-second pause came towards the end of the fourth round, meaning Wilson was denied a chance to strike a knockout blow and Navarrete had even more to recover before the fifth round.

“If the count was nice and smooth and quick, it would have been another 20 odd seconds,” Wilson said.

“It kills me because in that moment I was so close to becoming world champion.

“I really think I was one punch away from ending the fight. He was already in a pretty bad state and you’re one punch away from it being all over.

Liam Wilson believes boxing officials didn’t want him to win. (Photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images)

Liam Wilson knocked down Emanuel Navarrete in the fourth round. (Photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images)

“He didn’t mind stopping the fight for me. But when it was the other way around, there was well and truly more than eight seconds given to Navarrete.

“It’s all good to say I was hurt but it shouldn’t have got there because I hurt him.”

Wilson believes the contentious weigh-in saga, the 27-second count and the mouthguard tactics are proof the referee and officials didn’t want him to win the fight.

“It definitely seemed that way,” he said.

“I knew I was definitely up against it from the get go. Obviously that really prolonged count, that’s when I knew I had more than just a fight in front of me.

“I’ve got the officials, the weigh-in situation and the long count when I dropped him. I knew there was more than a fight on my hands.

Liam Wilson looks shattered as Emanuel Navarrete wins the WBO super featherweight title fight. (Photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images)

“It was pretty blatantly evident they were against me. They wanted to make the Navarrete vs Oscar Valdez fight. They had a date scheduled for it in May or June, so they were looking past me from the get go.

“After the scales situation, I knew they were out to sort of get me. They obviously did something there.

“(I) got to the fight, I’ve dropped him and they weasled their way out of that one as well.

“I don’t want to be that guy that gets on camera and sounds like a sore loser, but it’s when the thing I’ve been working hard for for 17 years just got taken away from me by some guy who probably hasn’t had frickin boxing gloves on in his life.”

With an 11-2 record, Wilson still has plenty of his career ahead of him and said he would open to fighting Navarrete in a rematch for the same belt.

“The goal is still the same,” he said.

“I am going to win a world title.”

Originally published as ‘It kills me’: Aussie Liam Wilson blasts referee’s dodgy act in boxing robbery