Boxing News: Liam Wilson beats Jackson England to keep title hopes alive, Sam Goodman secures unanimous decision win over Zhong Liu | No Limit
Liam ‘Mr Damage’ Wilson has kept his world title hopes alive after a razor thin decision in a fight of the year contender, in a 10-round slugfest with Jackson England.
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Liam Wilson has called out George Kambosos while narrowly keeping his world title hopes alive after a razor thin decision in a fight of the year contender against $8 underdog Jackson England.
In one of the toughest tests of his career, Wilson fought back from a slow start to claim the win with scores of 96-94, 96-94 and 97-93.
After 10 high-octane rounds, the pair were given a standing ovation at the Star, with Jackson battling through two cuts on his forehead.
Wilson immediately called out former lightweight kingpin Kambosos for what could be a domestic blockbuster.
Kambosos is hoping to line up an IBF world title bout with Vasiliy Lomachenko, but Wilson has thrown his hat in the mix too.
“There’s a few plans, my team’s been working behind the scenes, and I know they have some plans for me,” he said. “But if I made a Christmas list this year, it would be to fight George Kambosos next year.
“That’s what I want. I’m happy to move up to lightweight to fight him. Let’s make this fight happen.
“Let’s make an all-Australian fight happen.
“I know (Kambosos) is having problems making a fight with Lomachenko. If he can’t make that happen, I’ll move up to lightweight to fight him.”
Despite his plans to fight Kambosos, Wilson’s team has been working on getting him back to a super-featherweight world title bout.
The WBO, where Wilson is ranked second, is planning on staging a four-man super featherweight tournament in 2024, with the winner to fight current champion Emanuel Navarrete.
Wilson was robbed against Navarrete in his first crack at a world title in January.
However, if Navarrete moves up to chase bigger fights at lightweight, the winner of the four-man WBO tournament will be claim the vacant title.
The tournament is still in the early stages of planning, but Wilson is looking at fighting number four Bryant Chevalier, while number one Albert Bell takes on number three Archie Sharp.
Wilson’s fight could even be held in Australia.
“Nothing is off the table when it comes to Liam,” No Limit CEO George Rose told this masthead. “We’d love to bring any of those fights to Australia, but Liam is more than happy to head overseas for big fights too.”
From Puerto Rico, Chevalier is 20-1-1 and riding a 12-fight win streak.
The win over England didn’t come easy for Wilson, who struggled with the weight cut earlier in the week.
Slick and aggressive, England started fast and took plenty of the early rounds with his high workrate and sharp footwork.
The tide turned towards Wilson in the sixth, with the Queenslander imposing his size and strength.
Referee Les Fear had the ringside doctor check two cuts over England’s right eye in the seventh as the pace barely slowed over the second half of the bout.
GOODMAN EDGES CLOSER TO WORLD TITLE
Sam Goodman is one step closer to fighting for a world title after unanimous decision win over Zhong Liu.
The Albion Park local scored a lopsided victory with scores of 119-109, 118-111 and 120-108 over the previously undefeated Liu, and now stands on the verge of contending for a super-bantamweight world title.
Goodman is ranked at number one with the IBF and WBO and will watch on eagerly to the Boxing Day blockbuster between Nayoa Inoue and Marlon Tapales.
Future Hall of Famer Inoue holds the WBC and WBO belts, and is looking to add Tapales’ IBF and WBA straps to his impressive trophy cabinet.
Inoue is the heavy favourite, to the tune of just $1.10 at Sportsbet, but is widely rumoured to be considering a move up to featherweight next year.
That leaves Goodman in prime position to fight Inoue, or for the vacant belts at 122-pounds.
“World titles, baby, line ‘em up,” Goodman said of his immediate plans.
“By the end of next year, I want to be a world champion, so that’s the path we’ll map out.”
Despite the one-sided win, Goodman was made to work against an evasive and awkward opponent in Liu.
“What a puzzle he was to figure out,” he said. “I think I’ve got the best footwork in the game, but he was very tricky to pin down.
“People overlooked him, but I wasn’t. I’ve been over to China and I know how good their footwork is.”
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Originally published as Boxing News: Liam Wilson beats Jackson England to keep title hopes alive, Sam Goodman secures unanimous decision win over Zhong Liu | No Limit
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