Queenslander Liam Wilson was hoping his fight with Mexican veteran Oscar Valdez in Arizona this week would lead to a world title fight but now it will actually be one.
The WBO announced overnight that the winner of the super-featherweight showdown on Saturday (AEDT) at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale would be declared the interim world champion.
That means three Australian boxers will fight for world titles within 24 hours with Tim Tszyu fighting Sunday (AEDT) in Las Vegas and looking to add the WBC super-welterweight belt to his WBO strap with victory over Sebastian Fundora.
Victoria’s Michael Zerafa faces another American, Erislandy Lara, for the WBA middleweight world title on the same card.
The interim title became available to Wilson after three division superstar Emanuel Navarrete elected to move up and fight Denys Berinchyk for the vacant WBO lightweight world title.
In sanctioning the bout the WBO announced that Mexican Navarrete must fight the winner of Wilson-Valdez within 120 days of his May 18 bout if he decides to return to the 130lb (59kg) division, which is unlikely given his weight struggles.
If Navarrete wins and decides to stay up at lightweight, whoever holds the interim title “shall be elevated to full champion status” and face a mandatory challenger within 180 days.
Should Navarrete lose to Berinchyk, the WBO said it reserved the right to determine whether the super featherweight title would be declared vacant or not.
Legendary boxing promoter Bob Arum said the interim title added another level to the high-stakes battle.
“This not only promises to be a sensational fight, but with the WBO interim title on the line, the winner will have tremendous opportunities in a loaded weight class,” Top Rank boss Arum said in a statement.
While the WBO sanction is exciting news for Wilson, the 28-year-old would also relish another crack at Navarrete after a controversial loss just over ago.
Wilson floored the heavy favourite in the fourth round last February, but the champion drew on all of his experience to turn a 10-second count into a 27-second recovery before going on to stop the Australian in the ninth round.
There were also issues with the scales during the weigh-in but Wilson told AAP he and his team were on guard for any “weird business” against 33-year-old Valdez.
Former world champion Valdez (31-2, 23KOs) suffered a points loss against Navarrete in Arizona last August.
“The whole team is alert and ready for any sort of weird business to happen, but I know Valdez is a true professional and I expect him and his team to come professionally,” Wilson said.
“I trust that the whole thing is going to run smoothly.
“Experience wasn’t on my side in that fight but a year has gone by since then and I’ve had two good fights back in Australia, a lot of rounds under my belt and I think I’ll be at my best come fight night.”
Source Agencies
