Liam Wilson’s title bid has sadly fallen short after Emanuel Navarrete defeated the tough Aussie via TKO in Round Nine to take home the vacant WBO junior lightweight world championship.

Wilson dropped the Mexican for the first time in his glittering career in round four, sparking hopes of an all-time upset given the severe underdog status the Queenslander had going into the fight.

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However, Navarrete then received an extremely favourable count from referee Chris Flores from the moment he hit the deck.

Once the Mexican rose to his feet, he then spat out his mouthguard to chew up valuable seconds as he got his bearings back after being rocked by the Aussie.

All up, it took 27 seconds from Navarrete being dropped to the fight resuming, but ultimately there was little time left before the end of the fourth round.

In fact, Fox Sports Australia has confirmed Wilson’s promoters No Limit immediately launched an official protest.

Wilson even thought he’d “won the fight” after the knockdown, given the lengthy amount of time it took for the fight to resume.

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It was the opening Wilson needed to have a chance after the two had a cagey start to the bout.

Although Wilson had the stronger of the opening half of the fight, it was Navarrete who gained the ascendancy as the fight wore on and bloodied Wilson’s nose in the seventh.

Navarrete would then go on to unleash a flurry of blows to start the ninth, one of which dropped Wilson.

From then on, it was one-way traffic in the ninth as the referee ultimately decided to wave off the contest, improving Navarrete’s record to 37-1 while Wilson went to 11-2.

OLYMPIAN STUNS WITH BRUTAL UPPERCUT

American Olympian Richard Torrez Jr has decimated James Bryant with a thunderous left uppercut that ultimately brought an early end to the fight.

Torrez Jr, who won his fifth professional fight and earned his fifth finish, was dominant from the get-go against his older rival and refused to give him a second to breathe.

The bout came to a close when Torrez Jr dropped Bryant with a perfectly-placed uppercut that sent the latter tumbling to the canvas, but he managed to recover in time and was saved by the bell at the end of the first round.

However, upon returning to his corner, Bryant’s team declared him unable to continue as Torrez Jr got the main card off to a perfect start.

Torrez lands HUGE uppercut to end fight | 00:51

STAR SUFFERS NASTY CUT IN DIRTY BATTLE

Andres Cortes suffered a nasty cut just above his left eye as a result of a headbutt in his junior lightweight bout.

Cortes copped the brutal gash when his head clashed against Luis Melendez’s cranium, although he managed to fight through the pain.

When he went to the corner after the round in which he suffered the cut, Cortes’ cutman ‘Stitch’ Duran did a wonder job to ensure it wouldn’t bleed.

But just before the seventh round began, the referee brought the doctor up to the canvas to assess the injury.

The doctor allowed the contest and Cortes to continue, as he racked up the punches against Melendez.

The latter at one point was involved in an unsportsmanlike act when he pressed his glove into the cut when the two clinched, but it did little to halt Cortes’ advances.

Cortes would go on to win via unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring the contest 100-90 in his favour.

RESULTS

MAIN CARD (from 2pm AEDT)

Liam Wilson def by Emanuel Navarrete via TKO (Round 9) for the vacant WBO junior lightweight title

Arnold Barboza Jr vs Jose Pedraza via UD (97-93, 96-94 x 2)

Richard Torrez Jr def James Bryant via TKO (end of Round One)

PRELIMS (from 11:10am AEDT)

Andres Cortes def Luis Melendez via UD (100-90 x 3)

Nico Ali Walsh def Eduardo Ayala via UD (60-53, 59-55 x 2)

Lindolfo Delgado def Clarence Booth via UD (80-71, 79-72 x 2)

Emiliano Vargas def Francisco Duque via UD (40-36 x 3)