Liam Wilson had his moments vs. Emanuel Navarrete. (Picture by Mikey Williams/High Rank Inc by way of Getty Pictures)
Liam Wilson doubles down on problem to Kambosos after knocking out Youssef Dib in eight
By Anthony Cocks
Liam Wilson’s profession hung within the steadiness as he walked in the direction of the ring to face Youssef Dib in his light-weight debut on the WIN Leisure Centre in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia on Wednesday night time.
It was hoped {that a} transfer as much as the 135-pound weight class would rejuvenate his profession.
It did.
Wilson stopped Dib within the eighth spherical, and instantly renewed his name to face George Kambosos Jr.
The plucky 28-year-old from Caboolture in Queensland had been having a tough time of issues of late. Two journeys to america to face world class junior light-weight opponents previously 18 months had resulted in disastrous vogue. Murderous punchers Emanuel Navarrete and Oscar Valdez completed him off inside the gap of what had been in any other case aggressive fights, leaving him languishing with a file of 2-2 in his final 4 outings.
Critics will argue that Sydneysider Dib, 31, was tailormade for Wilson, and in a way he was. In opposition to Navarrete and Valdez, Wilson solely received into hassle when he opted to commerce with the heavy-handed Mexican duo. Dib, with a modest file of 11 knockouts out of 21 wins in opposition to one loss, was by no means going to be the man to shake him up early and drag him right into a brawl of their scheduled 10-round struggle.
For the primary two rounds Dib used each inch of the ring, circling left and proper and difficult Wilson to come back discover him. The sport plan appeared to be to frustrate Wilson into making errors. When that didn’t work, Dib knew he would wish to interact extra.
Issues heated up in late in spherical three when a Wilson proper uppercut adopted by a left rip discovered their goal. To not be outdone, Dib fired house a proper cross to the jaw.
The fourth spherical noticed the physique assault come into play for Wilson as he fired off a pair of left hooks downstairs late within the spherical earlier than discovering Dib’s chin with a crunching proper hand. Dib regrouped within the fifth, bloodying Wilson’s nostril early in proceedings however had the favor returned late in the identical stanza.
Dib pushed ahead within the sixth, touchdown counter rights over the left hand lead of Wilson, who was wanting a little bit reckless. Late within the spherical Wilson landed a jarring left hook and a stiff proper cross, however Dib had already banked his greatest spherical of the struggle thus far.
Within the seventh, Wilson poured on the stress, decided to see if Dib might face up to his ferocious assaults. On the midway level, a thunderous rip to the physique visibly damage Dib. And though he snuck by means of a few good proper palms himself, the assault to the midriff left him reeling.
Sensing he had his opponent damage, Wilson went in for the kill within the eighth – and he did it in type. A brief left hook to the whiskers rocked Dib early within the spherical, sending him backwards on his heels. Wilson jumped on him, pushing him again to present himself a little bit house, then landed an extended left hook to the chin of Dib who was backed up in opposition to the ropes. One remaining left hook crumpled Dib to the canvas.
Referee Les Worry stopped the competition on the 0:45 mark of the spherical. Wilson was main on all three judges’ scorecards on the time of the stoppage, 68-65 and 67-66 twice.
The end was as lovely because it was savage.
“The sport airplane was to field and choose my photographs,” stated Wilson (14-3, 8 KOs) after the win on the Sam Goodman vs Chainoi Worawut undercard. “I knew if I paced myself, the shot would come. I didn’t even imply to harm him however once I did, I adopted it up with one other couple of left hooks.”
Wilson has been calling out former Ring light-weight champion George Kambosos Jr (21-3, 10 KOs) for a while and he didn’t let the chance slip him by within the post-fight interview.
“I’ve been calling out for that struggle for fairly a while now,” Wilson stated of the 31-year-old Sydneysider, who’s 1-3 in his previous 4 bouts.
“Me and my crew, my supervisor Glen Jennings, we actually need that struggle. The transfer to light-weight tonight was purely for that purpose.
“It’s a struggle that Australia deserves. And doesn’t George need his personal home showdown? I actually do. Let’s get it on. Let’s get it occurring.”
