Liam Wilson had his moments vs. Emanuel Navarrete. (Photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images)
Liam Wilson is viewing his next fight against Youssef Dib as an audition to face former Ring Magazine lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr.
The 28-year-old from Caboolture in Queensland will step up to the 135-pound division when he takes on Dib at the WIN Entertainment Centre in Wollongong, New South Wales on July 10 in the main support bout to the junior featherweight fight between Sam Goodman and Chainoi Worawut.
Wilson (13-3, 7 KOs) is looking to find his feet in a new weight class after falling short in his last bout against Oscar Valdez (32-2, 24 KOs) in Glendale, Arizona in March. The otherwise competitive fight was blown wide open in the seventh round when Mexico’s Valdez landed a left hook to the jaw that hurt Wilson, who tried to brawl his way out of trouble.
It was a brave move that made for thrilling TV, but ultimately ended in a loss for Wilson, who was stopped on his feet by referee Mark Nelson at 2:48 mark after absorbing a tremendous amount of punishment.
Back home in Australia, Wilson has been licking his wounds and retooling in the gym.
“I’ve had to go back to the drawing board and fix up a lot of flaws I have made in my fights,” Wilson said at Wednesday’s press conference to officially announce the No Limit show.
“I’m in a position now that I’m all to familiar with, unfortunately. I’m down at the back of the pecking order and I have to rebuild myself back up, show everyone what I am made of and get myself a shot at another world title.”
Wilson came within a whisker of defeating Emanuel Navarrete (38-2-1, 31 KOs) for the vacant WBO junior lightweight title in February last year, detonating a left hook on Mexican’s jaw that put him on Queer Street before bludgeoning him to the canvas in the fourth round in Glendale, Arizona.
But in a veteran move, Navarrete spit out his mouthpiece, buying himself precious time to recover. He would go on to turn the tables on Wilson, dropping him and stopping him in the ninth.
It was the one that got away.
“I’m excited for this fight because I’ve had two world title shots, very close fights for me, I felt like those fights fell through my finger tips,” said Wilson. “Now I’m back to square one. I’m out to prove to everyone that I’m capable of winning a world title and this man is stepping in front of me.
“I’m coming up in weight, it’s going to be a tough fight, but I’m ready, I’m excited. Let’s do it.”
The 31-year-old Dib (21-1, 11 KOs) of Sydney is a solid enough challenge for the rebuilding Wilson. The younger brother of former IBF featherweight titleholder Billy Dib is a fundamentally sound boxer who has shown a good chin to date, while lacking the sort of power Wilson would need to be wary of.
“There’s a lot of pride in this fight because I know his family has a big name in Australian boxing. Billy Dib, Billel Dib and Youssef himself,” said Wilson. “So, I’ve got a lot of pride with it and I’m looking to put on a good fight, a good performance, and to come away with a nice decisive win.”
The real prize in Wilson’s eyes isn’t a victory over Dib, but a potential showdown with domestic rival Kambosos (21-3, 10 KOs). The 30-year-old Sydneysider was knocked out in the 11th round by Ukrainian southpaw Vasiliy Lomachenko (18-3, 12 KOs) in Perth, Western Australia on May 12 and an all-Aussie blockbuster could be just what the doctor ordered when he is ready to get back in the ring.
It’s a fight that Wilson is certainly down for.
“As a team, it’s going to be an experiment,” Wilson said of moving up in weight. “As an amateur, I used to fight at welterweight. The weight I’m fighting as now, I haven’t been that weight since I was 15, 16 years old. Going up to lightweight, we’ll see. If I’m feeling fit and strong, nice and healthy, I may stay there.
“I know George Kambosos is at that weight. If all goes well, I’d like to go for that sort of fight, if it can happen. I don’t know what his plans are, but yeah.
“Going through this camp I’ve seen it as a final eliminator for George Kambosos. I said I would move up to lightweight for George Kambosos and that’s it. But here I am against Youssef Dib and funnily enough, Youssef Dib has called out George Kambosos a few times too.
“I’m doing this camp purely because we both want to fight George Kambosos.
“I hear people back home, the average, everyday person, they always ask me: ‘When are you fighting George Kambosos? When are you going to fix him up and knock him out?’
“I’m like, ‘Listen, I’ll do you the favor, alright?’
“Hopefully we can get it happening.”