By REYNALD MAGALLON
Filipino world title contender Charly Suarez essayed a sensational first-round knockout against Mexican Manuel Avila to not only win the World Boxing Organization (WBO) International Super Featherweight belt at the National Orange Show event Center in San Bernardino, California on Sunday, July 19 (Manila time).
The pride of Davao del Norte showed no signs of rust in the opening round, rocking the Mexican with several big right hands before landing a combination — the last a left to the temple – that got the job done for Suarez.
Avila tried to get back up but the legs were obviously no longer under him as the referee stopped the fight with 29 seconds left in the first round.
With the win, not only Suarez kept his record unblemished, now at 19-0 slate, but more importantly preserved his mandatory challenger status for his rematch against WBO and International Boxing Federation (IBF) unified super featherweight champion Emanuel Navarrete.
It was Suarez’s first fight since the controversial no contest against Navarrete in May 2025. The 36-year-old Filipino pug could have won that fight if not for the referee ruling that the cut on Navarrete’s head, which prompted the doctor to stop the fight, was caused by a headbutt instead of a punch from Suarez.
Since then, the WBO had ordered a rematch but Navarrete went for a unification fight against Eduardo Nunez and won the IBF belt.
Suarez, on the other hand, although continuously training, went a year without a fight, forcing his camp to take on Avila as tuneup fight ahead of the looming Navarrete rematch
Avila dropped to a 26-3-1 record.
