In this week’s mailbag, we tackle your thoughts on the frustrating end to last weekend’s title fight between Emanuel Navarrete and Charly Suarez, whether heavyweight prospect Dainier Pero has been exposed, some praise for Anthony Cacace following his stoppage win of Leigh Wood, and a desire for Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez to face opponents who are in their prime.

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How is it changed to a no contest? (“California poised to change Emanuel Navarrete-Charly Suarez to no-contest”). Either it was a headbutt and they go to the scorecards, or it was a punch and it is a TKO. How do they justify this ruling? 

-STREET CLEANER

Ryan Songalia’s response: Let’s start off by stating some truths: The cut was caused by a punch. I’m with you on this. Either it was a headbutt or it was a punch, and if the commission can come to the conclusion that we all saw, the next move should be to call the fight a TKO. If the argument instead is that, well, the fight would not have been stopped at that point had it been ruled a punch, then they are opening up a whole new can of worms for themselves. 

Changing the outcome to a no contest or ordering a rematch is the equivalent of mugging a guy and then returning the empty wallet. Fighters only get so many opportunities at a world championship, and every fight is a different fight where anything can happen. The commission has the opportunity to do the right thing; it’s up to them to show they have the courage to do so.

CHARLY SUAREZ DESERVES JUSTICE

This one left too much of a bad taste to ignore. Mistakes happen but, this is boxing. In my opinion, make Suarez interim champ and give Navarrete time to heal. If Navarrete doesn't move up, have a rematch. If he does move up, elevate Suarez to full champ. This takes into consideration the “what if” scenarios and gives a bit of justice to the man at the tail end of his career who gave it all for one last time. Just like some say the headbutt call affected Navarrete’s approach, giving it all one last time at 37 and undefeated for a first and last title shot affects Suarez.

-Deleted

Ryan Songalia’s response: I don’t believe there is a provision in the WBO rules to make Suarez interim champion without a fight, but I think putting him in an interim title fight would be the place to start if you’re a sanctioning body. Navarrete’s cut will need some time to recover, and Suarez would be ready to go sooner than Navarrete. I personally doubt whether Navarrete will ever try to fight again at 130lbs, judging by how tough it was to take off those last three-tenths of a pound at the weigh-in, and he may try to walk away from a rematch for good. In that case, an interim title fight would provide a pathway for Suarez to be champion.

CHARLY SUAREZ ROBBED BY CALIFORNIA COMMISSION

Edward Collantes and Jack Reiss, what corrupt disgraces you both are to boxing. Charly Suarez got the TKO, but the referee and replay judge robbed Suarez of the win and gave the fight to the promoter’s fighter, Emanuel Navarrete. I really despise boxing at these moments. 

-oldschoolfool

Lucas Ketelle’s response: Being a referee is hard. When referee Thomas Taylor did a great job with Richard Torrez Jnr-Guido Vianello, not many applauded. When chaos ensued this weekend with Navarrete-Suarez, everyone was an expert. Thus, the life of a referee. 

This weekend was a moment referees and rules officials dread. An awkward fighter, Navarrete, and a pressure fighter in Suarez, laying it on the line with 50-50 exchanges. Then it happened. It was a boom-boom instant of a right hand landing and a head clash. The referee, Edward Collantes, made the best call he could, and California used replay – but even still, it was a difficult call. After a long period, an angle from the telecast showed it was caused by a punch. Though some will say they saw it immediately, it was a tricky call, but we have a lot of loud voices in boxing. 

Being a referee is not a black-and-white way of thinking. There are a lot of gray areas, and this happened to be one on a big stage. Secondly, I see no corruption, but rather people that wanted to get it right and just couldn’t. A costly mistake that I am sure will be revisited at Jack Reiss’ Sole Arbiter conference later this year. 

The emotion of the moment – seeing an underdog miss out on becoming a champion – is the real kicker for many, but maybe it is a moment where we can grow from this and use replay better in the future. 

DAINIER AND LENIER PERO ARE NOT GOOD HEAVYWEIGHTS

Dainier Pero is going nowhere fast, and his brother is next to get exposed. Dainier almost got stopped by a blown up welterweight (“Dainier Pero, down twice, recovers to remain unbeaten”). Reminds me of Carlos Negron: a big-punching heavyweight with an Oleg Maskaev chin.

-joe strong

Kieran Mulvaney’s response: It is so difficult to judge a fighter’s future based on one trickier-than-expected outing early on. Andre Ward was dropped by Darnell Boone in his seventh fight. Tyson Fury was decked by Steve Cunningham four fights before Fury upended Wladimir Klitschko; plenty of folks think Fury should have lost to John McDermott in his eighth pro bout. Muhammad Ali barely got by Doug Jones.

So there are two ways of looking at Pero’s dalliance with disaster the other night. One is the view you take, that it showed that not only is he not ready for prime time, he never will be. For me, I was taken not just by that rough third round but also by the way he was reluctant to open up in the later rounds against a guy who was so exhausted he looked like he would have fallen over if you'd blown on him. But perhaps Pero was on autopilot after the knockdown and just looking to make the finish line.

The other view is that he’ll learn from this, including about himself, and come back stronger than before. At this stage, there’s no way to know for sure, although I suspect there are a lot more people in your camp now than there were a week ago.

ANTHONY CACACE WAS SENSATIONAL AGAINST LEIGH WOOD

Congrats to Cacace. The guy is a great fighter. The way he came back from a spot of trouble in the ninth round to hurt Wood and then stop him was sensational. Hats off to Wood, too. The guy wasn't gonna quit and had to be saved from himself. He had a puncher’s chance, but it’s almost painful to see him take punishment like that every single time he fights. 

-Left Hook Louie

Tris Dixon’s response: What can you say about Cacace? He is just swamping very good fighters with his size, length, volume and power. I’d love to see him fight one of the significant titleholders because I fear that, at 36, his peak will come and go in the next 12 months. 

What he’s done in beating Joe Cordina, Josh Warrington and Leigh Wood is nothing short of a Cinderella run, and he deserves that big payoff. That said, promoter Frank Warren wants to take Cacace to Belfast, and that makes sense. Cacace is great friends with Michael Conlan, and that would be massive. But the next 18 months are crucial.

And what can you say about Wood, really? Balls of steel, which we all knew, but amazing heart. A round earlier, he was indicating that he thought he had it in the bag and that he was getting stronger, but then Cacace got him and there was not another Wood miracle. A few of these guys, like Wood, Warrington, and to an extent Liam Smith, I feel for them, because inactivity has bitten them hard at this stage of their careers. Cacace can’t afford that time on the shelf.

JESSE “BAM” RODRIGUEZ NEEDS MORE TOP-TIER OPPOSITION

I like Bam, but he needs to fight a top guy in their prime. Since it seems like he's not interested in Junto Nakatani, then let’s see how he does vs. Fernando Martinez this year. It’s an intriguing matchup. Puma is super physical. The first six rounds are tough for anyone. But both guys are so offensive-minded, it’s gonna be a fun fight. 

-JOITATS

Owen Lewis’ response: I agree! If there’s one knock on Bam, and it is only one, it’s that most of his best wins have come against great fighters in their mid-30s. (Let’s give him the maximum amount of credit for the Sunny Edwards win, however.) Bam looked utterly brilliant against Juan Francisco Estrada, Carlos Cuadras and Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, but it is hard to ignore that all of them were just a bit long in the tooth.

Frankly, watching Bam dissect Pedro Guevara, I thought he looked like the best fighter in the world. He fought on the same card as Jaron “Boots” Ennis that night, and Bam boxed with so much more discipline that night than an impatient Boots. As good as Bam is, I think he’s generally underrated – I have him fourth pound-for-pound, and only because Usyk, Crawford and Inoue are so deeply proven in a variety of weight classes. Skill for skill, I could see a case for Bam above them all.

But he does have to prove it first, and like you suggested, preferably against a top guy in their prime. I think Nakatani is the best candidate to be that guy – the bigger fight for Bam is with Naoya Inoue someday, but given the larger gulf in weight and age difference, it seems less likely to be a great fight. In the meantime, hopefully WBO titleholder Phumelele Cafu can indeed push Bam to some places he hasn’t had to visit yet on July 19.

Want to be featured in the mailbag? Comment or ask a question in the comments section below. Submissions may be edited for length and clarity. We also may select readers’ comments from other BoxingScene stories.