Suarez plays waiting game once more

It doesn’t look as if Charly Suarez will get his Christmas wish.

A few days ago, Suarez and his camp revealed that they have requested the World Boxing Organization (WBO) to uphold his status as mandatory challenger to Emanuel Navarrete’s super-featherweight crown.

But according to Top Rank, Navarrete’s unification showdown with fellow Mexican Eduardo Nuñez on 28 February in Glendale, Arizona, is a done deal.

In fact, Matchroom, the outfit that presides over Nuñez’s promotional affairs, has already released tickets for sale as far as two weeks ago.

Nuñez holds the International Boxing Federation version of the world 130-pound title, making his clash with Suarez an all-Mexican war.

Suarez is making a last-ditch effort to become Navarrete’s next foe on the strength of his installation by the WBO as its mandatory challenger.

The 36-year-old Filipino initially lost to Navarrete on a technical decision in their controversial bout last May in San Diego.

Referee Ed Collantes was later discovered to have made a wrong call when he ruled that a cut on Navarrete’s eyebrow was caused by an accidental clash of heads.

But a review of the fight after Suarez had filed a protest that it was a legal blow — and not a butt — that opened the cut.

If only Collantes had made the correct call, Suarez would have been the winner and the new WBO champion.

However, Suarez’s letter to the WBO isn’t actually geared towards getting that immediate rematch but also aimed at giving Suarez what he deserves by way of a step-aside fee and an assurance that he is next in line against the winner of the Navarrete-Nuñez encounter.