CHARLY Suarez tunes up for his highly-anticipated rematch against Emanuel Navarrete when he returns to the ring three weeks from now and faces Mexican-American Manuel Avila.
The 12-round fight is penciled for a July 18 playdate at the National Orange Show Event Center in San Bernardino, California.
At stake in the bout is the WBO international super-featherweight crown, which gives the Filipino an even bigger leverage in his planned rematch with Navarrete should he win the title belt.
READ: WBO grants Charly Suarez his rematch vs. Emanuel Navarette
The undefeated Suarez (18-0, 10 KOs) has been in the US since late April as he and trainer, former national team member Delfin Boholst have been gearing up at another possible crack against the 31-year-old Navarrete, who currently holds the WBO and IBF super-featherweight titles.
Suarez and Navarrete faced each other on May of 2025 in a championship bout that ended in a technical decision in favor of the Mexican champion, who suffered a huge cut on his left eyebrow caused by an accidental clash of the heads which cut the fight short and prompted the fight to go to the judges' scorecards early.
But upon the post-fight review, it was determined the cut was the result of a Suarez punch that could have won the bout in favor of the Filipino had third man on the ring Edward Collantes not ruled it as an accidental headbutt.
The California State Athletic Commission later overturned the outcome of the fight into a no-contest, prompting the WBO to order a rematch.
But the return bout didn’t happen.
Instead, Navarrete (40-2-1, 33 KOs) pursued a unification fight against fellow Mexican Eduardo Nunez in February this year. He won the action-packed thriller via an 11th round TKO to add the IBF crown to his collection.
Boholst though is confident about earning another shot at Navarrete, but also remains cautious about not taking Avila (23-2-1, 8 KOs) lightly.
Suarez is currently training at the Split-T Boxing Club owned by Eric Belanger, who also assists Boholst in preparing the undefeated Filipino in his first fight back in the ring since the Navarrete match.
Veteran promoter Sampson Lewkowicz now handles Suarez’s promotional deal along with Paco Damian, Robert Garcia, and Garry Jonas.
The event will be broadcast by ProBox TV.
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