Liam Wilson stops Youssef Dib in eight rounds and renews his call to face Kambosos

Liam Wilson scored twice to challenge Kambosos after removing Youssef Dib in the eighth over

Written by Anthony Cocks

Liam Wilson’s career hung in the balance as he headed to the ring to face Youssef Dib in his lightweight debut at the WIN Entertainment Center in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia on Wednesday night.

It was hoped that moving up to the 135-pound weight class would revive his career.

It does.

Wilson stopped Dib in the eighth round, and immediately renewed his call to face George Kambosos Jr.

The plucky 28-year-old from Caboolture in Queensland has had a rough time of things of late. Two trips to the United States to face global junior lightweight opponents 18 months ago ended in disaster. Deadly boxers Emanuel Navarrete and Oscar Valdez finished him within a range of competitive fights, leaving him tied with a 2-2 record in his last four fights.

Critics will argue that Sydneysider Dib, 31, was made for Wilson, and in some ways he was. Against Navarrete and Valdez, Wilson only ran into trouble when he chose to trade with the heavy-handed Mexican duo. Dib, who has a modest record of 11 out of 21 knockouts with one loss, was not going to be the guy to wake him up in the morning and drag him into contention in their scheduled 10-round fight.

In the first two rounds Dib used every inch of the ring, spinning left and right and challenging Wilson to catch him. The game plan seemed to distract Wilson from making mistakes. When that didn’t work, Dib knew he would need to get more involved.

Things heated up late in the third round when a Wilson uppercut followed by a left rip found their target. Not to be outdone, Dib fired a right cross to the jaw.

The fourth round saw a body attack from Wilson as he fired left hooks down towards the end of the round before landing Dib on the chin with a crushing right hand. Dib was regrouped in the fifth, drawing blood from Wilson’s nose early in the process but he found grace to return late in the same period.

Dib pushed forward in the sixth, riding over the left hand of Wilson, who was looking a little sloppy. Towards the end of the round Wilson landed a left hook and a hard right cross, but Dib had his best round of the fight to date.

In the seventh, Wilson poured on the pressure, determined to see if Dib could withstand his ferocious onslaught. In the middle, the thunder that thundered through the body seemed to hurt Dib. And though he sneaked in a few right hands, the midriff attack left him reeling.

Realizing that his opponent was injured, Wilson swooped in for the kill – and did it in style. A short left hook to the mustache rocked Dib at the start of the round, sending him back on his heels. Wilson leaped at him, pulled him back to give himself some space, then landed a long left hook to the chin of Dib who was backed up against the ropes. One last left hook crumpled Dib to the canvas.

Referee Les Fear stopped the contest at the 0:45 mark of the round. Wilson was ahead on all three scorecards at the stoppage, 68-65 and 67-66 twice.

The ending was as beautiful as it was cruel.

“The plane of the match had to hit my shots,” said Wilson (14-3, 8 KOs) after winning on the undercard of Sam Goodman vs Chainoi Worawut. “I knew that if I went on my own, the gun would come. I didn’t even mean to hurt him, but when I hurt him, I followed up with some left hooks.”

Wilson has been calling out former Ring lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr (21-3, 10 KOs) and didn’t let the opportunity pass him by in a post-fight interview.

“I’ve been calling for this fight for a long time,” Wilson said of the 31-year-old Sydneysider, 1-3 in his last four fights.

“Me and my team, my manager Glen Jennings, we really want that fight. The move to lightweight tonight was for that reason.

“It’s a fight that Australia deserves. And doesn’t George want his own civil war? Of course I do. Let’s open it. Let’s make it happen.”