revealed by Fox Sports Australian on Sunday<\/a>, US boxing great Paulie Malignaggi had offered to step in on just seven days\u2019 notice, and given he was already working the card as part of Main Event Australia\u2019s broadcast team.<\/p>\nHowever, it is understood No Limit have opted against signing the former world champion, who despite having recently competed in bareknuckle boxing, is now 45 and without a professional boxing appearance in almost 10 years.<\/p>\n
Instead, and speaking on Monday afternoon, both Wilson and No Limit boss George Rose confirmed what will be a huge addition to Sunday\u2019s No Limit blockbuster \u2013 and a chance for Wilson to make good on a longtime promise to his late father, Peter.<\/p>\n
Ayrton Gimene and Liam Wilson exchange punches during the WBO International super featherweight title bout at Cairns Convention Centre on June 25, 2025 in Cairns, Australia. (Photo by Emily Barker\/Getty Images for No Limit Boxing)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
It has now been three years since one of Australia\u2019s most dangerous punchers \u2013 and a fella dubbed Mr Damage \u2013 was robbed in his first title attempt against Mexican superstar Emanuel Navarrete.<\/p>\n
Wilson appeared to have secured one of this nation\u2019s great sporting upsets when, as an almost 9\/1 underdog, he dropped Navarrete in the fourth round of their championship headliner in Phoenix, Arizona.<\/p>\n
Yet with Navarrete seemingly gone, he was then given a ridiculously long count of 27 seconds to not only find his feet, or even the end of the round, but eventually rally and stop Wilson himself in the ninth.<\/p>\n
Then two years back, Wilson was also stopped while chasing gold against Oscar Valdez, with his second Mexican title rival also revealing afterwards how the Queenslander\u2019s heavy hands had almost stopped him too<\/p>\n
Now on Sunday, Wilson gets the chance to punch his way into what would be a third world title attempt against WBA champ Anthony Cacace. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been to America twice chasing this dream,\u201d Wilson said shortly after the eliminator was confirmed. \u201cAnd both times I\u2019ve come home with nothing to show for it but the scars.<\/p>\n
\u201cRobbed once, stopped once. I know what it feels like to have it taken off me.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot this time, though. Not in my own backyard. This is everything. This is my world title. Nobody is taking it off me again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Liam Wilson poses for a photo after a press conference at The Warehouse on May 19, 2026 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Previously, Wilson has spoken about how, aged 15, and in what would be his last ever conversation with dad before he passed, the younger slugger promised to eventually go win a world title in his honour.<\/p>\n
Speaking with Fox Sports Australia in 2023, he explained: \u201cPrior to every fight, I\u2019ve always disappeared to a quiet place in the dressing room where I\u2019ll speak with dad.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll say \u2018dad, we\u2019ve got another big fight on our hands. And one that gets us another step closer to our final destination.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve said it to him over 100 times already.\u201d<\/p>\n
Same again this weekend against Fulton.<\/p>\n
\u201cI made a promise to my old man before he passed that I\u2019d bring a world title home,\u201d Wilson said on Monday, \u201cand I\u2019ve carried that with me every single day since.<\/p>\n
\u201cStephen Fulton is a two-time world champion and I respect that. But respect doesn\u2019t win fights.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m coming for damage and I\u2019m coming for the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
‘Just a regular fighter to me’ | 00:58<\/p>\n
Ireland\u2019s Cacace captured the WBA title in March, scoring a unanimous decision win over Jazza Dickens in Dublin.<\/p>\n
WBA officials have since ordered the Belfast southpaw to next defend against interim champ Elnur Samedov, meaning the winner of Fulton versus Wilson will be next in line.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is exactly the kind of opportunity we set out to create for Australian fighters,\u201d Rose said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLiam Wilson has been denied twice on foreign soil and now he gets his shot at home, with a world title shot on the line. You don\u2019t get more real than that.<\/p>\n
\u201cStephen Fulton is one of the most credentialed operators in the sport and he\u2019s coming to Australia to make a statement. Liam knows exactly what\u2019s in front of him and he\u2019s not shying away from it \u2013 he\u2019s chasing it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is why we build cards like this. Genuine world title stakes, world class fighters, and giving Aussie fighters the chance to make history.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sometime before walking to the ring this Sunday afternoon, Liam Wilson will disappear into a quiet corner of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":811840,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":["post-811839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=811839"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811839\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/811840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=811839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=811839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=811839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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