Charly Suarez doesn't think the judges' scorecards would've mattered had his fight with Emanuel Navarrete continued Saturday night.

Suarez sensed Navarrete was tired by the time a ringside physician determined the WBO junior lightweight champion shouldn’t continue one second into the eighth round due to the long, messy cut above his left eyebrow.

The courageous challenger already felt less impact from Navarrete’s punches as their bout proceeded, which encouraged Suarez to make a bold prediction when he met with a group of reporters and videographers following his unanimous technical decision loss Saturday night at Pechanga Arena in San Diego.

"Maybe in the late rounds, I think I [would have] knocked him out," Suarez said. "I saw he [was] tired. And his punches is not strong enough."

The Philippines' Suarez acknowledged Navarrete's power in the early rounds. Mexico's Navarrete (40-2-1, 32 KOs) seemingly stung Suarez (18-1, 10 KOs) with several shots to his body and head, though Suarez remained on his feet throughout seven rounds and one second of action.

"He threw a lot of hard punches," Suarez said. "Maybe in the first round through third, fourth, I [couldn't] manage that. But in the [later] rounds I can see [beforehand] when he threw a lot of [his] punches."

Suarez countered Navarrete with various punches from unusual angles, both to the champion's head and body. Navarrete never appeared to be badly hurt by any of Suarez's punches, yet the unknown underdog definitely earned the three-weight world champion's respect.

"The truth is I talked to my corner and I told them it was close," Navarrete said. "He was strong. He surprised me with how solid he was, did a very good job. The exchanges also were not one-sided. I hurt him maybe when he came in, also to the body. And so maybe that gave me the lead or the advantage. But I thought the scorecards were good. At no point did I think I would lose, but there was still a bit of fear that it would end in a draw or something similar."

Judges Pat Russell (78-75), Lou Moret (77-76) and Fernando Villarreal (77-76) gave Navarrete slight advantages on their cards. Russell, Moret and Villarreal each scored the eighth round 10-10 because they were required to score an open round, even though only one second of it elapsed before the doctor closely looked at Navarrete's cut again.

Suarez still thinks he would've become the first opponent to stop Navarrete inside the distance in any of his 43 professional fights.

"I think for me I have a chance to win the fight, because only seven rounds [were completed]," Suarez said. "I have eight, nine, 10, 11, 12 – I have [five] more rounds to pursue the 12 rounds."

Suarez, 36, hopes to secure an immediate rematch. Promoter Bob Arum acknowledged a second fight is warranted based on the inconclusive nature of their bout, but the 30-year-old Navarrete might need to move back up to the lightweight division because he struggled so mightily to squeeze his body down to the junior lightweight limit of 130 pounds for this fight.