Emanuel Navarrete is sure an accidental clash of heads caused the cut that led to the early end of his competitive 130-pound title fight against Charly Suarez.

Mexico’s Navarrete also wanted to continue when a California State Athletic Commission doctor stopped their 12-round bout one second into the eighth round Saturday night at Pechanga Arena in San Diego. Navarrete (40-2-1, 32 KOs) won a technical unanimous decision because he was ahead of the Philippines’ Suarez (18-1, 10 KOs) on all three scorecards at that point in their fight for his WBO junior lightweight title.

“I felt that it was a head-butt,” Navarrete told a group of reporters and videographers afterward. “I saw the review. It seems like a punch, but he pretty much exploded two layers of the skin with the head-butt. So, I didn’t want it to end. I was fine to continue going. I felt like the best rounds were still to come, but the doctor decided to end the fight. But I felt like the best was still to develop in the fight.”

Judges Pat Russell (78-75), Lou Moret (77-76) and Fernando Villarreal (77-76) had Navarrete ahead by slim margins when ESPN’s main event ended.

In accordance with the Association of Boxing Commissions’ regulations, each judge was required to score the eighth round because it had officially begun before the doctor decided Navarrete shouldn’t fight anymore. Russell, Moret and Villarreal all scored the eighth round 10-10 because only one second elapsed when referee Edward Collantes followed the doctor’s suggestion and halted the action.

Jack Reiss, the CSAC’s replay official seated ringside, determined that an unintentional head-butt opened the long laceration above Navarrete’s left eyebrow approximately 10 seconds into the sixth round. Various replay angles indicated that the left hand Suarez landed a split second before their heads briefly came in contact could’ve opened the cut.

Had the CSAC ruled that the cut was caused by Suarez’s punch, not an accidental clash of heads, Suarez would’ve been declared the winner by technical knockout once the ringside physician stopped their fight.

“Well, he turned southpaw and I come in with the one-two [combination],” Navarrete explained. “And so, I dropped my head. He wants to counter and that’s when we cross ourselves with the gloves. And that’s where we clashed heads.”

Navarrete never complained to Collantes about bleeding from his cut. He did look bothered by it at times during the sixth and seventh rounds, when he tried with his gloves to prevent blood from flowing into his left eye.

The CSAC could change the official result to a no-contest, which would eliminate the only professional loss from Suarez’s record. More importantly, promoter Bob Arum, whose company represents Navarette and Suarez, has already indicated that Top Rank Inc. will work to make an immediate rematch, assuming Navarrete can still squeeze down to the junior lightweight limit of 130 pounds.

The WBO could also push for an immediate rematch. The 36-year-old Suarez, an active soldier in the Philippine Army, was the WBO’s mandatory challenger for Navarrete’s title.