Navarrete Ready For The Valdez Rematch; Outlines His Future
Emanuel Navarrete outlined his future as he prepares for the Oscar Valdez rematch this weekend.
Navarrete is currently 38-2-1 as he rematches Valdez after beating him in their first encounter last year. He secured a unanimous decision win to retain his WBO Junior Lightweight Title. It was the first successful defense of his belt, having beaten Liam Wilson to secure the vacant title. After the Valdez win, he secured a majority decision win over Robson Conceicao to defend the belt. He then made the decision to move up to 135 to face Denys Berinchyk for the vacant WBO Lightweight Title. However, he suffered a split decision loss, missing out on becoming a four-weight world champion.
As for Valdez, the Navarrete loss was his second defeat in his last three bouts. His only other loss was against Shakur Stevenson, showing he has come up short at the elite level. He secured another title shot after beating Liam Wilson to become the WBO Interim Junior Lightweight Champion via a seventh-round stoppage. The winner will put themselves in a position to unify against the other champions in the division. O’Shaquie Foster holds the WBC belt after beating Conceicao in their rematch.
Navarrete Reacts
Lamont Roach Jr. holds the WBA belt, although he moves up to face Gervonta Davis for his WBA belt at 135. Depending on the outcome of that fight, Roach could vacate his belt. Elsewhere, Anthony Cacace holds the IBF belt. Despite his failed attempt at 135 pounds, Navarrete has not ruled out having another attempt at becoming a four-division champion. But he would face tough competition with champions such as Tank Davis, Shakur and Vasiliy Lomachenko occupying a tough lightweight division.
“It’s easy to go from 135 and then go back to 130 to fight against Valdez, who earned his opportunity for the world title by becoming the mandatory challenger of the title, of which I’m still a champion. And I think that would have been a more attractive fight than, for example, staying at 135, fighting against someone who’s ranked at number 5 or 10 or 8.
“I think because of that initial fight with Valdez, and the attraction it has, it makes it more feasible. So it helped make that decision for me. We can do something at 135 in the future. But I have to take my time. I have to do things calmly and work better. And when that opportunity comes, we’re going to come with everything for that title in the fourth weight class,” Navarrete said
Full Card
Emanuel Navarrete vs. Oscar Valdez – WBO Super Featherweight Title
Rafael Espinoza vs. Robeisy Ramirez; WBO Featherweight Title
Lindolfo Delgado vs. Jackson Marinez; Super Lightweight
Giovani Santillan vs. Fredrick Lawson; Welterweight
Richard Torrez Jr. vs. Isaac Munoz Gutierrez; Heavyweight
Albert Gonzalez vs. Gerardo Antonio Perez; Super Featherweight
Art Barrera Jr. vs. Juan Carlos Campos Medina; Welterweight
Steven Navarro vs. Gabriel Bernardi Cruz; Super Flyweight
Demler Zamora vs. Roman Ruben Reynoso; Super Featherweight
Cesar Morales vs. Miguel Gonzales; Lightweight
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