Boxing
Navarrete vs. Valdez II: WBO Junior Lightweight Title Rematch
A World champion against an Interim champion, who are both Mexicans, can only mean one thing – civil war! Navarrete defends his WBO super-featherweight title to challenger Valdez for a second time and, if its anything like the first fight, then it’s going to be a cracker!
Emanuel Navarrete vs Oscar Valdez fight//Image Credit: Top Rank
Emanuel Navarrette and Oscar Valdez earned their place in boxing history after they thrilled fight fans in an all-Mexican war last year. They provided a spectacle reminiscent of some of the best Mexican battles in the history of the sport, such as Erik Morales vs Marco Antonio Barrera in 2000, and now they are set to do it all over again this December in America.
The WBO World super-featherweight title was first won by Puerto Rican John John Molina on April 29, 1989. Famous holders of this belt include Oscar De La Hoya, Acelino Freitas, Roman Martinez, Scotland’s Ricky Burns, Adrien Broner, and Vasiliy Lomachenko.
Emanuel Navarrette vs Oscar Valdez – The first fight
In fight one, Navarrete started fast and was launching into his leaping left hooks right from the first round, which is his signature punch. The champion confidently took charge of the contest right from the start, wasting no time getting going.
In round two, Navarrete struck with a chopping right hand while Valdez was dipping his head down low, which seemed to stun the challenger, who backpedalled immediately. Navarrete set an incredibly high pace from the start, outlanding the challenger all through the opening rounds, who appeared a little ragged early on, unable to get going under the constant pressure.
In the third round, a short right hand from an incredibly difficult angle on the inside saw Valdez hurt for a third time. Navarrete looked like he was trying to end the fight early.
The pace slowed slightly in the middle rounds, which allowed Valdez to force Navarrete back on occasions, who had now settled into the fight and found some rhythm.
In the eighth round, Valdez landed a huge right hook to push the champion back, who took a small stumble as he was backing up, but the champ soon came forward again to show he was never hurt. Valdez piled forward thinking he had turned the fight with the damaging punch, but Navarrete never showed any signs of being in trouble.
By the ninth round, Valdez’s right eye was badly marked up, but he kept trying to come up over the top with left and right hooks, but he was taking a lot of damage.
In the championship rounds, it was a Mexican war of attrition. The right eye of Valdez was badly bruised and swollen under the constant left hand attacks from the champion. Navarrete slipped over on the canvas signage during the last round.
They finished the fight firing bombs on each other, a testament to the entire contest and to their Mexican heritage, who are known for their durability and heart.
The scores were unanimous to the champion at 116-112, 118-110 and 119-109.
Navarrete was always busier, he started the contest so brightly and dominantly, and was able to outland Valdez in nine of the 12 rounds, with one shared, and Valdez only outlanding by one single punch in rounds six and nine. Overall, Navarrete outdone Valdez by 216 punches to 140, which is over a third more.
Emanuel boxed like a true champion, confidently dominating the early rounds, where he hurt Valdez regularly, but he adapted his game plan to come back stronger in the middle rounds where it was a bit more back and forth rather than so one-sided.
However, Navarrete was always working harder than his plucky challenger, which is why he was able to outland him so convincingly.
Next time they meet, they will each hold 36 minutes of downloaded data over each other, but who will use it more effectively in their game plan?
The Cowboy – Emanuel Navarrete
Emanuel Navarrete after defeating Francisco De Vaca//Getty Images
Known as “The Cowboy”, Emanuel Navarrete recorded an outstanding amateur record of 108-7, before turning pro in 2012, aged just 17.
He won his pro debut in January 2012 in the first round, then dived straight into a flyweight tournament, named Cinturón de Oro XVIII, where he fought once each month until he reached the final against Daniel Argueta. Despite losing the four-round final by just one point on two of the scorecards, Navarrete was crowned champion due to Argueta failing to turn up for the weigh-in.
He then went 33 fights and 10 years unbeaten, winning world titles across three divisions. He dared to be great by going for a fourth divisional world title, in May 2024, but was edged on a split decision by unbeaten Ukrainian Denys Berinchyk, who took home the vacant WBO World lightweight title with the win.
Now aged 29, ESPN, BoxRec and the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board all ranked him as the No.1 super-featherweight in the world at the start of 2024.
The Underdog – Oscar Valdez
Oscar Valdez//Getty Images
Oscar Valdez was a child prodigy, becoming the first Mexican to win a Youth World Championship in 2008, aged 17. He qualified for 2008 Beijing Olympics after just three international bouts. He lost to the eventual winner, but managed to win two of his qualifier fights in the London 2012 Games, before losing his third fight to Irishman, John Joe Nevin.
He turned pro in 2012 and won his first 11 bouts by knockout. He won his first world title – the WBO featherweight – in his 20th contest in 2016. He defended it six times before moving up in weight to capture the WBC super-featherweight title in 2021. He defended that green and gold belt once, before losing it to unbeaten stylist Shakur Stevenson in their 2022 unification clash.
He then challenged Navarrete for his WBO super-feather bauble in August 2023, which became his second loss within 16 months.
Undeterred, the 33-year-old bounced back in March 2024 to win the Interim WBO super-featherweight title by knockout over Liam Wilson in seven rounds, while the full champion, Navarrete, was attempting to become a four-weight world champion up at lightweight.
Now that Navarrete has come back down to 130lbs, this fight is between the WBO World champion and the WBO Interim champion – No.1 and 2!
Their Styles
Mexicans are famed for their fighting skill. The country has a tradition of producing boxers who are tough and aggressive, which results in a fierce style of boxing where they can dish out a lot of punishment and take it back in return. They’re known for being able to fight in a telephone box, often producing some of the greatest toe-to-toe battles in the sport’s history.
Oscar Valdez is known for his aggressive style, combination punching and power. He has a knockout-to-win ratio of 75% and his most powerful punch is his accurate, whipping left hook, which is explosive and effective.
He has great defensive capabilities, able to move his head very well. He is a great inside fighter where he possesses fantastic balance and shape, and can create the leverage and torque needed to land powerful blows as he comes up from below to land over the top.
Sometimes, when he’s dipping his head down low and from side to side, his guard is momentarily down and can be caught open, which Navarrete took advantage of when he landed his chopping right hooks from in close.
Valdez also has a fine work rate and incredible stamina, able to go 12-rounds at a high pace and still be standing tall and throwing leather at the final bell.
At 5’ 5” and a reach of 66”, he isn’t as able to control the distance as well as someone rangy like Navarrete, who is 2” taller and has a 72” reach. As such, Navarrete is able to box at distance and control the range from the outside, often pawing out his long jab defensively.
Navarrete’s style is quite unique. He has the ability to land punches from any stance or angle, and it’s highly impressive to watch. His balance is outstanding, as he is able to leap into big left hooks without falling over his front foot.
He cleverly uses his back left foot to sweep across to his left side, which automatically affords him a different angle to attack from. He sometimes even jumps with both feet at the same time from one position to another to launch unsuspecting attacks. His footwork is unorthodox, yet outstanding.
His signature punch is the leaping left hook, which he launches into from range. He has an 81.58% KO ratio, which is extremely high for someone who has been involved in 14 high-level championship contests.
Emanuel Navarrette’s Last Five Fights
The champion comes into this 11th world title defence off the back of a draw and a defeat, so won’t be entering the ring with confident victories behind him, like he has during his entire career.
| Date | Opponent | Record | Result |
| 18/05/2024 | Denys Berinchyk | 18-0, 9KO | Lost-Split Decision |
| 16/11/2023 | Robson Conceicao | 17-2, 8KO | Draw-Mixed Decision |
| 12/08/2023 | Oscar Valdez | 31-1, 23KO | Won-Unanimous Decision |
| 03/02/2023 | Liam Wilson | 11-1, 7KO | Won-TKO 9 |
| 20/08/2022 | Eduardo Baez | 21-2-2, 7KO | Won-KO 6 |
Oscar Valdez’s Last Five fights
Valdez had had a mixture of results in his last quintet of contests, including knockouts, points wins and a brace of defeats. It’s not the most reliable form to go on.
| Date | Opponent | Record | Result |
| 29/03/2024 | Liam Wilson | 13-2, 9KO | Won-TKO 7 |
| 12/08/2023 | Emanuel Navarrete | 37-2, 31KO | Lost-Unanimous Decision |
| 20/05/2023 | Adam Lopez | 16-4, 6KO | Won-Unanimous Decision |
| 30/04/2022 | Shakur Stevenson | 17-0, 9KO | Lost-Unanimous Decision |
| 10/09/2021 | Robson Conceicao | 16-0, 8KO | Won-Unanimous Decision |
Fight Prediction – Repeat or Revenge?
Emanuel Navarrete is once more the defending champion and Valdez coming into the ring as the challenger. This is the third time Valdez has challenged for this belt, so he will be laser-focused.
The difference this time is that the champ is coming into the fight off the back of a defeat and a draw, with no wins in the past 16 months. As a consummate professional and successful title winner, this may not mean anything, but it could evoke different feelings to potentially upset his usual routine or mindset. However, you don’t become a triple champion and attempt to become a quadruple champion, without the strongest mentality and belief.
Another important factor is the weight. Navarrete has successfully elevated divisions to win world titles multiple times, but he’s never come back down from a higher division to defend a title. That move up to lightweight, then back down again, could possibly take its toll on his body, but there’s no way of knowing this until he’s weighed in successfully and ready to fight.
Both boxers have extensive knowledge of each other after sharing 12 rounds together. This will allow each of them to prepare for their rematch even more diligently and meticulously than before because their firsthand experiences will count for more than and research and expert analysis.
Valdez is the underdog, but he has everything to prove and can only come back stronger. Navarrete is the defending campion, who also has everything to prove after not winning either of his last two contests. He will be desperate to show the world that he is still a force.
We personally believe the rematch could almost be a carbon copy of the first fight, with Navarrete being busier and bossier again. However, Valdez is more likely to give a better account of himself then worse, so he could be expected to start a bit faster this time, having taken a few rounds to get going last time.
With all his added knowledge and experience, he should be able to get into his stride much quicker, which means he may not give away the first few rounds again, which could make the scorecards closer. One judge only scored a single round to Valdez, and another gave him just two. The third scored it at 8-4.
Both men have two defeats on their records but no knockouts, because they are tough, durable Mexicans. However, they each possess potent power and have the capability of knocking each other out.
We expect these two warriors to deliver another terrific 12-round war, with each one hurting the other at times throughout the contest, the battle see-sawing back and forth, but with Emanuel Navarrete winning again on the scorecards, but just a little bit closer this time.
Tim has over 27 years experience within the sports industry, working for football clubs Arsenal FC and Millwall FC, and boxing news websites British Boxing News, Boxing Social and Global Boxing News. His boxing articles have been published in Boxing News Magazine, national newspapers, plus many other major news outlets.