Oscar Valdez feels confident that he’ll avenge his loss to WBC super featherweight champion Emanuel “El Vaquero” Navarrete in their rematch in 15 days on December 7th at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona. The card will be shown live on ESPN and ESPN+ at 10:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. PT.
The former two-division world champion Valdez (32, 2, 24 KOs) feels he fought a poor fight when he lost to (38-2-1, 31 KOs) by a wide 12-round unanimous decision last year on August 12, 2023, in Glendale, Arizona. Valdez, 33, says he wasn’t following his trainer’s game plan and was looking for a one-punch knockout.
Overcoming The Size
It looked like the 5’7″ Navarrete was too big for the 5’5″ Valdez and using his long six-inch reach advantage to dominate the smaller fighter. If Valdez had better power, he could have won, but he was out-sized and out-gunned by Navarrete. That’s probably not going to change in the rematch, no matter how good the game plan is.
Navarrete vs. Valdez Punch Stats
– Emanuel Navarrete: 279 of 1024 shots for 27.2%
– Oscar Valdez: 141 of 493 punches for 28.6%
With the kind of volume Navarrete had, Valdez never stood a chance because he couldn’t match that output, and he won’t in the rematch. He’s not built for that. The only guys that can beat Navarrete are the slick fighters like Denys Berinchyk or ones with massive power like Eduardo ‘Sugar’ Nunez.
Valdez isn’t the only one looking to avenge a loss on December 7th. Two-time Cuban Olympic gold medalist Robeisy Ramirez (14-2, 9 KOs) will challenge WBO featherweight champion Rafael Espinoza (25-0, 21 KOs) in a rematch of their fight last year on December 9th, 2023.
Robeisy lost a 12-round majority decision to the 6’1″ and gave up his WBO belt. Ramirez-Espinoza will be fighting in the chief support bout on December 7th.
Is Valdez Truly a Different Fighter?
“I’m going to beat him because I’m a better fighter, and I have different styles in my arsenal,” said Oscar Valdez to Fighthype about why he’s going to defeat Emanuel Navarrete on December 7th.
“My game plan was off. We had a good game plan, but I left it because I was looking for that one shot,” said Valdez about why he lost to Navarrete last year. “The fans were there, it was loud, and I wanted to go for that one-shot knockout. It did not work, especially with a fighter like “El Vaquero” Navarrete.
“So, going back and looking at the fight, I say, I made a lot of mistakes. So, I train day by day to become better, a smarter fighter inside the ring.”
Valdez is coming off a seventh-round knockout win over Liam Wilson on March 29th in Glendale, Arizona. It was a good win for Valdez, but it wasn’t a guy on Navarrete’s level. Indeed, Wilson had already been knocked out by Navarrete on March 3rd, 2023.
If Valdez loses the rematch with Navarrete, he should consider dropping back down to 126 pounds because he’s too small to fight in this weight class at 130.
We saw that in Valdez’s loss against the 5’8″ Shakur Stevenson on April 30, 2022, in a one-sided 12-round unanimous decision defeat. Shakur looked huge in comparison to Valdez. It was a lightweight against a featherweight because Valdez was much too small.
Valdez Learning from Mistakes
“When I fought Shakur, I was 100% ready for that fight, and I didn’t do nothing to Shakur. So, as far as the El Vaquero fight, I know I’m a better fighter. I know I can win this fight. It’s just that I lost the game plan,” said Valdez. “When I fell off, I lost focus. I made several rookie mistakes, and that’s what’s going to be different from this one: to be the smarter fighter.”
Valdez did everything right against Navarrete, but he couldn’t make up for the size, power, and volume. That’s not going to change in the rematch.
“That’s what bothers me more about this loss than when I fought Shakur Stevenson,” said Valdez. “A lot of times, it’s not about losing. It’s about knowing that you gave it your best. In my last fight against El Vaquero, I know I wasn’t the best I could be.”
“When I look at all the fighters at 130, the guy to beat is El Vaquero. 135, why not in the future? I consider myself a small 130. Maybe test the waters in the future and see if my body can adapt to that division,” said Valdez about potentially moving up to lightweight in the future.
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