WATERFORD – The Californian junior-welterweight contender Jonathan Navarro was brought up on a steady diet of great fighters.
He watched the likes of Erik Morales, Manny Pacquiao, Marco Antonio Barrera and Juan Manuel Marquez battling one another, and was inspired by their legendary battles and, against Jair Valtierra on Saturday in Ireland, is prepared for what it takes to lift his career to the next level.
“Anybody you put in the way, there’s nobody who you can put in the way,” he told BoxingScene. “You’re going to have to kill me, take me down in a stretcher or put me six-feet under. If you’ve not got that mentality in that ring with me, you’ve lost.
“You’ve got people leaving boxing because they want to go and see MMA, because it’s blood. Blood and knockdowns, so I hope I can bring that back.”
Navarro returned to the ring earlier in 2024 with a narrow and controversial win over Clarence Booth, but he promised things would be different on Saturday against the 17-3 Valtierra on ProBox TV at the SETU Arena in Waterford.
“He’s fought two of the guys I’ve fought – Lindolfo [Delgado] and Raymond [Muratalla] – I know he’s had a really bad knockout as well [against Alberto Ibarra], where he got dropped by one of the Mexican fighters, not taking nothing from him, but he’s not [Clarence] Booth,” he said. “Booth was a way stronger guy. Booth was physically and mentally draining.
“I know he’s coming in to fight. He’s coming in for war. He has a Mexican heart as well, I’m not taking it from him, but I don’t think it’s going to go past six or eight rounds.”
Asked what gives him the edge over Valtierra, Navarro responded: “I already have the experience, I’ve been doing it for about 20 years. There’s nothing I can’t adapt to, and all the people I’ve had at the gym and all the people I’ve had to spar with and everything, I take little things from them that I like, and I put it into my skills. I’ll be more relaxed. More loose. More calm. This is what I do for a living. I took some time to get back in, but I’m happy to be back. I’ve got an opportunity here and thank you to ProBox for that.”
Navarro missed five years and was out of the ring for a number of reasons, but he has returned with a renewed hunger and fresh motivation.
“I was getting ready for a fight in 2019, but then Covid hit,” he said. “We were shut down for a year, year and a half, got offered a fight with [Pablo Cesar] Cano, I was getting ready, I got injured during that time, had to get some surgery, that took a good year, and then it took another year to get in that rhythm, so it took a good while, but I’m happy to be back.”
In that time, Navarro has had two daughters, and his drive has become to give them a better life. Instead of going away to camp, he has stayed home to be inspired every day.
“Having my girls there, hearing them say, ‘Come on dad,’ that pumps you up,” he said. “It’s better than anything you can have in the world.
“Some people leave family to train, but waking up to them is motivation.”
Of his goals, Navarro recognises that they are lofty, but he is certain he can reach them.
“Just being able to win a world title, being able to win a world title for the Navarro name,” he said. “I had uncles that tried, one went to the Olympics, he had three opportunities for a world title and he fought for them in Japan and he came short in all three, but the Navarro name… having somebody win a world title for him, it would be a big accomplishment for me, my family and for where I’m from. It would be big and I’m looking forward to it. Valtierra’s in the way of that and he needs to go.”
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