Oscar Valdez will be out to avenge his previous loss when he takes on Emanuel Navarrete in a WBO super featherweight title fight in a rematch this Saturday, December 7th, at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona.
(Credit: Top Rank)
Valdez (32-2, 24 KOs) says he’s gotten over losing to ‘Vaquero’ Navarrete (38-2-1, 31 KOs) in a one-sided 12-round unanimous decision last year on August 12th. He claims that he had a great camp going into the matchup, which made the loss much tougher to deal with mentally.
Navarrete’s Decline
Valdez is catching Navarrete at the right moment in his career. He has looked terrible in his last two fights and shows serious signs of being over the hill. He’s only 29, but he looks so much older, making one wonder if he’s been burning the candle on both ends between fights. He wouldn’t be the first fighter who wrecked his career by living it up between matches and not staying dedicated.
The stubborn weight that has settled around Navarrete’s once-trim midsection signals that he’s not living life in between fights. With his growing gut, he looks almost like a retired fighter, and he doesn’t look youthful anymore, either.
Whatever Vaquero has been eating, it’s sticking to his ribs and slowing him down. What he needed was a boot camp where he was tortured, and meals were regulated.
Navarrete-Valdez 2 event will be shown at 10:30 p.m. ET/ 7:30 p.m. PT on ESPN and ESPN+. In the co-feature, WBO featherweight champion Rafael Espinoza faces former champ Robeisy Ramirez in a rematch that could take the limelight away from the main event if they put on another performance like in their clash last year on December 9th.
Valdez hasn’t given any hints about what he’ll do in the rematch to get the victory, as he tried everything last time, but Navarrete had too much power and size for him. That will not change for the rematch unless Valdez has gained strength.
One thing Valdez, 33, has going for him is that Navarrete is coming off a 12-round split decision loss to Denys Berinchyk on May 18th in a failed bid to win the vacant WBO lightweight title.
The 2012 Ukrainian Olympian Berinchyk totally schooled Navarrete, beating him on the inside and outside and making him look like a novice. Navarrete looked flabby, slow, and not well-trained. If he looks like that against Valdez, he’s going to lose.
Valdez Wants Revenge
“You could see at 135, he didn’t look like a solid 135. I don’t doubt he makes weight,” said Oscar Valdez to Fight Hub TV when asked if he questions whether Emanuel Navarrete will make the 130-lb limit for their fight this Saturday night.
“I don’t buy into that one bit. I can’t train expecting that,” said Valdez about whether ‘Vaquero’ Navarrete is showing signs of deterioration. “I have to train for the best version of Vaquero. I already stepped foot into the ring with him. I already know what it’s like.
“Now, it’s a different game plan, a different mindset. Most of the time that you get a rematch, it was a close fight, and I admit it wasn’t a very close fight. It was a one-sided fight.
“When I fought Liam Wilson, it was a career-defining fight. If I lost that fight, most likely, I wouldn’t be here right now. So, the fact that I won that fight, it was my ticket because after that fight,” said Valdez.
Valdez kept his career alive with a seventh-round knockout win over Liam Wilson on March 29th. That was a great performance from Valdez, but he was facing a vulnerable guy, who had been knocked out in the 9th round by Navarrete last year on February 3rd.
“I started hearing more and more about a rematch [with Navarrete]. I wasn’t thinking much of it until I got the phone call. ‘Are you willing to take the fight?’” said Valdez.
“My immediate reaction was, ‘Hell, yeah. Vamanos, let’s take it.’ What I’m going to do is take advantage of it and learn from my mistakes. I was expected to win that fight because I had a great camp. Losing, it was hard to go back to train. It was hard to maintain that same hunger that I’d always had,” said Valdez.
Last year, on August 12th, Navarrete beat Vadez by the scores of 119-109, 118-110, and 116-112. Navarrete has NOT looked good in his two fights since, being gifted a 12-round draw against Robson Conceicao on November 16th, 2023, and then losing to Berinchyk.
You look at those two fights happening back-to-back for Navarrete; the only conclusion you can draw is that he’s showing signs of decline. He did look flabby around the midsection in both fights, and that suggests that he’s been enjoying the money he’s made. He’s obviously wealthy, and when fighters make a lot of money, it’s hard not for them to enjoy it by eating.
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