WBO super featherweight champion Emanuel Navarrete and challenger Oscar Valdez both weighed in successfully at Friday’s weigh-in for their rematch this Saturday night at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona.
(Credit: Top Rank)
Navarrete (38-2-1, 31 KOs) will face Valdez (32-2, 24 KOs) for the second time and will be trying to duplicate the same domination that he did a year ago when he came close to blanking him in a 12-round unanimous decision.
On ESPN & ESPN+ at 10:30 p.m. ET – Weights:
– Emauel Navarrete 129.9 vs. Oscar Valdez 130
– Rafael Espinoza 125.7 vs. Robeisy Ramirez 125.6
(ESPN+ at 5:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. PT
Lindolfo Delgado 139.9 vs. Jackson Marinez 139.2
Richard Torrez Jr. 236.6 vs. Issac Munoz 252.1
Albert Gonzalez 127.2 vs. Gerardo Antonio Perez 127.7
Steven Navarro 115.6 vs. Gabriel Bernardi 115.4
Giovani Santillan 147.9 vs. Fredrick Lawson 146.3
Art Barrera Jr. 149.4 vs. Juan Carlos Campos Medina 149.7
Cesar Morales 136.3 vs. Kevin Mosquera 136.4
DJ Zamora 131.3 vs. Roman Ruben Reynoso 131.9
Barrera Favors Espinoza Over Robeisy
“After speaking to them, they both said that the best version of themselves would show up for the rematch. I’m surprised at that because both visited the canvas during the first fight,” said Marco Antonio Barrera to Top Rank Boxing, talking about the Rafael Espinoza vs. Robeisy Ramirez in the co-feature bout on Saturday night.
“You don’t usually see that when you have a Mexico vs. Cuban fight and a rematch. In my heart, because I am a Mexican, I wouldn’t see it as 50-50. I’d see it as 48-52,” said Barrera, favoring Espinoza to win against Ramirez.
This is a size thing. Espinoza is huge for the 126-lb division, and Robeisy looks like he’s more of a bantamweight next to him. He doesn’t have the size or the work rate to deal with Espinoza’s high-volume style.
“In that fight, it’s 50-50. They’re both Mexicans,” said Barrera about the main event fight between WBO super featherweight champion Emanuel Navarrete and Oscar Valdez. “The one that does have to make adjustments is Oscar Valdez.”
Barrera has got it right. The former two-division world champion Valdez will need to make a lot of adjustments to win the rematch because he was completely dominated by Navarrete last year on August 12, 2023. Navarrete won by the scores 119-109, 118-110 and 116-112. The more accurate score of those three was the 119-109.
Can Valdez Upset Navarrete?
At most, Valdez appeared to win one round, and it was a miracle that his corner didn’t stop the fight because he was never at any stage. It’s not that Navarrete has better skills than him.
It’s the size. He’s much bigger, stronger, and has a higher work rate. Against Robson Conceicao and Denys Berincyn, fighters closer to Navarrete’s size, he was outboxed by both.
“We know that Emanuel Navarrete has a very difficult style. When he backs up, he’s very long. We know it’s going to be very difficult for him [Valdez] to deal with that. Because this fight will be very different, Valdez will have to have a plan A, B, and C,” said Barrera.
Read the full article here
