Former three-division world champion Emanuel Navarrete (38-1-1, 31 KOs) weighed in at 135 lbs and his opponent Denys Berinchyk (18-0, 9 KOs) scaled in at 134.8 lbs at Friday’s weigh-in for their 12-round main event fight for the vacant WBO lightweight title this Saturday, May 18th on ESPN at the Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California. The event will be shown live on ESPN and ESPN+ beginning at 10:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. PT for the main portion of the card.
(Photo credit: Top Rank)
In the co-feature weights, unbeaten welterweight contender Giovanni Santillan (32-0, 17 KOs) weighed in at 146.4 lbs while Brian Norman Jr. (25-0, 19 KOs) came in at 146.5 lbs for the vacant WBO interim 147-lb title.
Navarrete moves up from 130, where he holds the WBO super featherweight title, to try and capture his fourth division world title. This puts him in a position for bigger-money fights against the more popular fighters at lightweight.
It appears that not all of the weight that Navarrete, 29, has added to his frame to bulk up is muscle. His midsection looks pretty soft like much of the weight that Navarrete had put on has accumulated around his middle.
Hopefully, that isn’t a signal that Navarrete failed to put in the hard work needed to win this fight against #1 ranked WBO Berinchyk.
It’s difficult to know how well Navarrete will perform in this new weight class for him becaue he’d only been at super featherweight for three fights, and performed poorly in two of them.
Navarrete had looked soft around the middle for his fights against Robson Conceicao and Liam Wilson, making some boxing fans wonder if he’s enjoying himself a little too much in between fights.
If Navarrete fails to win this fight against the 2012 Olympic silver medalist Berinchyk on Saturday, he’s expected to return to super featherweight and resume defending his WBO 130-lb title.
Main card Weights on ESPN, ESPN Deportes & ESPN+, 10:30 p.m. ET
– Emanuel Navarrete 135 vs. Denys Berinchyk 134.8
Giovani Santillan 146.4 vs. Brian Norman Jr. 146.5
Preliminary card on ESPN+, 7:10 p.m. ET/
Richard Torrez 229.9 vs. Brandon Moore 229.4
Jonny Mansour 134 vs. Anel Dudo 130.8
Emiliano Fernando Vargas 139.6 vs. Angel Varela 140
Alan Garcia 137.8 vs. Wilfredo Flores 136.9
Jonathan Lopez 127.1 vs. Edgar Ortega 127.6
Art Barrera Jr. 146 vs. Levy Garcia Benitez 143.9
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