On The Watch “It’s All About Emanuel Navarrete vs Oscar Valdez II”

WBO World Super Featherweight Challenge

Last night’s Top Rank/ESPN Mexican Rematch Showdown Main Event between WBO World Super Featherweight Champion Emanuel Navarrete (39-2-1, 32 Kos) and challenger former WBO Featherweight Champion, Oscar Valdez (32-3, 23 Kos) was a continuation of their last meeting where both combatants picked up where they left off at round 13 with only one difference: Navarrete’s power was on full display at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona.

Navarrete wasted no time asserting himself from the jump and proved to be too strong for Valdez who got dropped in the opening round while being dominated from that point on. Navarrete’s unorthodox style continued to be a problem that Valdez and his corner had no clue how to deter this combatant from having his way. Although Valdez tried his best to stay competitive, it was painfully obvious that he stood no chance on the night.

Valdez’s power had utterly no effect and his aggressive attempts only opened him up to being dropped once again by a vicious right uppercut that indicated the inevitable was nearby. By the sixth round the onslaught coming towards Valdez was a tough one to watch but a well-placed body shot by Navarrete dropped Valdez for the third time who could not answer the count administered by the referee who called an end to the bout.

This was a very impressive and dominating performance by Navarrete proving that when he’s 100% inside that squared circle, he could well be unbeatable.

Well done, Champ!

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Emanuel Navarrete vs Robson Conceicao”

WBO World Super Featherweight Challenge

Last night’s Top Rank/ESPN Co-Main Event between WBO World Super Featherweight Champion Emanuel Navarrete (38-1-1 31 Kos) and Robson Conceicao (17-2-1, 8 Kos) was an entertaining bout from start to finish.

Due to Navarrete’s slow start, Conceicao took advantage early and boxed beautifully and stayed active with his hands, but Navarrete’s power and aggressive, awkward styles were quite evident round by round. I was impressed with Conceicao standing his ground and exchanging blow for blow with a much heavier handed combatant across from him, but Conceicao did eventually pay the price by being overly confident in the fourth round and got dropped for a quick standing 8 count. To my surprise Conceicao jumped right back into being active and resilient with his offense.

The heavier shots kept on coming from Navarrete who pressed the action as best he could, but Conceicao didn’t make it easy for him and continued to bang toe-to-toe even though he lacked the power his active hands kept him in the fight. Navarrete’s power showed up again in the seventh round when he dropped Conceicao for the second time for another standing 8 count but couldn’t finish him off in his usual fashion. A tired looking Conceicao refused to fold and continued to box his way to the final bell of the 12thround.

The Judges at hand had a tough call to make. One Judge called it 114-112 for Navarrete while the other two Judges called it 113-113 giving this bout a majority draw.

Conceicao got rewarded for his work rate handed round by round while Navarrete still retained his WBO World Super Featherweight Title after a hard night’s work. Although Navarrete didn’t look as razor-sharp as his last outing, he did manage to give us fans a hell of a fight with Conceicao. Maybe a rematch could be in the near future to clear the air.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Emanuel Navarrete vs Oscar Valdez”

WBO World Super Featherweight Challenge

Last night’s Top Rank/ESPN Mexican Showdown Main event between WBO World Super Featherweight Champion Emanuel Navarrete (38-1, 31 Kos) and former WBO Featherweight Champion Oscar Valdez (31-2, 23 Kos), brought the heat and the house down with their performance at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona.

These two warriors wasted no time and proceeded at throwing some heavy leather back and forth right from the first bell dictating how this bout was going to unfold.

At first sight it was clear that Navarrete’s unorthodox pressured style and physical strength was definitely going to be a problem for Valdez to deter. Navarrete’s punches were coming from all angles nonstop making it really hard for Valdez to counter back since punches were coming at him in bunches at a time.

That being said, Valdez’s counterpunches were visibly effective when thrown but not damaging enough to discourage Navarrete’s high-volume attack of six punch combinations coming back at him.

Although Valdez stood his ground going toe to toe with Navarrete, the assault that Oscar was absorbing was visibly breaking him down round by round. Navarrete’s overall style was simply too much for Oscar on the night.

After 12 blistering rounds of action, the Judges at hand called it 119-109, 118-110, 116-112 all in favor of Emanuel Navarrete.

With this convincing win Navarrete retained his WBO World Super Featherweight Title and recorded his biggest win of his career to date.

Well done, Champ!

Blaze