Tonight, at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona, we will witness an action-packed night of shows. When Emanuel Navarrete (38-2-1, 31 KOs) defends his WBO junior lightweight title against Oscar Valdez (32-2, 24 KOs) and Rafael Espinoza makes his second title defense against the man who defeated for the WBO featherweight championship, Robeisy. Ramirez.
Both matches will have a lot of firepower with four warriors who are ready for a war; they will do whatever it takes to capture a victory.
In the first match, Emanuel Navarrete threw 1,038 punches, doubling Valdez’s output of 436. Oscar admitted to making the strategic mistake of looking for the knockout against Navarrete. He stated that he will not make that mistake this time. He made adjustments on the field and his game plan that allowed him to really challenge Navarrete in the rematch.
Earlier this year, Valdez fought a tough opponent in Liam Wilson, where he seemed to lose the first exchanges. He intelligently made adjustments in the match, boxing with the in-and-out movement and was able to finish Wilson in 7 rounds. This is the same Wilson who in 2023 gave Navarrete a tough match winning rounds and dropped him in the 4th. Wilson eventually succumbed to Navarrete’s power attack, being stopped in the 9th round.
Navarrete is difficult to defend due to his unfair movement and unconventional offensive attack. He throws from unusual angles and throws his punches from a distance. At yesterday’s weigh-in, he looked fit, seemed to have had a great training camp.
In the past, he has struggled to make weight and has performed inconsistently in the ring when he has. We will have the best version of Naverrete tonight and Valdez must prepare for what will be a tough match.
Navarrete will try to do more than what he did in the first match and apply pressure. He stated that he will be looking for the knockout this time, wanting to make a statement after his loss to Denys Berinchyk in May. Valdez will have to be great to defeat Navarrete and box similarly to how he did against Wilson.
He must box the match of his life and use the full repertoire of his skills. Using the jab, feint and effective lateral movement. Defensively, he must do his best to block Navarrete’s punches by using his guard, parrying, slipping punches, and not staying in the pocket longer than he needs to.
Navarrete likes to throw 3 to 4 combined punches; Valdez must defend effectively against these punches to survive the match. At 33, Valdez knows that championship opportunities are limited from here on out, in true warrior fashion, he will go to war and seek championship glory.
Source: Compubox
