WBO super featherweight champion Emanuel Navarrete and challenger Oscar Valdez were both successful at Friday’s weigh-in for their rematch on 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 try to duplicate the same dominance he did a year ago when he was close to the annulment Decision unanimous in 12 rounds.
On ESPN and ESPN+ at 1:30 pm ET – Weights:
– Emauel Navarrete 129.9 vs. Oscar Valdez 130
– Rafael Espinoza 125.7 vs. Robey 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 talking to them, they both said that the best version of them will show up for the rematch. I’m surprised by this because they both visited the canvas during the first fight,” said Marco Antonio Barrera to Top Rank Boxing, speaking of Rafael Espinoza vs. Robeisy Ramirez in the co-feature fight on Saturday night.
“Usually you don’t see it when you have a Mexican versus Cuban fight and a rematch. In my heart, because I’m a Mexican, I don’t see it as 50-50. I see it as 48-52” , Barrera said, 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 work rate to deal with Espinoza’s high-volume style.
“In that fight, it’s 50-50. They’re both Mexican,” Barrera said of the main event fight between WBO super featherweight champion Emanuel Navarrete and Oscar Valdez. “The one who has to make adjustments is Oscar Valdez.”
Barrera got it right. Former two-division world champion Valdez needs 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 with scores of 119-109, 118-110 and 116- 112. The most accurate score of those three was 119-109.
Can Valdez take down Navarrete?
At the most, Valdez seemed to win once, and it was a miracle that his corner did not stop the fight because it was never in any stadium. It’s not that Navarrete has better skills than him.
It’s the size. It is 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 returns, he is very long. We know that it will be very difficult for him (Valdez) to deal with it. Because this fight will be very different, Valdez will have to have a plan A, B and C,” Barrera said.
