Emanuel Navarrete overwhelmed Oscar Valdez during their rematch Saturday night.
An accurate, aggressive Navarrete impressed in his return to the 130-pound division by battering Valdez to this head and body in the main event of a 10-fight card at Footprint Center in Phoenix. Navarrete dropped Valdez during the first, fourth and sixth rounds and became the first opponent to stop the former two-division champion inside the distance.
Navarette’s left to Valdez’s body dropped him for the third time with 30 seconds on the clock in the sixth round. Referee Raul Caiz Jr. counted him out at 2:42 of the sixth round.
Mexico’s Navarrete (39-2-1, 32 KOs) retained the WBO junior lightweight title by battering the ever-brave Valdez into submission. Navarrete revived his career following a 12-round split points loss to Ukraine’s Denys Berinchyk in his previous fight, which was contested in the 135-pound division, and a 12-round majority draw with Brazil’s Robson Conceicao in the 12-round, 130-pound championship bout before Berinchyk beat him.
Valdez (32-3, 24 KOs) lost by knockout for the first time in his 12-year, 35-fight professional career. The two-time Mexican Olympian’s only losses prior to Saturday night were 12-round unanimous points defeats to Navarette in August 2023 and Shakur Stevenson in April 2022.
The 34-year-old Valdez was near tears when he apologized to his fans who traveled from Mexico to watch their rematch in person.
“We tried to get the victory,” Valdez told ESPN’s Bernardo Osuna in the ring. “We really wanted it. We trained very hard for this. I’d like to say I’m sorry for all these people who came here to see me from all over the place, from Sonora, from Nogales, from Phoenix. … I wish I could’ve gotten a better result. Thank you for coming here to support. Maybe next time.”
Valdez twisted his right ankle when he went down from a first-round knockdown. He admitted afterward, though, that Navarrete was much more the reason for his TKO loss.
“We slipped, fell, and kinda messed up my ankle,” Valdez said. “But that’s no excuse. [Navarrete] is a great champion. I take my hat off to him.”
Navarrete acknowledged their second fight wasn’t as easy as it might look historically on boxrec.com.
“Look, Oscar Valdez was extremely strong in this fight,” Navarrete said. “And he kept coming forward, so what I had to do was stop him in his tracks and push him backward. Because if you let Valdez come at you, coming downhill, then it’s gonna be a long night.”
The beginning of the end Saturday night came when another vicious left uppercut by Navarrete knocked Valdez into the ropes with about 1:20 to go in the sixth round. Valdez tried to fight back, but Navarrete nailed him with the abovementioned left to the body that abruptly halted the action.
Navarrete’s violent assault continued during the fifth round. The champion caught Valdez with various punishing punches in those three minutes, punctuated by a crushing left uppercut that knocked Valdez’s mouthpiece to the canvas with a few seconds to go in the fifth round.
A left hook by Navarrete knocked Valdez off balance and into a corner with just over 1:40 to go in the fourth round. Valdez stabilized himself before he went down and tried his best to make the remainder of the fourth round competitive.
Just before the bell sounded to end the fourth round, however, Navarrete landed multiple right hands on a retreating Valdez, who fell to the canvas for the second time in their bout.
After suffering a knockdown during the second round, Valdez valiantly went toe-to-toe with Navarrete and connected with his fair share of flush punches that helped him stunt Navarrete’s momentum temporarily. The taller, heavier, stronger Navarrete landed a right hand to a vulnerable Valdez’s temple that knocked him to his gloves and knees with 25 seconds to go in the first round. Navarrete looked much more effective as soon as this rematch began than he did during his loss to Berinchyk.