By: Sean Crose
Emanuel Navarrete highlighted an ESPN card in Phoenix Saturday night when he faced Oscar Valdez for the second time. At stake was the WBO junior lightweight title. Defending titlist Navarrete won the first battle with Valdez, but Valdez had obvious plans for things to work out differently in Saturday’s scheduled 12 rounder. The first round was relatively close – until Navarrete put Valdez to the mat with a series of blows. With that being said, Valdez was able to get back to his feet and survive the round. Still, it was a less than stellar beginning for the determined challenger.
Valdez fought well and aggressively in the second. Yet he was rocked by Navarrete again later in the round. Sure enough, Navarrete fired well from range in the third. By the end of the chapter it was clear the defending champion was looking to end things early. And indeed, he dropped Valdez again at the end of the fourth. Valdez beat the count once again, but was clearly in real trouble. And still Valdez went forward against Navarrete in the fifth. That didn’t stop Navarrete from knocking out his opponent’s mouthpiece. The fight was becoming a one sided beatdown.
An uppercut rocked Valdez in the sixth. A crushing gut shot seconds later put the game Valdez down and out. “I take my hat off to him,” Valdez said in an act of good sportsmanship in the post fight interview. “He kept coming forward so what I had to do was stop him in his tracks,” Navarrete said of the fight. “You are now witnessing the second stage of my career.” It was without doubt a great night for Navarrete who put on an extremely impressive performance. The victor indicated after the fight that he has his eyes on a higher weight class down the road.