Emanuel Navarrete KOs Oscar Valdez in six

By: Sean Crose

Emanuel Navarrete headlined an ESPN card in Phoenix on 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 fight with Valdez, but Valdez had clear plans for things to be different in Saturday’s scheduled 12-rounder. The first round was relatively close until Navarrete floored Valdez with a series of strikes. With that said, Valdez managed to get back to his feet and survive the round. However, it was a less than stellar start for the determined challenger.

Valdez fought well and aggressively in the second. Yet he was rocked again by Navarrete later in the round. As expected, Navarrete shot well from distance in the third. By the end of the chapter it was clear that the reigning champion was looking to end things early. And in fact he dropped Valdez again at the end of the quarter. Valdez once again beat the count, but was clearly in big trouble. And again Valdez went ahead against Navarrete in the fifth. That didn’t stop Navarrete from knocking out his opponent’s spokesperson. The fight was becoming a one-sided defeat.

An uppercut rocked Valdez in the sixth. A gut-crushing blow seconds later put Valdez out of the game. “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. “Now you are witnessing the second phase of my career.” It was undoubtedly a great night for Navarrete who put in a truly impressive performance. The winner indicated after the fight that he has his sights set on a higher weight class in the future.