Tag: Alexei Collado

Emanuel Navarrete goes for title in second division Friday

Emanuel Navarrete and Ruben Villa will fight for a vacant featherweight title Friday in Las Vegas.

Emanuel Navarrete conquered the 122-pound division. Now he’s poised to win a title at 126, although Ruben Villa might have something to say about that.

Navarrete and Villa are scheduled to meet for a vacant featherweight title in the main event Friday evening inside the MGM Grand “bubble” in Las Vegas. The card will be streamed on ESPN+.

Navarrete (31-1, 27 KOs) is coming off a sixth-round stoppage of tough, but overmatched Uriel Lopez on June 20 at the MGM, his first fight as a full-fledged featherweight. He said he’s comfortable at 126, particularly after getting one fight at that weight under his belt.

“My body is doing a lot better,” the Mexico City fighter said at the final news conference on Wednesday. “I’m growing a little bit more. I was getting a little bit difficult making 122. Now, going up to 136, I think I’m more prepared.

“… We’re ready for this weight, we’re ready for this fight.”

Emanuel Navarrete (left) and Ruben Villa will fight for a vacant 126-pound title Saturday. Mikey Williams / Top Rank

Villa (18-0, 5 KOs) obviously is in the biggest fight of his life. The 23-year-old has put together a string of clear victories but will be taking part in only his fourth scheduled 10-round fight. That includes his last fight, a wide decision over Alexei Collado on Jan. 31.

Navarrete is a significant step up in opposition, but Villa is confident.

“My last couple of fights, they’ve been aggressive guys who come to beat me and think they’re going to get me off my game plan but I adapted well,” he said. “We always had good game plans and stuck to game plans, and now we’re here fighting for a world title. I feel like I’m ready. I feel like he’s beatable, and my style is the one to do it.

“He’s an aggressive guy who throws 100 punches a round. I feel like it’s just going to bring the best out of me to do my job as well as I can.”

Villa has found motivation is the current state of affairs – the coronavirus pandemic, the fires near his home in Salinas, Calif., seeing workers toiling in the fields through it all. And he would be the first world champion from Salinas, which also inspires him.

“I just can’t wait to show you guys what I got,” he said. “I want to see the best Ruben Villa. I haven’t even seen him yet. … I’m just excited to perform and, like I said, show you guys what I got.

“I feel like I’ve been slept on. Maybe a lot of people think I don’t belong here, but I’m going to show everyone I’m an elite 126 fighter. Yeah, I’m coming to win and coming to fight.”

[lawrence-related id=14418]

Emanuel Navarrete goes for title in second division Friday

Emanuel Navarrete and Ruben Villa will fight for a vacant featherweight title Friday in Las Vegas.

Emanuel Navarrete conquered the 122-pound division. Now he’s poised to win a title at 126, although Ruben Villa might have something to say about that.

Navarrete and Villa are scheduled to meet for a vacant featherweight title in the main event Friday evening inside the MGM Grand “bubble” in Las Vegas. The card will be streamed on ESPN+.

Navarrete (31-1, 27 KOs) is coming off a sixth-round stoppage of tough, but overmatched Uriel Lopez on June 20 at the MGM, his first fight as a full-fledged featherweight. He said he’s comfortable at 126, particularly after getting one fight at that weight under his belt.

“My body is doing a lot better,” the Mexico City fighter said at the final news conference on Wednesday. “I’m growing a little bit more. I was getting a little bit difficult making 122. Now, going up to 136, I think I’m more prepared.

“… We’re ready for this weight, we’re ready for this fight.”

Emanuel Navarrete (left) and Ruben Villa will fight for a vacant 126-pound title Saturday. Mikey Williams / Top Rank

Villa (18-0, 5 KOs) obviously is in the biggest fight of his life. The 23-year-old has put together a string of clear victories but will be taking part in only his fourth scheduled 10-round fight. That includes his last fight, a wide decision over Alexei Collado on Jan. 31.

Navarrete is a significant step up in opposition, but Villa is confident.

“My last couple of fights, they’ve been aggressive guys who come to beat me and think they’re going to get me off my game plan but I adapted well,” he said. “We always had good game plans and stuck to game plans, and now we’re here fighting for a world title. I feel like I’m ready. I feel like he’s beatable, and my style is the one to do it.

“He’s an aggressive guy who throws 100 punches a round. I feel like it’s just going to bring the best out of me to do my job as well as I can.”

Villa has found motivation is the current state of affairs – the coronavirus pandemic, the fires near his home in Salinas, Calif., seeing workers toiling in the fields through it all. And he would be the first world champion from Salinas, which also inspires him.

“I just can’t wait to show you guys what I got,” he said. “I want to see the best Ruben Villa. I haven’t even seen him yet. … I’m just excited to perform and, like I said, show you guys what I got.

“I feel like I’ve been slept on. Maybe a lot of people think I don’t belong here, but I’m going to show everyone I’m an elite 126 fighter. Yeah, I’m coming to win and coming to fight.”

[lawrence-related id=14418]

Ruben Villa outclasses Alexei Collado, closer to title shot

Ruben Villa enhanced his featherweight credentials with his tactical skill in a decision over Cuban Alexei Collado on Friday.

Ruben Villa continues to be a prospect likable for what he does in the ring. And out of it.

Villa, who honored the memory of Kobe Bryant by wearing the Laker legend’s No. 8 jersey in his walk to the ring, enhanced his featherweight credentials with a thorough implementation of tactical skill in a decision over Cuban Alexei Collado Friday night on ShoBox in Shreveport, Louisiana.

It was unanimous on the cards and dominating in every other way.

“I feel like I put on a good show,’’ said Villa (18-0, 5 KOs), a Salinas, California fighter who was 2-2 as an amateur against featherweight champion and 2016 Olympic silver medalist Shakur Stevenson.

It was a show of potential that promises to put Villa, a two-time National Golden Gloves champion, closer to a shot at a 126-pound belt, perhaps later this year.

“He was a big knockout puncher, and he’s no pushover,’’ Villa said of Collado.

Collado, who lives in Miami, had no argument with the cards – 98-92, 99-91, 98-92, all for Villa.

“He moves a lot, and he’s a smart fighter,’’ Collado said. “I feel like when I threw a lot, I hit him. But I wasn’t active enough.”

In a co-main event, Ukrainian welterweight Taras Shelestyuk (18-0, 10 KOs), a 2012 Olympic Bronze medalist, scored a unanimous decision over Luis Alberto Veron (18-2-2, 9 KOs) of Argentina.

Ruben Villa, former amateur star, fighting way into title mix

Former amateur star Ruben Villa hopes his fight against Alexei Collado on Friday on ShoBox is another step toward title contention.

Ruben Villa is introducing himself to fans as someone to watch. He’s a potential contender, a featherweight trying to fight his way into the title mix.

But Villa needs no introduction to a featherweight already with a title. Shakur Stevenson knows him, knows him well.

As an amateur, Villa went 2-2 against Stevenson, who faces Miguel Marriaga on March 14 at New York’s Madison Square Garden in the first defense of a 126-pound belt he won in a unanimous decision over Joet Gonzalez on Oct. 26.

“It was back in 2015 and 2016 before he went on to the (2016) Olympics and won a silver medal,’’ said Villa (17-0, 5 KOs), who hopes to add a victory to his credentials as a prospect Friday night against Cuban Alexei Collado (26-2, 23 KOs) on Showtime’s ShoBox at Hirsch Memorial Coliseum in Shreveport, Louisiana. “I knew then that I was fighting somebody special. I knew it wouldn’t take him long to win a world title.’’

Villa, of Salinas, California, says he continues to learn from his amateur experience against Stevenson, who at 22 is a couple of months younger than Villa.

“I like the way he counters, I like the way he boxes,’’ said Villa, who says he has been concentrating on improving his own counter punching in training for the dangerous Collada.

“Collado is a real strong aggressive guy,’’ said Villa, who also beat Devin Haney, a current lightweight champion, in the Junior Olympics in 2014. “He’s a veteran. I have to be cautious because of his power and play it very smart on our end.”

Villa hopes the Collado bout is the first of three in 2020.

“By the end of the year,” he said, “I’m hoping to fight my way into spot for a mandatory shot at a world title.’’