Emanuel Navarrete doesn’t like idleness. Five fights last year is evidence of that. And who could blame him? Good things happen then the 25-year-old Mexican steps into the ring.
Navarrete made his breakthrough in December 2018 at Madison Square Garden, where he challenged rising junior featherweight titleholder Isaac Dogboe in his first fight outside Mexico. When it was over, his career had changed completely.
The 5-foot-7 Navarrete used his considerable height and reach advantage to pick apart the short, squat Dogboe and win a unanimous decision and the title even though he injured his right hand early in the fight.
“The best man won tonight,” Dogboe said graciously afterward.
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ON SATURDAY
Who: Emanuel Navarrete (31-1, 27 KOs) vs. Uriel Lopez (13-13-1, 6 KOs), 10 rounds, junior lightweights
Where: TV Azteca Studios, Mexico City
TV: ESPN and ESPN Deportes (8 p.m. ET)
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Navarrete was even better in the rematch five months later in Tucson, Arizona. He outworked Dogboe, put him down twice and stopped him in the 12th and final round to retain his 122-pound title. A new, young Mexican star had arrived.
“To all the fighters at 122 pounds,” he said immediately after the knockout, “I tell them that if they want my title, then they can come and try and take it.”
Well, four fighters – Francisco De Vaca, Juan Miguel Elorde, Franansico Horta and Jeo Santisima – gave that a try last year and none of them survived to hear the final bell. The fact he made five title defenses (including the Dogboe rematch) in one year is unheard of these days. The fact he won all five by KO is just downright impressive.
Next up is countryman Uriel Lopez, who will face Navarrete in a non-title junior lightweight – both weighed in at 127 pounds — bout Saturday night at the TV Azteca Studios in Mexico City on ESPN and ESPN Deportes.
Some champions have expressed reticence to fight in an empty venue, which is required because of the coronavirus pandemic. Not Navarrete. He is going places quickly. And the only way to do that is to fight. A lot.
“He’s a real warrior and he loves nothing better than to fight,” Top Rank CEO Bob Arum said during his 2019 run. “And he doesn’t care who the opponent is. He’s going to go in and fight.”
Navarrete probably won’t stay at 122 much longer but has said he wants to unify the titles against either Murodjon Akhmadaliev, who holds two belts after outpointing Daniel Roman in January, or Rey Vargas. Akhmadaliev’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, has expressed interest in a showdown.
After that? No one is safe. He has an eye on featherweight and junior lightweight stars Shakur Stevenson, Josh Warrington, Leo Santa Cruz and Oscar Valdez.
“Including the belt I have right now at junior featherweight, I want to conquer two more divisions,” Navarrete said. “That’s what I see myself in three to five years, becoming a three-division champion.”
