Jonathan Givony of Draft Express passes along several international prospects who will declare for the 2020 draft. Miguel Gonzalez (Baskonia), Sander Raieste (BC Kalev), Osas Ehigiator (Fuenlabrada), Njegos Sikiras (Fuenlabrada) have all entered their names.
Tag: Miguel Gonzalez
Emanuel Navarrete maintains his momentum, winning fifth fight of year
Moments after he scored a fourth-round stoppage of Francisco Horta on Saturday, Emanuel Navarrete was already thinking about next year,
Emanuel Navarrete continues to put busy back in the game, closing out one year with his fifth fight within 12 months on a furious pace that has taken him from anonymity to emerging stardom.
What’s next?
More of the same, says Navarrete, a junior featherweight who is as ambitious as he is inexhaustible.
Moments after he scored a fourth-round stoppage of Francisco Horta on Saturday night in Puebla, Mexico, Navarrete was already thinking about next year, a New Year on the calendar and an extension of the momentum he created for himself in 2019.
He won four-title defenses after his upset of Isaac Dogboe last Dec. 8 in New York. After taking the title from Dogboe, he fought once in spring, twice in summer and once in winter. He missed autumn, but maybe that’s one of his resolutions for 2020. He has as many fights in him as there are seasons.
“I want to continue improving,’’ Navarrete (30-1, 26 KOs) said after he overcame a slow start and overwhelmed Horta (20-3-1, 10 KOs), a fellow Mexican, with a blitz of punches from virtually every angle for a TKO victory at 2:09 of the fourth.
Options are plentiful.
At 5-foot-7, the 24-year-old Navarrete has talked about moving up to featherweight. But he has also been mentioned as a possibility for Naoya Inoue, a pound-for-pound contender and a unified bantamweight champion after his decision over Nonito Donaire on Nov. 7 in Japan. The deal would be easy to make. Both are aligned with Top Rank, which signed Inoue last month.
Navarrete also has said he wants to unify the 122-pound title. That appears to be the immediate plan. Top Rank’s Bob Arum has talked about Rey Vargas and Daniel Roman, both belt-holders. Vargas is tied to Golden Boy Promotions. Roman has a deal with Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn.
“2020 will be even better,’’ Navarrete said.
Maybe even busier, too.
On the Navarrete-Horta undercard, Filipino left-hander Jerwin Ancajas (32-1-2, 22 KOs) continued his junior bantamweight reign, winning his eighth successive title defense with a sixth-round stoppage of Miguel Gonzalez (31-2, 8 KOs).
“I want to unify titles,” said Ancajas, who hopes for a shot at Juan Francisco Estrada in 2020.
In the opening bout on the ESPN+ telecast, featherweight and lightweight title challenger Miguel Marriaga (29-3, 24 KOs) of Colombia overcame some rocky moments in the early rounds for a sixth-round stoppage of Mexican Alfredo Meija (14-3-3, 5 KOs).
Jerwin Ancajas to defend his title against Chilean Miguel Gonzalez
Junior bantamweight titleholder Jerwin Ancajas will defend his belt against Miguel Gonzalez of Chile on December 7 in Puebla, Mexico.
Filipino junior bantamweight Jerwin Ancajas has been training and waiting, all in the hopes of getting another chance to defend his title for an eighth time.
His patience paid off this week. Ancajas (31-1-2, 21 knockouts) will defend his 115-pound belt against Miguel Gonzalez (31-2, 8 KO) of Chile on December 7 in Puebla, Mexico on a Top Rank card featuring another title fight, junior featherweight champion Emanuel Navarrete versus Francisco Horta.
The card will be streamed on on ESPN+.
Ancajas had been scheduled to fight Mexican Jonathan Rodriguez on November 2 at Carson, California. But the bout was canceled when Rodriguez was unable to acquire a visa.
“I am ready to defend my world title in front of the great Mexican fans,” said Ancajas, who has held his title since a unanimous decision over McJoe Arroyo on Sept. 3, 2016 in the Philippines. “Since my fight against Rodriguez was canceled, I’ve stayed in America to train. I am in fantastic shape. Gonzalez is a worthy challenger and has beaten good opposition to earn this title shot.”
Gonzalez has fought all but one of his fights in Chile. In his only bout outside of home country, he lost a unanimous decision to Paul Butler in the U.K. on Sept. 21, 2013. He was stopped by Australian Andrew Moloney in a title eliminator on March 22.