Tag: Uriel Lopez

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.”

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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.”

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Emanuel Navarrete to fight Ruben Villa for vacant 126-pound title

Emanuel Navarrete and Ruben Villa have agreed to fight for the vacant WBO featherweight title on Oct. 9, according to ESPN.

Emanuel Navarrete and Ruben Villa have agreed to fight for the vacant WBO featherweight title on Oct. 9, according to ESPN.

No. 1-ranked Navarrete (32-1, 28KOs) was expected to fight No. 2 Jessie Magdaleno for the belt but Magdaleno, reportedly not satisfied with the amount of money offered to him, pulled out of talks.

Villa (18-0, 5 KOs) was next in line at No. 3 in the WBO rankings. The Salinas, Calif., fighter is coming off a unanimous-decision victory over Alexei Collado on Jan. 31. Villa will be fighting for a major title for the first time.

Navarrete stopped Uriel Lopez in six rounds on June 20, Navarrete’s first fight as a full-fledged 126-pounder. The Mexican is a former 122-pound titleholder.

Shakur Stevenson vacated the WBO 126-pound title in early July and moved up to 130.

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Emanuel Navarrete to fight Ruben Villa for vacant 126-pound title

Emanuel Navarrete and Ruben Villa have agreed to fight for the vacant WBO featherweight title on Oct. 9, according to ESPN.

Emanuel Navarrete and Ruben Villa have agreed to fight for the vacant WBO featherweight title on Oct. 9, according to ESPN.

No. 1-ranked Navarrete (32-1, 28KOs) was expected to fight No. 2 Jessie Magdaleno for the belt but Magdaleno, reportedly not satisfied with the amount of money offered to him, pulled out of talks.

Villa (18-0, 5 KOs) was next in line at No. 3 in the WBO rankings. The Salinas, Calif., fighter is coming off a unanimous-decision victory over Alexei Collado on Jan. 31. Villa will be fighting for a major title for the first time.

Navarrete stopped Uriel Lopez in six rounds on June 20, Navarrete’s first fight as a full-fledged 126-pounder. The Mexican is a former 122-pound titleholder.

Shakur Stevenson vacated the WBO 126-pound title in early July and moved up to 130.

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Emanuel Navarrete vs. Jessie Magdaleno targeted for October

Emanuel Navarrete and Jessie Magdaleno could fight for the vacant WBO featherweight title in October.

Emanuel Navarrete and Jessie Magdaleno could fight for the vacant WBO featherweight title in October.

Top Rank, which handles both fighters, won a purse bid to stage the fight and the sides have agreed to terms. The promotional company is targeting either Oct. 17 or 24 in the MGM Grand bubble in Las Vegas. It would be available on an ESPN platform.

The 126-pound title became vacant when Shakur Stevenson gave it up recently to move up to 130.

Navarrete (31-1, 27 KOs) won the WBO 122-pound title when he outpointed previously unbeaten Isaac Dogboe in December 2018 and then stopped Dogboe in the rematch five months later. He made five successful defenses before moving up to 126.

The Mexican stopped Uriel Lopez in his featherweight debut on June 20 at the MGM Grand.

Magdaleno (28-1, 18 KOs) also is a former junior featherweight titleholder. He lost his belt to Dogboe by 11th-round stoppage in April 2018.

The native of Las Vegas is coming off a disqualification victory over Yenifel Vicente on June 11 in the MGM Grand bubble.

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Emanuel Navarrete vs. Jessie Magdaleno targeted for October

Emanuel Navarrete and Jessie Magdaleno could fight for the vacant WBO featherweight title in October.

Emanuel Navarrete and Jessie Magdaleno could fight for the vacant WBO featherweight title in October.

Top Rank, which handles both fighters, won a purse bid to stage the fight and the sides have agreed to terms. The promotional company is targeting either Oct. 17 or 24 in the MGM Grand bubble in Las Vegas. It would be available on an ESPN platform.

The 126-pound title became vacant when Shakur Stevenson gave it up recently to move up to 130.

Navarrete (31-1, 27 KOs) won the WBO 122-pound title when he outpointed previously unbeaten Isaac Dogboe in December 2018 and then stopped Dogboe in the rematch five months later. He made five successful defenses before moving up to 126.

The Mexican stopped Uriel Lopez in his featherweight debut on June 20 at the MGM Grand.

Magdaleno (28-1, 18 KOs) also is a former junior featherweight titleholder. He lost his belt to Dogboe by 11th-round stoppage in April 2018.

The native of Las Vegas is coming off a disqualification victory over Yenifel Vicente on June 11 in the MGM Grand bubble.

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Emanuel Navarrete, Jessie Magdaleno could fight for 126-pound title

The WBO is planning to order a fight between Emanuel Navarrete and Jessie Magdaleno for its vacant featherweight title.

Emanuel Navarrete and Jessie Magdaleno could be on a collision course.

The WBO is planning to order a fight between No. 1-ranked Navarrete and No. 2 Magdaleno for its vacant featherweight title, BoxingScene.com is reporting.

WBO president Francisco Valcarcel said No. 3 Ruben Villa would step in if either Navarrete or Magdaleno can’t or won’t take part in the title fight. Travel restrictions can be a complicating factor during the coronavirus pandemic.

Valcarcel seems to be assuming that the title fight would take place in the U.S. Navarrete is in Mexico.

“We will touch base with Top Rank since both Navarrete and Magdaleno are promoted by them. We’ll then order the fight,” Valcarcel told BoxingScene.com.

He went on: “I know Ruben Villa is available. I already talked to Banner Promotions head Artie Pelullo. We will for sure announce it by the end of the week. Top Rank is busy right now with the shows in the bubble in Las Vegas. I don’t want to disturb them right now.”

Magdaleno’s manager, Frank Espinoza, told BoxingScene.com that his client wants the Navarrete fight.

“That’s a fight we want,” he said. “It will be a great battle. It will be interesting to see if the fight happens in the bubble or not, but I would like the fight to take place no later than September and October.

“It’s not going to be an easy fight, but we’re really motivated. My guy can prevail.”

Shakur Stevenson recently vacated the WBO 126-pound title and moved up to 130. Navarrete did the same recently, giving up his 122-pound belt. Magdaleno lost his junior featherweight title to Issac Dogboe in April 2018.

Navarette (31-1, 27 KOs) and Magdaleno  (28-1, 18 KOs) have both fought during the pandemic. Navarette stopped Uriel Lopez in six rounds in Mexico on June 20, and Magdaleno defeated Yenifel Vicente by disqualification on June 11 in the MGM Grand bubble in Las Vegas.

Villa (18-0, 5 KOs) is coming off a unanimous-decision victory over Alexei Collado on Jan. 31.

Emanuel Navarrete scores brutal sixth-round knockout in Mexico City

Emanuel Navarrete broke down and stopped Uriel Lopez in the sixth round Saturday at the TV Azteca Studios in Mexico City.

It takes a while for Emanuel Navarrete to get rolling. Once he does, though, you don’t want to be the guy standing across from him.

Navarrete did what everyone expected him to do on Saturday night at the TV Azteca Studios in Mexico City, which was to stop overmatched Uriel Lopez in a non-title fight with no spectators because of the coronavirus. And the long, powerful 122-pound champion did it in brutal fashion.

The Mexico City native unleashed a torrent of hard, damaging shots in the sixth and final round, putting a badly beaten Lopez down on all fours and giving the referee no choice but to stop the onslaught. The official time was 2:22.

Navarette (32-1, 27 KOs) has now scored six consecutive knockouts since he outpointed Isaac Dogboe to win his title in December 2018.

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Lopez (13-14-1, 6 KOs) was game until the moment the fight ended. The journeyman, also from Mexico City, was competitive in the first few rounds as the much taller Navarette was finding his rhythm and range.

He found both by the third round, when he shifted into a higher gear, picked up his punch rate and began to beat the stuffing out of his poor opponent.

Navarrete put Lopez down with a body shot a little over a minute into Round 5 and then, the second Lopez got to his feet, pounded him from every conceivable angle. To his credit, Lopez showed impressive resilience … until Round 6, that is.

It seemed as if Navarrete had an appointment for which he was late in the final round. He wanted out of there. And did what it took to get that accomplished, firing shots to the body and head at a rate that broke Lopez down. The big blow was a straight right to the stomach, followed by a left hook.

Lopez fell to his hands and knees, with his head hanging. He was done.

“I have the utmost respect for Uriel Lopez. He put forth a courageous effort, but I was coming to win by knockout,” Navarrete said.

What’s next for the winner?

Well, don’t expect him to rest for long. The victory over Loppez was Navarrete’s sixth fight in 13 months, which is unheard of for a titleholder. The man likes to keep busy.

The question is who will he face and at what weight. He has difficulty making 122 but said he’d like to unify the titles before moving up to 126. That means he’d have to fight 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.

“I want to unify titles,” he said, “but if nobody accepts my challenge, I’ll move up to featherweight.”

The elite 126-pounders are on notice.

In preliminaries, Edwin Palomares (13-3-1, 4 KOs) scored an upset by stopping Carlos Ornelas (25-3, 14 KOs) in the fifth round of a scheduled 10-round junior lightweight bout.

Palomares overwhelmed Ornelas with relentless aggression, barely giving his more-experienced opponent room to breathe. In the final round, Palomares landed what seemed to be a grazing body shot but Ornelas took a knee. At that moment, one of Ornelas’ cornerman signaled that his fighter had taken enough and the fight was stopped.

Palomares literally pounded the fight out of Ornelas to record the biggest victory of the 24-year-old Mexico City resident’s career.

Also, Sergio Sanchez (15-1, 9 KOs) gave an impressive performance against Alan Pina (8-3, 5 KOs) in a scheduled eight-round featherweight bout, stopping Pina with one punch in the opening seconds of Round 3.

Sanchez put Pina down with a left hook in the final moments of Round 1 and landed a number of hard, accurate shots in Round 2, which was only a prelude of what was to come. Pina was moving forward when Sanchez landed a perfect left uppercut, rendering Pina unconscious the moment the punch landed.

Pina lay motionless on his back for several minutes but was able to get up. The official time was six seconds into the round.

And Armando Garcia (6-0, 3 KOs) survived a cut in the fourth round to outpoint Roberto Palomares (5-5-1, 1 KO) in a six-round junior bantamweight fight between Mexico City residents. The scores were 59-55, 59-55 and 59-56.

The card was the first in Mexico since the pandemic took hold.

Emanuel Navarrete is back at it Saturday in Mexico City

Junior featherweight champ Emanuel Navarrete faces Uriel Lopez in a non-title bout Saturday in Mexico City.

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.

***

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)

***

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.

Emanuel Navarrete has won 26 consecutive fights. Photo / Zanfer Promotions

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.”