WBO light heavyweight champion Emmanuel Navarrete and challenger Oscar Valdez successfully weighed in on Friday at the weigh-in for their rematch this Saturday night at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona.
(Credit: Top Rank)
Navarrete (38-2-1, 31 KOs) will meet Valdez (32-2, 24 KOs) for the second time and will try to duplicate the same dominance he did a year ago when he came close to knocking him down in a unanimous decision in 12 rounds.
On ESPN & ESPN+ at 10:30 PM ET – Weight:
– Emmauel Navarrete 129.9 vs. Oscar Valdes 130
– Rafael Espinoza 125.7 vs. Robbie Ramirez 125.6
(ESPN+ at 5:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. PT
Lindolfo Delgado 139.9 vs. Jackson Marinez 139.2
Richard Torrez Jr. 236.6 vs. Isaac Munoz 252.1
Albert Gonzalez 127.2 vs. Gerardo Antonio Perez 127.7
Steven Navarro 115.6 vs. Gabriel Bernardi 115.4
Giovanni Santillan 147.9 vs. Fredric Lawson 146.3
Art Barrera Jr. 149.4 vs. Juan Carlos Campos Medina 149.7
Cesar Morales 136.3 vs. Kevin Mosquera 136.4
DJ Zamora 131.3 vs. Roman Ruben Reynoso 131.9
Barrera favors Espinoza over Robeisi
“After talking to them, both of them said that the best version of themselves will come out in the rematch.” I’m surprised by that because they both visited the canvas during the first fight,” Marco Antonio Barrera told Top Rank Boxing, referring to Rafael Espinoza vs. Robeisi Ramirez’s co-main event on Saturday night.
“You don’t usually see that when you have Mexico vs. Cuba and a rematch.” In my heart, because I’m Mexican, I wouldn’t see it as 50-50. I would see it as 48-52,” Barrera said, favoring Espinoza to beat Ramirez.
This is a matter of size. Espinoza is huge for the 126-pound division, and Robeisi looks like he’s more of a bantamweight next to him. He doesn’t have the size or work rate to handle Espinoza’s high-volume style.
“It’s 50-50 in that fight. They’re both Mexican,” Barrera said of the main event bout between WBO light heavyweight champion Emmanuel Navarrete and Oscar Valdez. “The one who has to make adjustments is Oscar Valdez.”
Barrera got it right. Former two-division world champion Valdez will have to make a lot of adjustments to win the rematch as he completely dominated Navarrete last year on August 12, 2023. Navarrete won by scores of 119-109, 118-110 and 116-112. The more accurate score of these three was 119-109.
Can Valdez upset Navarrete?
Valdez seemed to get the most of one round, and it was a wonder his corner didn’t stop the fight as it never was at any stage. Not that Navarrete has better skills than him.
That’s the size. It is much bigger, stronger and has a higher work rate. Against Robson Conceicao and Denis Berincin, fighters closer to Navarrete’s size, they both outplayed him.
“We know that Emmanuel Navarrete has a very difficult style. When pulled back, it is very long. We know it’s going to be very difficult for him (Valdez) to deal with. “Because this fight will be very different, Valdez will have to have a plan A, B and C,” said Barrera.
