Emmanuel Navarrete defeated Oscar Valdez during a rematch on Saturday night.
The precise, aggressive Navarrete impressed in his return to the 130-pound division by pounding Valdez to the head and body in the main event of a 10-fight card at the Footprint Center in Phoenix. Navarrete dropped Valdez in the first, fourth and sixth rounds to become the first opponent to stop the former two-division champion at the distance.
Navarrete’s left to the body of Valdez dropped him for the third time with 30 seconds on the clock in the sixth round. Referee Raul Caiz Jr. counted him out at 2:42 of the sixth round.
Mexico’s Navarrete (39-2-1, 32 KOs) retained his WBO junior lightweight title by submitting the ever-brave Valdez. Navarrete rebounded from a 12-round split points loss to Ukraine’s Denis Berinchyk in his previous fight, which was contested at 135 pounds, and a 12-round majority draw with Brazil’s Robson Conceicao in a 12-round, 130-pound championship bout in the pound before Berinchik won.
Valdez (32-3, 24 KOs) lost by knockout for the first time in his 12-year, 35-fight pro career. The two-time Mexican Olympian’s only losses prior to Saturday night were 12-round unanimous decision losses to Navarrete in August 2023 and Shakur Stevenson in April 2022.
The 34-year-old Valdez was close to tears as he apologized to his fans who had traveled from Mexico to watch their rematch in person.
“We tried to get the win,” Valdez told ESPN’s Bernard Osuna in the ring. “We really wanted it. We trained very hard for this. I would like to say that I am sorry for all these people who came to see me from all over, from Sonora, from Nogales, from Phoenix. … I wish I could have gotten a better result. Thank you for coming to support. Maybe next time.”
Valdez sprained his right ankle when he was knocked down in the first round. However, he later admitted that Navarrete was much more the reason for his TKO loss.
“We slipped and fell and kind of broke my ankle,” Valdez said. “But that’s no excuse.” (Navarreta) is a great champion. Hats off to him.”
Navarrete admitted that their second fight was not as easy as it would historically appear on bokrec.com.
“You see, Oscar Valdez was extremely strong in this fight,” Navarrete said. “And he kept going forward, so I had to stop him and push him back.” Because if you let Valdez come at you going downhill, it’s going to be a long night.”
The beginning of the end Saturday night came when another vicious left uppercut from Navarrete nailed Valdez to the ropes with about 1:20 to go in the sixth round. Valdez tried to fight back, but Navarrete nailed him with the aforementioned left to the body that brought the action to an abrupt halt.
Navarrete’s violent onslaught continued throughout the fifth round. The champion caught Valdez with a variety of punishing strikes in those three minutes, punctuated by a crushing left uppercut that knocked Valdez’s mouthpiece to the canvas with seconds left in the fifth round.
Navarrete’s left hook knocked Valdez off balance and into the corner with just over 1:40 to go in the fourth round. Valdez steadied himself before going down and did his best to keep the rest of the fourth round competitive.
Just before the bell sounded to end the fourth round, however, Navarrete landed multiple right hands on the retreating Valdez, who fell to the canvas for the second time in their fight.
After suffering a knockdown during the second round, Valdez battled Navarrete valiantly and connected with his fair share of flush shots that helped him temporarily halt Navarrete’s momentum. The taller, heavier, stronger Navarrete landed a right hand to Valdez’s vulnerable temple that dropped him to his gloves and knees with 25 seconds left in the first round. Navarrete looked much more effective as soon as this rematch started than during the loss to Berinchik.