- Advertisement -
Oscar Valdez will probably be out to avenge his earlier loss when he takes on Emanuel Navarrete in a WBO tremendous featherweight title battle in a rematch this Saturday, December seventh, on the Footprint Heart in Phoenix, Arizona.
(Credit score: Prime Rank)
Valdez (32-2, 24 KOs) says he’s gotten over dropping to ‘Vaquero’ Navarrete (38-2-1, 31 KOs) in a one-sided 12-round unanimous resolution final 12 months on August twelfth. He claims that he had an ideal camp going into the matchup, which made the loss a lot more durable to cope with mentally.
Navarrete’s Decline
Valdez is catching Navarrete on the proper second in his profession. He has appeared horrible in his final two fights and exhibits critical indicators of being over the hill. He’s solely 29, however he appears a lot older, making one surprise if he’s been burning the candle on each ends between fights. He wouldn’t be the primary fighter who wrecked his profession by residing it up between matches and never staying devoted.
The cussed weight that has settled round Navarrete’s once-trim midsection indicators that he’s not residing life in between fights. Along with his rising intestine, he appears virtually like a retired fighter, and he doesn’t look youthful anymore, both.
No matter Vaquero has been consuming, it’s sticking to his ribs and slowing him down. What he wanted was a boot camp the place he was tortured, and meals have been regulated.
Navarrete-Valdez 2 occasion will probably be proven at 10:30 p.m. ET/ 7:30 p.m. PT on ESPN and ESPN+. Within the co-feature, WBO featherweight champion Rafael Espinoza faces former champ Robeisy Ramirez in a rematch that might take the limelight away from the primary occasion in the event that they placed on one other efficiency like of their conflict final 12 months on December ninth.
Valdez hasn’t given any hints about what he’ll do within the rematch to get the victory, as he tried all the things final time, however Navarrete had an excessive amount of energy and dimension for him. That won’t change for the rematch until Valdez has gained power.
One factor Valdez, 33, has going for him is that Navarrete is coming off a 12-round cut up resolution loss to Denys Berinchyk on Could 18th in a failed bid to win the vacant WBO light-weight title.
The 2012 Ukrainian Olympian Berinchyk completely schooled Navarrete, beating him on the within and out of doors and making him seem like a novice. Navarrete appeared flabby, sluggish, and never well-trained. If he appears like that in opposition to Valdez, he’s going to lose.
Valdez Desires Revenge
“You could see at 135, he didn’t look like a solid 135. I don’t doubt he makes weight,” stated Oscar Valdez to Battle Hub TV when requested if he questions whether or not Emanuel Navarrete will make the 130-lb restrict for his or her battle this Saturday night time.
“I don’t buy into that one bit. I can’t train expecting that,” stated Valdez about whether or not ‘Vaquero’ Navarrete is displaying indicators of degradation. “I’ve to coach for one of the best model of Vaquero. I already stepped foot into the ring with him. I already know what it’s like.
“Now, it’s a special sport plan, a special mindset. More often than not that you simply get a rematch, it was an in depth battle, and I admit it wasn’t a really shut battle. It was a one-sided battle.
“When I fought Liam Wilson, it was a career-defining fight. If I lost that fight, most likely, I wouldn’t be here right now. So, the fact that I won that fight, it was my ticket because after that fight,” stated Valdez.
Valdez stored his profession alive with a seventh-round knockout win over Liam Wilson on March twenty ninth. That was an ideal efficiency from Valdez, however he was going through a weak man, who had been knocked out within the ninth spherical by Navarrete final 12 months on February third.
“I started hearing more and more about a rematch [with Navarrete]. I wasn’t thinking much of it until I got the phone call. ‘Are you willing to take the fight?’” stated Valdez.
“My immediate reaction was, ‘Hell, yeah. Vamanos, let’s take it.’ What I’m going to do is take advantage of it and learn from my mistakes. I was expected to win that fight because I had a great camp. Losing, it was hard to go back to train. It was hard to maintain that same hunger that I’d always had,” stated Valdez.
Final 12 months, on August twelfth, Navarrete beat Vadez by the scores of 119-109, 118-110, and 116-112. Navarrete has NOT appeared good in his two fights since, being gifted a 12-round draw in opposition to Robson Conceicao on November sixteenth, 2023, after which dropping to Berinchyk.
You take a look at these two fights occurring back-to-back for Navarrete; the one conclusion you possibly can draw is that he’s displaying indicators of decline. He did look flabby across the midsection in each fights, and that means that he’s been having fun with the cash he’s made. He’s clearly rich, and when fighters make some huge cash, it’s laborious not for them to take pleasure in it by consuming.
