The WBO has ordered super featherweight champion Emanuel Navarrete to begin negotiations with interim champion Oscar Valdez for a rematch of their fight last year in August. The two fighters have 20 days to put together a deal before the purse bid.
Questionable Decision
It’s a meaningless fight in many ways, as Navarrete (38-2-1, 31 KOs) defeated Valdez (32-2, 24 KOs) by a 12-round unanimous decision last year in Glendale, Arizona; The scores were 119–109, 118–110 and 116–112.
Navarrete used his high punch and 72-inch reach to dominate the smaller Valvez, who couldn’t handle his size and relentless punching. Navarrete looked like a welterweight after his rematch with the Valdez fight, and he had too much size for the smaller 5’5 1/2″ fighter to handle.
What makes this fight even more ridiculous is that Navarrete is coming off a twelve-round split decision against Denys Berinchyk last May in a bid to win the vacant WBO lightweight title in San Diego, California.
Navarrete came close to winning one round, but three judges were too kind to him. He was an A player in that fight, against an older striker with Olympic experience who many thought would win. Berinchyk’s rookie pedigree was too much for Navarrete in that fight.
Fans on social media want Navarrete to stay at lightweight to try to avenge his loss to Berinchyk because it looks bad for him to go back to super featherweight to defend his WBO title against a fighter he already lost to last year.
Disadvantages of Competitors
It would have been a better move for the World Boxing Organization to strip Navarrete of his WBO 130-lb title if he moved up to 135 for the vacant title against Berinchyk.
Allowing Navarrete to retain his WBO super featherweight title after he moved up to lightweight did not bode well for the contenders in the 130-lb division.
2012 Olympic silver medalist Berinchyk took Navarrete to school in that fight. He was dominating all the rounds, doing his tricks and shooting him with shots.
The judges scored it 115-113, 116-112 for Berinchyk, and 116-112 for Navarrete. However, in a completely uneven fight, Berinchyk got the better of Navarrete throughout the 12 rounds.
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