Oscar Valdez will look to avenge his previous loss when he takes on Emanuel Navarrete in a WBO super featherweight title fight in a rematch this Saturday, December 7, at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona.
(Credit: Top Rank)
Valdez (32-2, 24 KOs) says he’s gotten over the loss to ‘Vaquero’ Navarrete (38-2-1, 31 KOs) in a one-sided 12-round unanimous decision last August 12. He claims he had a great camp going into the game, which made the loss much harder to deal with mentally.
Navarrete’s decline
Valdez catches Navarrete at the right moment in his career. He has looked terrible in his last two fights and is showing serious signs of being over the hill. He’s only 29, but he looks so much older, it makes one wonder if he’s been burning the candle at both ends between fights. He wouldn’t be the first fighter to ruin his career by living it up between bouts and not staying committed.
The stubborn weight that has settled around Navarrete’s one-time midsection suggests he doesn’t live between fights. With his growing gut, he looks almost like a retired warrior, and he no longer looks youthful.
Whatever Vaquero ate stuck to his ribs and slowed him down. What he needed was a boot camp where he was tortured, and meals were regulated.
Navarrete-Valdez 2 matchup will be shown at 10:30 PM ET/7:30 PM PT on ESPN and ESPN+. In the co-feature, WBO featherweight champion Rafael Espinoza faces former champion Robeisy Ramirez in a rematch that could take the spotlight away from the main event if they put in another performance like their showdown last year on December 9.
Valdez didn’t give any hints as to what he will do in the rematch to get the win as he tried everything last time but Navarrete had too much power and size for him. That won’t change for the rematch unless Valdez has gained strength.
One thing Valdez, 33, has going for him is Navarrete coming off a 12-round loss to Denys Berinchyk on May 18 in a failed bid to win the vacant WBO lightweight title.
2012 Ukrainian Olympian Berinchyk completely schooled Navarrete, beating him on the inside and outside and making him look like a beginner. Navarrete was limp, slow and not training well. If he looks like this against Valdez, he’s going to lose.
Valdez wants revenge
“You could see at 135, he didn’t look like a solid 135. I don’t doubt he’s making weight,” Oscar Valdez told Fight Hub TV when asked if he questioned whether Emanuel Navarrete the 130-lb- cap for their fight this Saturday night.
“I don’t buy into that bit. I can’t train to expect that,” Valdez said of whether ‘Vaquero’ Navarrete is showing signs of decline. “I have to train for the best version of Vaquero. I have already stepped foot in the ring with him. I already know how it is.
“Now it’s a different game plan, a different mindset. Most of the time you get a rematch it was a close fight, and I admit it wasn’t a very close fight. It was a one sided fight.
“When I fought Liam Wilson it was a career-defining fight. If I had lost that fight, I most likely wouldn’t be here right now. So, the fact that I won that fight, that was my ticket because after that fight,” Valdez said.
Valdez kept his career alive with a seventh round knockout victory over Liam Wilson on March 29. It was a great performance from Valdez, but he was facing a vulnerable guy who was knocked out by Navarrete in the 9th round on February 3rd last year.
“I started hearing more and more about a reunion (with Navarrete). I didn’t think much of it until I got the phone call. ‘Are you willing to take the fight?’” Valdez said.
“My immediate reaction was, ‘Hell, yes. 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 battle because I had a great camp. Losing made it hard to go back to training. It was hard to maintain the same hunger that I’ve always had,” Valdez said.
Last year, on August 12, Navarrete beat Vadez with scores of 119-109, 118-110 and 116-112. Navarrete has NOT looked good in his two fights since, being given a 12-round draw against Robson Conceicao on November 16, 2023 and then losing to Berinchyk.
You look at those two fights happening back-to-back for Navarrete; the only conclusion you can draw is that he is showing signs of deterioration. He did look mushy around the midsection in both fights, and that suggests he was enjoying the money he was making. He’s clearly rich, and when fighters make a lot of money, it’s hard for them not to enjoy it by eating.
