By Ian S Palmer
WBO Super Bantamweight Champion Emanuel Navarrete of Mexico will square off against fellow countryman unbeaten Francisco De Vaca in Los Angeles, California this Saturday, August 17th. The 12-round bout will be telecast live in America on ESPN and ESPN Deportes while fans in Canada can catch it on TSN 5. Navarrete last fought in May when he stopped former champ Isaac Dogboe in the 12th round of their rematch. He beat Dogboe by unanimous decision five months earlier to win the crown. De Vaca’s last outing was an eight-round unanimous decision win over Ernesto Guerrero in February.
Navarrete is 24 years old and enters the match with a record of 27-1 along with 23 big Kos. This gives him a current knockout ratio of 82 per cent so he obviously has quite a bit of power. The champion stands 5-feet-7-inches tall with a 72-inch reach. He turned pro back in 2012 when he was just 17 and has boxed 125 rounds since then. Navarrete’s lone defeat came in his sixth pro bout when he came out on the wrong end of a four-round unanimous decision to Daniel Argueta.
Other than meeting and beating Dogboe twice, the average fan won’t really recognize any of Navarrete’s opponents up to now other than perhaps Dennis Contreras, Luis Orozco and Glenn Porras. But on the bright side, most of his foes have entered the ring with winning records. Navarrete proved he has a solid chin against Dogboe and his power didn’t appear to fade in the later rounds.
De Vaca is also 24 years old and is more or less an unknown to the majority of boxing fans. He has a perfect record of 20-0 though but hasn’t got much power with just 6 Ko’s and a knockout ratio of 30 per cent. He made his pro debut in 2013 and has boxed 111 rounds since. De Vaca, who boxes out of Phoenix, Arizona, is 5-feet-7-inches in height with a wingspan of 65.5 inches. He’s the same height as Navarrete but gives up a big 6.5-inches in reach.
There aren’t many recognizable names on the list of opponents faced by De Vaca with his biggest wins coming over the likes of Guerrero, Jesus Navarro, Ricardo Proano, Jose Estrella, Jesus Serrano, Victor Proa and Christian Esquivel. He also stopped Gustavo Molina in the eighth round in May of 2016 to take the vacant NABF Junior Super Bantamweight Title. He’s taking a big step up in class against Navarrete and may not be ready for it.
Prediction…
With De Vaca not meeting any top contenders up to now it’s a bit hazy as to how he earned a title shot. He’s unbeaten but hasn’t got enough power to keep Navarrete off of him. The 6.5-inch reach disadvantage also means he’s got to get inside to land on the champion. I’m expecting Navarrete to keep his title Saturday night since he’s a big too big and powerful for De Vaca.
