By Ian S Palmer
WBO Super Bantamweight Champion Emanuel Navarrete returns to the ring when he faces fellow Mexican Victor Uriel Lopez in a 10-round non-title fight in Mexico City this Saturday, June 18. Navarrete stopped Jeo Santisima in the 11th round in February in his last bout while Lopez lost a 10-round split decision to Alan Salazar in December. Saturday’s fight can be seen live in America on ESPN+. This will be Navarrete’s sixth fight since May, 2019
The 25-year-old Navarrete won the title by beating Isaac Dogboe by unanimous decision in December of 2018 and then stopped him in the 12th round in their rematch five months later. Navarrete has an impressive mark of 31-1 along with 27 big Kos which gives him a current knockout ratio of 84.4 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 147 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 many of Navarrete’s opponents up to now though 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. He proved he has a solid chin against Dogboe and his power didn’t appear to fade in the later rounds.
Lopez is also 25 years old and owns a record of 13-13-1 with 6 Kos. He turned pro back in 2012 when he was 17 and has fought 137 rounds since. He lacks power with a current knockout ratio of 22.2 per cent and has been stopped three times. He’s also lost three fights in a row, all by decision. He fought for the WBO Oriental Super Bantamweight title in November 2018 and dropped a unanimous decision to Jeo Santisima, who was Navarrete’s last opponent.
Lopez won the interim WBC Latino Super Bantamweight Crown in 2018 when he stopped Antonio Tostado Garcia in the second round. He beat Ryo Matsumoto by fifth round stoppage in 2018 and was then halted himself in the sixth round in their rematch a few months later. Lopez has also been stopped by Rosendo Hugo Guarenos and Jesus Garcia in Lopez’s pro debut. There’s no height listed for Lopez but he reportedly has a 64-inch reach, which is eight-inches shorter than Navarrete’s.
Prediction…
Navarrete loves to keep busy and he’s always in top shape. Things haven’t gone too well for Lopez but give him credit for sticking with it. Lopez may hang around for a few rounds or even the distance but this should be a routine win for Navarrete, especially with the reach advantage.
