Oscar Valdez will look to avenge his previous loss when he takes on Emanuel Navarrete in a WBO super heavyweight rematch on Saturday, December 7 at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona.
(Credit: Runk Top)
Valdez (32-2, 24 KOs) says he is coming off a 12-round unanimous decision loss to “Vaquero” Navarrete (38-2-1, 31 KOs) on Aug. 12. He claims he had a great camp in the tournament, which made the loss much harder mentally.
The decline of Navarrete
Valdez catches Navarrete at the right time in his career. He has looked terrible in his last two fights and is showing signs of being serious top of the hill. He’s only 29, but he looks so much older that it makes one wonder if he’s burning the candle at both ends between the fights. He’s not the first fighter to live out his career between bouts without staying true.
The stubborn weight around Navarrete’s midsection suggests he doesn’t live between fights. With his growing gut, he almost looks like a retired warrior, and he doesn’t look young anymore.
Anything Wakero eats sticks to his ribs and slows him down. What he needed was a boot camp where he was tortured and rations regulated.
Navarrete-Valdez 2 will air on ESPN and ESPN+ at 10:30 PM ET/ 7:30 PM PT. In the co-main event, WBO bantamweight champion Rafael Espinosa faces former champion Robey Ramirez in a rematch that could take the spotlight away from the main event if they rematch last year on Dec. 9.
Valdez hasn’t said anything about what he’ll do in the rematch to get the win because he tried everything last time, but Navarrete has too much power and size for him. That won’t change for the rematch unless Valdez gets stronger.
One thing the 33-year-old Valdez has going for him is that Navarrete is coming off a 12-round decision loss to Denis Berinchik on May 18 in an unsuccessful bid to win the vacant WBO featherweight title.
The 2012 Ukrainian Olympian Berinchik completely schooled Navarrete, beating him inside and out and making him look like a rookie. Navarrete seemed slow, sluggish and untrained. If he looks like that against Valdez, he will lose.
Valdez wants revenge
“You see at 135, he didn’t look like a solid 135. I have no doubt he’s going to make weight,” Oscar Valdez told Fight Hub TV when asked if Emanuel Navarrete would make the 130-pound limit for 130-pound. . their fight this Saturday night.
“I don’t buy that one bit. I can’t train to wait for that,” Valdez said of whether or not “Vaquero” Navarrete is showing signs of deterioration. “I have to train to be the best version of Vaquero. I already stepped into the ring with him. I already know how it is.
“Now, it’s a different game plan, a different mindset. Most times when you get a rematch, it’s been a close fight, and I’ll admit it wasn’t a 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 probably wouldn’t be here right now. So the fact that I won that fight 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 by Valdez, but he was facing a vulnerable guy who knocked out Navarrete in the 9th round last year on February 3rd.
“I heard more about the rematch (with Navarrete). I didn’t think much of it until I got the phone call. “Are you ready to fight?” Valdez said.
“My immediate reaction was, ‘Hell, yes.’ And let’s take it.” What I do is use it and learn from my mistakes. I was expected to win this fight because I had a great camp. Losing, it was difficult to return to training. It was hard to maintain the same hunger that I always had,” Valdez said.
Last year, on August 12, Navarrete defeated Vades with a score of 119-109, 118-110 and 116-112. Navarrete hasn’t looked good in his two fights since then, getting a 12-round draw against Robson Conceicao on November 16, 2023 and then losing to Berinchik.
You look at those two back-to-back fights for Navarrete; The only conclusion you can draw is that he is showing signs of decline. He looked thin around the midsection in both fights, which suggests he’s enjoying the money he’s making. He is obviously rich and when fighters make a lot of money, it is not difficult for them to enjoy food.
