Oscar Valdez says this is the “the biggest fight of his life” in his rematch against WBO featherweight champion Emanuel Navarrete this Saturday night, December 7th.
(Credit: Top Rank)
Valdez (32-2, 24 KOs) has not been competitive, losing a 12-round unanimous decision to Navarrete a year ago on August 12th. Former two-division world champion Valdez fought as well as he could, but his punches had no effect on ‘El Vaquero’ Navarrete (38-2-1, 31 KOs).
The co-main event between WBO featherweight champion Rafael Espinoza and Robeisy Ramirez 2 should undoubtedly be the main event because their first fight on December 9, 2023, a year ago, was one of the most exciting of the year.
Espinoza, 6’1″, pulled off a massive upset, beating two-time gold medalist Robeisy by a 12-round majority to dethrone him from the WBO 126-lb belt. He did a good job of getting off the deck in the fifth round to come back to wear down Robeisy and drop him in the 12th to take the win.
Robeisy said in the build-up to this match that he wasn’t at his best, but we’ll see if that’s true. If he wins this match and looks spectacular, you’ll have to buy his excuse that he wasn’t 100% last time.
Saturday’s Navarrete-Valdez 2 rematch will take place at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona. The event starts at 10:30 p.m. ET on ESPN & ESPN+.
“I feel like I can do a lot more in the sport. After I lost, I went home. I was disappointed with my performance,” he said Oscar Valdez. “It’s not like other sports where you can lose and do better the next season. In boxing, most people don’t want to see you again after a few losses. So doing this race was very important to me. This is the biggest fight of my life.”
Valdez is not saying if he will retire if he loses to Navarrete or not. There is no reason why he would have a good chance of beating some of the other champions in the 126 lb division. He’s asking Valdez to take on a guy as big as Navarrete because he doesn’t have the size, strength or bulk to match him.
“Now, it comes with a different method. In the first race, I think it helped both of us adjust the details. Now, we’re here using the tools we learned from the first fight. This match, we will have more experience and the same heart,” he said Emmanuel Navarrete.
ESPN+ Undercard at 5:30 p.m. ET
- Lindolfo Delgado (21-0, 15 KOs) vs. Jackson Marinez (22-3, 10 KOs): Light welterweight bout scheduled for ten rounds
- Richard Torrez Jr. (11-0, 10 KOs) vs. Issac Muñoz (18-1-1, 15 KOs): Heavyweight fight over eight rounds.
- Giovani Santillan (32-1, 17 KOs) vs. Fredrick Lawson (30-5, 22 KOs): Welterweight contest scheduled for ten rounds.
