By Dan Ambrose: Emanuel Navarrete weighed in at 122 pounds on Friday for his title defense of his WBO super bantamweight belt against #10 WBO Francisco De Vaca for their fight this Saturday night on ESPN at the Banc of California Stadium, in Los Angeles, California. Navarrete vs. De Vaca card starts at 10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT. Undercard Streaming on ESPN+ at 6:30 pm ET/3:30 pm PT
In the co-feature, former WBO 122 pound champion Jessie Magdaleno battles the always tough Rafael Rivera in a 10 round fight.
The 24-year-old De Vava (20-0, 6 KOs) also weighed in at 122 pounds. Although De Vaca is unbeaten, he’s not faced anyone of note during his six-year pro career. De Vaca has wins over tough journeyman Christian Esquivel, Victor Proa and Ernesto Guerrero.
This is the second title defense for Navarrete (27-1, 23 KOs) for his World Boxing Organization super bantamweight strap that he won last December in beating champion Isaac Dogboe by a 12 round unanimous decision. At the time of the first fight, Dogboe was viewed as a talented champion that would hold onto his WBO title for many years.
Emanuel Navarrete looking to impress
Navarrete wasn’t viewed as someone that was a threat to beating the young 24-year-old dynamo Dogboe. But the size and the punching power of the 5’7″ Navarrete was too much for Dogboe, and he pounded out a close 12 round unanimous decision to dethrone the Ghanaian fighter. In the rematch on May 11, the 24-year-old Navarrete stopped Dogboe in round 12 in Tuscon, Arizona. Dogboe’s corner threw in the towel when he began to take heavy punishment.
With everything Navarrete has accomplished in the late eight months, he cannot afford to slip up against De Vaca on Saturday night. This is supposed to be a sure thing win for Navarrete, but you can never count out a young fighter that’s hungry.
“The reality is that my life has changed a lot in these last eight months,” said Navarrete. “The fact that I have become world champion and that I have won over a wide margin to Isaac Dogboe, who came from beating Jessie Magdaleno, makes me very happy.”
Former WBO super bantamweight champion Jessie Magdaleno (26-1, 18 KOs) weighed in at 125.4 pounds for his fight against Rafael Rivera (27-3-2, 18 KOs). For his part, Rivera, 25, weighed in at 125.6 lbs. Magdaleno’s WBC USNBC featherweight title will be up for grabs in this 10 round fight.
ESPN 10:00 p.m. ET fights
- Emanuel Navarrete vs. Francisco De Vaca
- Jessie Magdaleno vs. Rafael Rivera
Your Main Event and World Title Fight!
⚖ Navarrete – 122.0 lbs
⚖ De Vaca – 122.0 lbs#NavarreteDeVaca pic.twitter.com/IU3g8nutCE— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) August 16, 2019
Other weights on the card:
ESPN+ (6:30 p.m. ET)
- Light welterweight Arnold Barboza Jr. (21-0, 8 KOs) weighed in at 141.6 lbs for his 10 round fight against Ricky Sismundo (35-14-3, 17 KOs). The hard Filipino journeyman Sismundo weighed in at 141.4 pounds.
- Unbeaten 2016 Olympian Janibek Alimkhanuly (6-0, 2 KOs) weighed in at 159.8 pounds for his 10 round fight against Stuart McLellan (27-3-3, 11 KOs). McLellan weighed in at 159.2 lbs. Alimkhanuly will be defending his WBC Continental Americas and WBO Global middleweight belts.
- Welterweight Chris van Heerden (27-2-1, 12 KOs) weighed in at 146.4 lbs for his 10 round fight against Aslanbek ‘The Lion’ Kozaev (33-2-1, 8 KOs). Kozaev weighed in at 147 lbs.
- Javier Molina 140.2 lbs vs. Manuel Mendez 141 lbs
(Super Lightweight – 8 Rounds) - Dmitry Yun 135.4 lbs vs. Javier Martinez 134.6 lbs
(Lightweight – 6 Rounds)
SWING BOUTS
- Elvis Rodriguez 140.8 lbs Jesus Gonzales 141 lbs
(Super Lightweight – 6 Rounds) - Brian Mendoza 148 lbs Rosemberg Gomez 147.8 lbs
(Welterweight – 8/6 Rounds)