Emanuel Navarrete and Jerwin Ancajas doubleheader possible for Dec.7 on ESPN+

By Boxing News - 11/12/2019 - Comments

By Dan Ambrose: WBO super bantamweight champion Emanuel Navarrete and IBF super flyweight champ Jerwin Ancajas could be sharing a card in a doubleheader on ESPN+ next month on December 7 in Puebla, Mexico.

The knockout artist Navarrete (29-1 25 KOs) will be defending his title against fringe contender #13 WBO Francisco Horta (20-3-1, 10 KOs) in the headline attraction.

Ancajas fighting in co-feature

In the co-feature bout, IBF champion Ancajas (31-1-2, 21 KOs) be facing a still to be determined challenger. Ancajas, 27, is coming off of a 6th round stoppage win over Ryuichi Funai last May.

There’s still no opponent for Ancajas yet. With the fight card now less than a month away, it’s not likely that Ancajas will be matched tough, but neither is Navarrete in the main event. Horta, 26, is nowhere near the same class as Navarrete. Although Horta has 10 fights, they’ve come against lesser opposition in Mexico.

The card is still not official yet, so there’s always a possibility it won’t come off. Boxing fans want to see the 24-year-old Navarrete against anybody. This hard hitting talent has quickly built up an admirable fan base since last December when he came out of nowhere to defeat World Boxing Organization 122-lb champion Isaac Dogboe (20-2, 14 kOs) by a close 12 round unanimous decision at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Going into that fight, many people thought Dogboe was incapable of losing. The 25-year-old Dogboe was believed to be someone that would hold onto his WBO title for many years. Instead, Navarrete dethroned him in only his second defense of his WBO 122-lb title. In their rematch last May, Navarrete dropped Dogboe in rounds 6 and 12 before his corner threw in the towel in the 12th round. It was an even more dominating performance for Navarrete than the first fight had been.

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Since defeating Dogboe in a rematch last May, Navarrete has successfully defended his WBO twice in stopping Francisco De Vaca and Juan Miguel Elord. Those were both mismatches with Navarrete obliterating both of them.

Arum likes Navarrete vs. Naoya Inoue fight for future

Boxing fans want to see Navarrete and Naoya Inoue (19-0, 16 KOs) face each other. The Japanese star Inoue signed a multi-year co-promotional deal with Top Rank Boxing last Saturday.

Last week, IBF 118-lb champ Inoue defeated WBA bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire by a 12 round unanimous decision in the final of the World Boxing Super Series tournament. According to Dan Rafael of ESPN, Top Rank Bob Arum likes the idea of a fight between Inoue and Navarrete. This is what Rafael had to say about it on his Twitter:

“Doable and possible a few fights down the road. When I talked about it with Arum after Inoue’s win he LOVED it.”

Inoue still needs to move up to super bantamweight before a fight against Navarrete can potentially happen. If Inoue keeps taking punishment like he did in his fight with Donaire, it’s possible he won’t bother moving up to super bantamweight. The way that Inoue suffered facial damage against Donaire, he might think twice about moving up to 122.