By Craig Daly: WBO super featherweight champion Emanuel “Vaquero” Navarrete & challenger Oscar Valdez met today for their final press conference to discuss their fight tonight, live on ESPN+, at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona.
The former two-division world champion Valdez (31-1, 23 KOs) made it clear that he misses being a world champion, and he’s coming to dethrone Navarrete this Saturday night to take his WBO 130-lb title from him.
Last year, Valdez suffered his first career loss to Shakur Stevenson, losing his WBC 130-lb title in a one-sided loss. In Oscar’s last fight, he avenged the loss by beating Adam ‘Blue Nose’ Lopez in a rematch.
Navarrete vs. Valdez will be shown live on ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN+ at 10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT.
Oscar Valdez: “To me, this fight means the world. It means the world because coming off a loss to Shakur Stevenson sparked something different in me. It made me realize how much I love boxing and how much I love the sport.
“Being a year out of boxing made me miss it so much. I miss being a champion, I miss being proud of myself, and I miss being a champion. I miss my opportunity, so it literally means the world to me to get this chance to be a world champion again, and I’m coming strong now. I’m willing to give it my all inside the ring.
“These guys [Erik Morales & Marco Antonio Barrera] inspired me to be the person I am today. These guys are warriors. They may not say that now because they’re humble, but every time someone sees them, ‘They’re warriors.’
“They say, ‘Be careful about what you wish’ for because when I was a kid, I wanted to be a warrior like these guys. We’re only human beings, and when you get sent to the canvas, get your jaw broken, or get a rib injury or get sent to the canvas, you start to question yourself, ‘Do you really want this?’
“I want to win, be a world champion, and show the fans a good fight. o, I’m ready for this fight.”
Emanuel Navarrete: “I know that this fight has raised expectations, and I think it would be fraudulent for both me and Valdez to not give 100% in the ring.
“So we all know what to expect in the ring, and we all know what it takes. We expect a good fight, and the fact that Barrera and Morales is here tells us that our promoter is telling us something. They at least want to see something close to what they did, and that’s the objective.
“To give a big fight, and I see Valdez. I see that he’s ready, and the environment here, it’s a nice, heavy environment, and I think we’re just two days away from the fight.”
