Emanuel Navarrete (38-1-1, 31 KOs)battles unbeaten #1 Denys Berinchyk (18-0,9 KOs for the vacant WBO lightweight strap on May 18th on ESPN, ESPN Desportes and ESPN+ at the Pechanga Arena in San Diego. The event begins at 10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT.

Navarrete, 29, will use his ‘Super Champion’ status with the World Boxing Organization to make his 135-lb belt fight with Berinchyk mandatory.

“The San Diego boxing fans are passionate, and we are thrilled to be bringing Emanuel Navarrete back to Pechanga Arena as he bids to become a four-weight world champion,” said Top Rank promoter Bob Arum.

If Navarrete is victorious, it’ll be the fourth division world title he’s won during his 12-year professional career and put him in a position to face the winner of George Kambosos Jr. and Vasily Lomachenko in their battle for the vacant IBF 135-lb title on May 11th.

Navarrete didn’t look good in his last fight, fighting to a 12-round draw against Robson Conceicao in a super featherweight contest last November. Many boxing fans felt that Conceicao deserved the victory, but he had to settle for a draw.

Navarrete also struggled in his clash against Liam Wilson at 130 in February of last year, getting dropped in the fourth round and needing to buy time by spitting out his mouthpiece.

Those two performances by Navarrete have resulted in many fans viewing him as being on the downside of his career. He’s definitely not the same fighter he once was when he was campaigning at 122 and 126, enjoying a massive size advantage over his opponents.

This obviously won’t make Shakur Stevenson happy, as he was hoping that he could get a fight against Navarrete. Shakur wanted that fight and took the news hard on Navarrete, choosing to fight Berinchyk instead of him.

The 2012 Olympic silver medalist Berinchyk has wins over Anthony Yigit, Yvan Mendy, and Isa Chaniev. At 35, Berinchyk can’t afford to lose this fight against Navarrete because he’s running out of time.