Bob Arum claims he had Emanuel Navarrete ahead going into the 12th round against O’Shaquie Foster on Saturday night. That is a baffling read on a fight where Foster boxed circles around him before dropping Navarrete twice in the final three minutes.
Foster (26-3, 12 KOs) outclassed Navarrete (40-3-1, 33 KOs) by unanimous decision in San Antonio to collect the IBF and WBO super featherweight titles alongside his WBC belt. The judges turned in cards of 118-108, 115-111, and 118-108.
The Top Rank boss somehow watched a completely different fight through the first 11 rounds.
“Navarrete is not the easiest guy to fight because he comes from so many different angles, and I had him slightly ahead going into the last round,” Arum said to Fight Hub TV.
Sure, Navarrete is awkward. He throws punches from weird trajectories that you cannot mimic in training camp. Trying to argue that he was actually winning the fight going into the 12th is another story entirely.
Throwing unorthodox shots from strange angles does not win rounds if you are hitting air or gloves. Plodding forward without landing clean punches does not score points either. You have to look at who is actually landing effective blows. Foster picked Navarrete apart all night, yet Arum’s unofficial tally completely ignored his ring generalship.
The official scorecards shred Arum’s narrative. Foster’s two knockdowns in the 12th padded the final gap, though he already had the fight locked up on the cards. Two judges had Foster winning by ten points at the final bell. Even the tightest card had him up by four. Do the math without the 10-7 final round, and Foster was still cruising to a comfortable victory.
Arum conveniently skipped giving a round-by-round breakdown to back up his claim. Knowing which six rounds he somehow handed to Navarrete would be fascinating. What exactly was Arum scoring?
Boxing fans debate close rounds all the time. Claiming Navarrete led after 11 rounds is just pure promoter spin.
Foster should not have to rely on two late knockdowns just to get full credit for a masterclass. Dropping Navarrete twice was simply the exclamation point on a dominant night. Arum is trying to paint a picture where Foster needed a last-minute miracle to pull out the win, which is an insult to the clinic everyone else just watched.