Emanuel Navarrete

Emanuel Navarrete Martínez (born 17 January 1995) is a Mexican professional boxer. He is a three-division world champion, having held the WBO junior featherweight title from 2018 to 2020, the WBO featherweight title from 2020 to 2023, and the WBO junior lightweight title since February 2023. As of December 2023, he is ranked as the world's number one active super featherweight by ESPN and BoxRec, and number one by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board.

Amateur career
Navarrete had an amateur record of 108–7.

Navarrete vs. Dogboe
Navarrete made his professional debut against Misael Ramirez on 18 February 2012. He won the fight by a first-round technical knockout. Navarrete amassed a 25–1 record during the next six years, winning all but three of those fights by way of stoppage.

It was announced on 17 October 2018, that Navarrete would challenge the reigning WBO junior featherweight champion Isaac Dogboe, in what was Dogboe's second title defense. The bout was scheduled for the undercard of a 8 December 2018, Top Rank card headlined by a unified lightweight title fight between Vasyl Lomachenko and Jose Pedraza. The event took place at the Hulu Theater in New York City and was broadcast by ESPN in the Americas and by VITV in Dogboe's native Ghana. Navarrete entered the first title bout of his career as a significant underdog, with most odds-makers having him a +500 underdog, while Dogboe was seen as a -800 favorite. Despite this, Navarrete won the fight by unanimous decision. Two of the judges scored the fight 116–112 for him, while the third judge scored it 115–113 in his favor. Dogboe dropped Navarrete with a right hand in the ninth round, but no knockdown was called, as referee Benjy Esteves Jr. deemed it an illegal punch. The fight ended with Navarrete having landed (221 to 176) and thrown (804 to 686) more punches than Dogboe.

Navarrete vs. Dogboe II
The pair was scheduled to fight an immediate rematch on 11 May 2019, at the Convention Center in Tucson, Arizona. The rematch headlined a Top Rank card, broadcast by ESPN. Navarrete was more convincing in their second meeting, winning the fight by a later twelfth-round technical knockout. He was in control from the beginning of the fight, keeping Dogboe at range with jabs and accumulating damage with straight punches. Navarrete began to dominate from the ninth round onward, with the former champion visibly flagging. Doboe's father and coach finally threw in the towel in the final minute of the last round. Navarrete landed almost three times as many strikes as Dogboe, out-landing the Ghanaian 314 to 121 in total punches.

Navarrete vs. De Vaca
It was revealed by ESPN on 14 June 2019, that Navarrete was expected to make his second title defense against the undefeated Francisco De Vaca at a date, location and venue which would be announced later. The fight was originally scheduled for the José Benavidez Jr. and Luis Collazo undercard, but was later promoted to headline the 17 August Top Rank card, after Benavidez withdrew due to injury. The fight took place at the Banc of California Stadium on Los Angeles, California, and was broadcast by ESPN. Navarrete justified his role as the betting favorite, winning the fight by a third-round technical knockout. Navarrete spent the entirety of the fight pressuring De Vaca, undeterred by the power coming back at him, finally finishing his opponent with a flurry of punches at the 1:54 minute mark of the third round.

Navarrete vs. Elorde
Five days after Navarrete made his second title defense, Top Rank vice-president Carl Moretti confirmed that Navarrete would make his third title defense against the #2 ranked WBO junior featherweight Juan Miguel Elorde. The fight was booked for the undercard of the Tyson Fury and Otto Wallin heavyweight bout, which took place on 14 September 2019, just 28 days after Navarrete's previous fight. The fight was broadcast on BT Sport and ESPN+ pay per view. Navarrete came into the fight as a -3000 favorite. Navarrete won the fight by a fourth-round technical knockout. He first knocked Elorde down in the third round, before stopping him with a flurry of punches a round later.

Navarrete vs. Horta
Navarrete was booked to make his fourth title WBO junior featherweight title defense against Francisco Horta, in his fourth fight of the year. The fight was scheduled as for the undercard of an ESPN broadcast Top Rank card which took place on 7 December 2019, at the Auditorio GNP Seguros in Puebla, Mexico. It was Navarrete's first title fight in his native Mexico. Navarrete won the fight by a fourth-round technical knockout. After a slow start, Navarrete began catching Horta with looping punches, finally stopping his opponent at the 2:09 minute mark of the fourth round.

Navarrete vs. Santisima
On 30 January 2020, it was announced that Navarrete would make the fifth defense of his title against Jeo Santisima. The fight was booked for the Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury II pay per view undercard, which took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada on 22 February 2020. Navarrete once again justified his role as the favorite, winning the fight by an eleventh-round stoppage. Navarrete appeared to be unusually slow and fatigued throughout the bout, but still managed to stagger the Filipino challenger in the fifth round, before stopping him with a barrage of punches at the 2:20 minute mark of the eleventh round. Navarrete claimed that he had suffered a right thumb injury during the post-fight interview, saying: "I hurt him weirdly with my right hand and hurt my thumb but I had to plough through it".

Navarrete vs. Villa
Navarrete accepted a fight at featherweight against Uriel López on 20 June 2020, for his next bout. He won the fight by a sixth-round technical knockout. He dominated his opponent, out-landing him 190 to 49 in total punches, and 150 to 38 in power punches. Following this victory, Navarrete claimed he would vacate his junior featherweight title in the post-fight interview, should the other champions refuse to face him in a title unification bout. Navarrete officially vacated the WBO junior featherweight title on 12 July 2020, and moved up to featherweight. Due to the rules of the sanctioning body, he immediately became the mandatory challenger for the vacant WBO featherweight title.

The WBO ordered their #2 ranked featherweight contender Jessie Magdaleno to face mandatory challenger and #1 ranked contender Navarrete for the vacant title. As the two camps were unable to come to terms regarding the bout, the WBO ordered a purse bid to be held, which was won by Top Rank with a bid of $250,000. Although the fight was initially expected to take place in October of the same year, the idea was later scrapped as Magdaleno failed to respond to a Top Rank contract offer, unsatisfied with the proposed purse. As such, the next highest ranked contender Ruben Villa accepted the fight instead. The fight for the vacant belt between Navarrete and Villa was booked as the main event of an 9 October 2020, ESPN broadcast card.

Navarette won the fight by unanimous decision, slightly edging Villa on the strength of two knockdowns. He first knocked Villa down with a left uppercut near the end of the first round, while the second knockdown was the result of a left hook in the fourth round. Two of the judges scored the fight 114–112 in his favor, while the third judge awarded him a 115–111 scorecard. Navarrete landed 163 to Villa's 131 total punches, while the difference in power punches landed was far more pronounced, with Navarrete landing 131 to Villa's 58. During the post-fight interview, Navarette called for a title unification bout with the IBF featherweight champion Josh Warrington.

Navarrete vs. Díaz
Navarrate was booked to make his first WBO featherweight title defense against the one-time WBO junior lightweight title challenger Christopher Díaz. The fight was scheduled as the main event of an ESPN card that took place on 24 April 2021, at the Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, Florida. Just as in all of his previous title defenses, Navarrete was seen as the favorite to retain, with most odds-makers having him as a -900 favorite. In front of a crowd of 3,262 people, Navarrete won the fight by a late twelfth-round technical knockout. He managed to knock Díaz a total of four times throughout the bout, with the final knockdown prompting both his corner-men and the referee to stop the fight. Navarrete landed 257 to Díaz's 183 total punches, with 241 of those being power punches.

Navarrete vs. Gonzalez
On 27 April 2021, just three days after his first title defense, it was revealed that Navarrete was in talks to face mandatory challenger Joet Gonzalez. Gonzalez had earned his mandatory status by beating the three-time world title challenger Miguel Marriaga. The fight was officially announced for the even headliner of an 15 October 2021, ESPN broadcast card, which took place at the Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California. Navarrete retained the title by unanimous decision. Two of the judges scored the fight 116–112 for Navarrete, while the third judge scored it 118–110 in his favor. Navarrete landed a hundred punches over what Gonzalez landed (272 to 169), and about fifty more power punches (204 to 150). He threw 979 punches throughout the twelve round bout, averaging 81.6 punches per round.

Navarrete vs. Baez
On 29 June 2022, it was announced that Navarrete would make his third title defense against the #7 ranked WBO featherweight Eduardo Baez. The bout was scheduled as the main event of an ESPN broadcast card, which took place at the Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California on 20 August 2022. Navarrete overcame a slow start to win the bout by a sixth-round knockout. He hit Baez with a left hook to the body in the first minute of the sixth round, which led to his opponent taking a knee and being counted out at the 1:00 minute mark. Navarrete was down on the scorecards at the time of the stoppage, with two judges having Baez ahead 50–45 and 48–47, while the third judge had Navarrete leading 49–46. He floated the idea of moving up to super featherweight in his post-fight speech, stating: "I’m going to rest because we had a difficult and hard camp. We’re going to sit down and talk about if those options include fighting at 126 or 130 pounds". The fight averaged an audience of 485,000 viewers and peaked at 494,000.

Navarrete vs. Wilson
On 9 November 2022, the WBO formally ordered Navarette to face the two-weight world champion Óscar Valdez for the vacant WBO junior lightweight championship. He wasn't stripped of his featherweight title however, as he was granted a one-fight exception to move up in weight. The vacant title bout was scheduled as the main event of an ESPN broadcast card, which took place at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona on 3 February 2023. Valdez withdrew from the fight on 13 December. Navarette was instead re-booked to face the once-defeated Liam Wilson for the vacant title. Despite being knocked down in the fourth round, Navarette was able to rally back and win the fight by a ninth-round technical knockout. Navarrete vacated his WBO featherweight title on 9 February 2023.

Navarrete vs. Valdez
Navarrete successfully defended his WBO junior lightweight title defense against the former two-weight world champion Óscar Valdez on 12 August 2023, at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. He won the fight by unanimous decision, with the scorecards reading 119–109, 118–110 and 116–112. Navarrete out-landed Valdez 216 to 140 in total punches, as well as 176 to 114 in power punches. An average of 808,000 viewers watched the main event, with a peak audience of 884,000.

Navarrete vs. Conceicao
Navarrete submitted a formal request to be promoted to "Super" champion status to the WBO on 15 September 2023. Later that same day, it was announced that Navarette would make his second WBO junior lightweight championship defense against the two-time world title challenger Robson Conceição on 16 November 2023. Navarette was officially promoted to "Super" champion status on 22 September. Navarrete retained the title by a majority decision draw. Two of the judges scored the fight an even 113–113, while the third had it 114–112 for the champion. Navarrete successfully underwent a minor left hand surgery on 2 December 2023, to repair an injury that was re-aggravated during the contest with Conceicao.

Navarrete vs. Berinchyk
Navarrete was scheduled to face Denys Berinchyk for the vacant WBO lightweight title at Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California on May 18, 2024. Navarrete lost the fight by split decision with the scores 115-113, 116-112, 112-116.