LOS ANGELES -- Handing a champion his first lost and taking his title will certainly help raise your profile in boxing. At least that was the case with Emanuel Navarrete when he handled Isaac Dogboe via unanimous decision to take his WBO junior featherweight strap. Now Navarrete is the champion and looking to defend his title for the second time. This time around he will be putting it on the line against Francisco De Vaca on Aug. 17 on ESPN.
Navarrete (27-1, 23 KOs) is almost unfairly large for the junior featherweight division. He stands at 5-feet, 7-inches tall and has an unbelievable 72-inch reach. That size and length allow the champion to control the distance from the outside while punishing his opponents with power punches. He flashes a good jab and strong left hook but it's his right hand that shows the most wrinkles. He throws that right hand from many different angles, including an uppercut that often catches opponents by surprise. Navarrete also has some bad habits though. He tends to fall in with his punches, giving up his height advantage. He also backs straight up at times which is always a recipe to get knocked out. However, Navarrete's tremendous size and power often make up for his few flaws.
Hailing from Mexico, Navarrete had all of his fights there until 2018 when he first met Dogboe. Not only was that fight his U.S. debut but Dogboe also represented his biggest test to date and the most important fight of his career. Navarrete was very impressive in that fight and was even more impressive in their rematch in 2019, dropping Dogboe twice on his way to a stoppage in the final round. After the two biggest victories of his career Navarrete will now look to defend his title for the second time. While many fans were probably hoping for a unification fight with fellow champions Daniel Roman or Rey Vargas, those same fans are probably all too aware how difficult it can be to get fights made in the current political climate in boxing. So instead Navarrete will take on the undefeated, if untested, De Vaca.
While De Vaca (20-0, 6 KOs) is also a fairly big junior featherweight he will still be the smaller man against Navarrete. He also has almost no power to speak of so it won't be easy to keep Navarrete from walking him down. The 24-year-old has a nice jab and while his left hook does come in quick it doesn't land with much on it. De Vaca does have a crisp right hand and while he's accurate with pretty much all of his punches, he just doesn't have much pop on any of them. Despite his lack of power, De Vaca does fight well on the inside and does a nice job of letting his hands go. However, since he will be at the disadvantage when it comes to power punching, he needs to be careful to get stand and trade with the heavy-handed Navarrete.
Navarrete represents a huge step up in competition for De Vaca. The young fighter has only been scheduled to go 10 rounds twice and has only gone that distance once. Somehow despite no really notable wins, De Vaca finds himself in a title fight. De Vaca is ranked 10 by the WBO but he isn't ranked in the top 15 by the WBC, WBA, or IBF. While he might not deserve this title shot he is certainly a fighter who can take advantage of the moment and score the biggest win of his career. In fact, all of De Vaca's wins have come by the way of knockout or unanimous decision and he rarely ever losses a round.
This fight should prove to be a tough one for De Vaca. While he's an accurate puncher who does have good skills, he's also the smaller man and the much lighter puncher. De Vaca likes to come forward, get inside, and let his hands go and while he has found success fighting that way, it will be difficult to beat Navarrete doing that. What De Vaca needs to do is stick and move while scoring with his accurate punching. Navarette should try and lure De Vaca into a stationary fight. If Navarette can get De Vaca to stand and trade with him his superior power will shine through. However, Navarrete can also find success from the outside so De Vaca should really have his hands full.
PREDICTION: Francisco De Vaca is a fine fighter but he's also smaller than Emanuel Navarrete and doesn't hit as hard. De Vaca will try and fight on the inside but it will be Navarrete who gets the best of the exchanges and he will do enough damage to win the fight by the way of unanimous decision.
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| Navarrete, celebrating his victory over Isaac Dogboe |
Hailing from Mexico, Navarrete had all of his fights there until 2018 when he first met Dogboe. Not only was that fight his U.S. debut but Dogboe also represented his biggest test to date and the most important fight of his career. Navarrete was very impressive in that fight and was even more impressive in their rematch in 2019, dropping Dogboe twice on his way to a stoppage in the final round. After the two biggest victories of his career Navarrete will now look to defend his title for the second time. While many fans were probably hoping for a unification fight with fellow champions Daniel Roman or Rey Vargas, those same fans are probably all too aware how difficult it can be to get fights made in the current political climate in boxing. So instead Navarrete will take on the undefeated, if untested, De Vaca.
While De Vaca (20-0, 6 KOs) is also a fairly big junior featherweight he will still be the smaller man against Navarrete. He also has almost no power to speak of so it won't be easy to keep Navarrete from walking him down. The 24-year-old has a nice jab and while his left hook does come in quick it doesn't land with much on it. De Vaca does have a crisp right hand and while he's accurate with pretty much all of his punches, he just doesn't have much pop on any of them. Despite his lack of power, De Vaca does fight well on the inside and does a nice job of letting his hands go. However, since he will be at the disadvantage when it comes to power punching, he needs to be careful to get stand and trade with the heavy-handed Navarrete.
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| De Vaca, landing an accurate right hand |
This fight should prove to be a tough one for De Vaca. While he's an accurate puncher who does have good skills, he's also the smaller man and the much lighter puncher. De Vaca likes to come forward, get inside, and let his hands go and while he has found success fighting that way, it will be difficult to beat Navarrete doing that. What De Vaca needs to do is stick and move while scoring with his accurate punching. Navarette should try and lure De Vaca into a stationary fight. If Navarette can get De Vaca to stand and trade with him his superior power will shine through. However, Navarrete can also find success from the outside so De Vaca should really have his hands full.
PREDICTION: Francisco De Vaca is a fine fighter but he's also smaller than Emanuel Navarrete and doesn't hit as hard. De Vaca will try and fight on the inside but it will be Navarrete who gets the best of the exchanges and he will do enough damage to win the fight by the way of unanimous decision.
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