Oscar Valdez says it's the “the biggest fight of his life» during his rematch against WBO featherweight champion Emanuel Navarrete this Saturday evening, December 7.
Navarrete-Valdez 2 and Rafael Espinoza-Robeisy Ramirez 2 will be broadcast LIVE on ESPNESPN Deportes and ESPN+ SATURDAY starting at 10:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. PT
Valdez (32-2, 24 KOs) was uncompetitive, losing by 12-round unanimous decision to Navarrete a year ago on August 12. Former two-division world champion Valdez fought as best he could, but his punches did not affect “El Vaquero” Navarrete (38-2-1, 31 KO).
The co-feature between WBO featherweight champion Rafael Espinoza and Robeisy Ramirez 2 should arguably be the main event as their first fight on December 9, 2023, a year ago, was one of the most exciting of the 'year.
Espinoza, 6’1″, pulled off a huge upset by defeating two-time Olympic gold medalist Robeisy by a 12-round majority decision to dethrone him from his WBO 126-pound belt. He did a good job coming off the deck in the fifth round only to come back to wear down Robeisy and drop him in the 12th to take the win.
Robeisy said in preparation for this fight that he wasn't at his best, but we'll see if that holds true. If he wins this fight and he looks spectacular, you'll have to buy his excuse that he wasn't 100% last time.
Saturday's Navarrete-Valdez 2 rematch will take place at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona. The event begins at 10:30 p.m. ET on ESPN and ESPN+.
“I feel like I can do a lot more in this sport. After losing, I went home. I was disappointed with my performance,” said Oscar Valdez. “It’s not like in other sports where you can lose and do better next season. In boxing, most people don't want to see you again after a few defeats. So doing this fight was very important for me. This is the biggest fight of my life.
Valdez is not saying if he will retire if he loses to Navarrete or not. There is no reason to do so, as he would have a good chance of beating some of the other champions in the 130-pound division. It's asking a lot for Valdez to face a guy as big as Navarrete because he doesn't have the size, power or bulk to match him.
“Now he is proposing a different method. In the first fight, I think it helped both of us fine-tune the details. Now we use the tools here that we took from the first fight. This fight, we are going to have more experience and the same heart,” said Emmanuel Navarrete.
ESPN+ Undercard at 5:30 p.m. ET
- Lindolfo Delgado (21-0, 15 KO) vs. Jackson Marinez (22-3, 10 KO): Light welterweight clash scheduled for ten rounds
- Richard Torrez Jr. (11-0, 10 KOs) vs. Issac Muñoz (18-1-1, 15 KOs): Heavyweight fight for eight rounds.
- Giovani Santillan (32-1, 17 KO) vs. Fredrick Lawson (30-5, 22 KO): Welterweight contest scheduled over ten rounds.
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