Emanuel Navarrete’s big test could come soon.
For now, the long, tall brawler from Mexico City is scheduled to defend his 126-pound title against countryman Eduardo Baez on Saturday night at Pechanga Arena in San Diego (ESPN, ESPN+).
Baez is a good boxer with a strong resume. He’s just not in the class of gifted 130-pound champion and rising star Shakur Stevenson, with whom Navarrete entered negotiations to meet next month only to have the talks fizzle out.
Thus, Navarrete will stay at 126 for at least one more fight. And Stevenson is set to defend against mandatory challenger Robson Conceicao on Sept. 23.
“There were brief conversations with Shakur’s team but nothing really came of it, at least from his side,” Navarrete told BoxingScene.com. “We were ready on our side, but the fight just never happened.
“Hopefully, we can revisit that conversation after August 20.”
Navarrete (35-1, 29 KOs) might be one of the sport’s most underappreciated champions.
He lost a decision in his sixth fight but has gone undefeated since, a span of 30 fights over a decade. And he’s making the ninth defense of the title he won by easily outpointing Isaac Dogboe in 2018, an impressive championship run.
A meeting with Stevenson would’ve provided an opportunity to take a big step in his career because of the 130-pounder’s stature. The same goes for one of the other 126-pound titleholders (Rey Vargas, Leo Santa Cruz and Josh Warrington), who he also has been unable to lure into the ring.
Now he can only continue to win and trust that his time will come, probably at 130. And that starts with Paez (21-2-2, 7 KOs).
The Southern California-based action fighter, also is tall for his weight, gave arguably his most impressive performance in a majority decision loss against respected Ra’eese Aleem at 122 pounds last November. Some believe Baez deserved the decision.
He rebounded by outpointing Enrique Vivas at 126 in March.
Navarrete knows his countryman is not a pushover, particularly because he will have been out of the ring for 10 months.
“I think Baez is coming with a strong desire to win,” he said Thursday at the final news conference before the fight. “He is very well conditioned, and that can make for a great fight. I’ve also prepared very well. We both want this world championship. I have it, but he wants to snatch it away from me. That can make for a great fight from the start.
“So, I think this fight will lend itself to being a great matchup. We hope that Baez comes out very strong, that we both last the 12 rounds, and that we fight at a very high level.”
