GLENDALE, Ariz. – It was promoted as if it was the beginning of a rivalry. There was talk of history.
Emanuel Navarrete-versus-Oscar Valdez Jr., looked as if it could be the next Erik Morales-Marco Antonio Barrera.
It wasn’t.
It was all Navarrete, who retained his junior-lightweight title Saturday night with a unanimous decision over Valdez in an ESPN-televised bout Saturday night before a roaring crowd of 10,246 at Desert Diamond Arena.
Navarrete scored early and scored often to rule the cards – 116-112, 118-110 and 119-109.
Valdez battled back, time and again, but his evident aggression didn’t do much to impress the judges.
In part, that was because Valdez never had enough power to really hurt Navarrete. (38-1, 31 KOs). The first sign of that was there in the closing seconds of the second round. Valdez (31-2, 23 KOs) delivered a left hand.
The blow landed and echoed throughout the arena. But Navarrete reacted with what almost looked like a sly smile. It said: You can’t hurt me.
In the end, Valdez couldn’t. In the end, that’s why Navarrete walked away, still the World Boxing Organization’s 130-pound champion.
“I feel happy to have been part of this card and in this next great chapter of Mexican boxing history,’’ said Navarrete, who retained a title he won in a controversial stoppage of Australian Liam Wilson in February, also at Desert Diamond. “I am happy and appreciate Oscar for the great fight that we delivered.”
It was a great fight, closer perhaps than the scorecards indicated. Even some history might have played out in a ferocious 10th, a round as good as any in 2023. Navarrete and Valdez went back and forth. The crowd went wild. For three minutes, It was as if the fans were witnessing a remake of the first Barrera-Morales fight.
But Navarrete’s long looping punches, superior reach and busy work rate were always there, always the prevailing factor. Valdez simply couldn’t get to him, especially with his signature punch, a counter left.
Meanwhile, Valdez paid with a nasty injury. Late In the fifth round, a dark mark appeared beneath his right eye. It was big enough to be a target. And that’s what it was for Navarrete, who for the next seven rounds turned the eye into a grotesque mess. By the 12th, Valdez was virtually a one-eyed man. It was serious enough perhaps for the ringside doctor or the referee to end it after about the eighth or ninth.
But nothing – not Valdez’ closing eye or Navarrete’s predatory precision – would interrupt the bout’s momentum. Valdez and Navarrete promised blood, guts and guile. They delivered, especially over the last three rounds.
From 10th to 12th, the fight was a mix of desperate and dramatic. Valdez was hurt. But he had been hurt before. He’s known in part for a night in March 2018 when he sustained a fractured jaw midway through a featherweight fight. For six, maybe seven rounds, he spit up blood onto rain-swept canvas in Carson, Calif.
Then, he was strapped to a stretcher and loaded into an ambulance. He was beaten up, but he was the winner by unanimous decision.
The blood from his eye Saturday night was a sign that he might repeat that epic. But he didn’t. Five years and lots of bruising fights later, Valdez, now 32, could not overcome the injury or the 28-year-old Navarrete.
After it was all over, the wounded Valdez left the ring and hugged a friend as if he was in tears. He had said before the fight that victory over Navarrete meant the world to him. His world collapsed Saturday night.
“I’m sorry I disappointed everyone,’’ said Valdez, who heard chants of “Oscar “Oscar” from fans who made the trip up to Glendale from his Mexican hometown of Nogales, just south of Tucson. “I feel terrible. I wanted to give you all a great fight. I hope you enjoyed the fight. I hope to return strong.”
After he entered his dressing room, a broken Valdez collapsed onto a stool. Video shows him hugging his dad, Oscar Valdez Sr. and all-time Mexican great Julio Cesar Chavez. They tried to console him. But there was little consolation. The defeat hurt Valdez more than the battered eye. Tears mixed with the blood.
It’ll take a while for Valdez to regain his strength and confidence. It’s not clear how long it’ll take for the eye to heal. Then, he’d probably have to fight a tune-up, test the eye and himself – before there could be any reasonable talk of a rematch.
By then, Navarrete might have moved on to title unification bouts against the other junior-lightweight belt holders. Late Saturday, Navarrete was even asked about still another jump in class to lightweight against emerging pound-for-pound star Shakur Stevenson.
For both Valdez and Navarrete, there were questions after the bloody battle. For Navarrete, there were options, possibilities.
For Valdez, there was only defeat
Delgado wins easy, but hears only boos
Lindofo Delgado remained unbeaten. Remained unliked, too
Delgado (18-0, 13 KOs), a slickly-skilled junior-welterweight from Mexico, scored most of the points and got all of the boos after winning a dull unanimous decision over fellow Mexican Jair Valtierra (16-3, 8 KOs) in the final bout before Valdez-Navarrete.
The restless crowd was anxious for the kind of fireworks it expected in Valdez-Navarrete. But there was none from Delgado, who was content to play it safe in an otherwise dominant scorecard victory.
Richard Torrez scores first-round stoppage
Richard Torrez has been learning some new footwork in the dance studio lately.
He danced all over Willie Jake Jr.
Torrez (6-0, 6 KOs). a heavyweight from central California and an Olympic silver medalist, needed very little time to do a number on his latest dance partner, finishing Jake within 90 seconds of the opening bell.
Torrez landed a beautifully-delivered right hand as he stepped back. It landed and Jake (11-4-2, 3 KOs) fell forward. Seconds later at 1:22 of the first, he was finished, a loser by TKO.
“It’s great to be back in the ring after so much time off,” Torrez said. “There are still things we need to work on, and I know that. We’re going back to the gym tomorrow. It’s up to my team to decide when my next fight is. They tell me to jump, and I say, ‘How high?’
“I’m just excited to follow the process.”
Emiliano Vargas flashes star power, wins second-round stoppage
Emiliano Vargas was born with a well-known name. Add some charisma and punching power to the name, and he possesses all of the elements for stardom
Stardom began to look imminent Saturday.
A huge crowd had already arrived, filling the lower bowl of the Arena when Vargas (6-0, 5 KOs) entered the ring. Then, it roared when it witnessed what he did. Vargas, the youngest son of retired great Fernando Vargas, blew out Jorge Luis Alvarado (3-6-1, 2 KOs)
With a sudden burst of power, Vargas put Alvarado in a place he’d never been: On
the canvas. Then, Vargas went southpaw and delivered successive shot, finishing him for TKO win at 2:17 of the second,
Rest of the Navarrete-Valdez Undercard
The undercard’s crosstown rivalry belonged to Sergio Rodriguez (8-0-1, 7 KOs), who left little doubt about who’s the best middleweight in Phoenix. In the second round, Rodriguez dropped Ayala (9-4-1, 3 KOs), also of Phoenix, with a powerful right that sent him crashing down. The back of his head bounced off the canvas. Still, Ayala got up. He was hurt. A few seconds later, he was finished. He went down again, forcing the referee to end at 1:02 of the round.
It wasn’t exactly a clash of titans, but Antonio Mireles (8-0, 7 KOs), a heavyweight from Des Moines, finished it with authority. He pinned Dajuan Calloway’s Butterbean-like upper body up against the ropes. Already weary, the 391-pound Calloway (7-3, 7 KOs) , of Cleveland, looked defenseless. The ref ended it at 1:48 of the sixth round.
First Bell: Welterweight Ruvalcaba opens show with second-round TKO
It was the opener. It didn’t last long.
Four minutes and 11 seconds after first bell, the first fight on the ESPN card featuring Navarrete-Valdez was over.
Riccardo Ruvalcaba (9-0-1, 8 KOs) , a welterweight from Ventura CA. scored three knockdowns, flooring Adrian Orban (6-4, 4 KOs) , of Hungary, with a liver shot in the opening round.
Orban was on the canvas two more times in the second, prompting the referee to end it just as a crowd of fans entered the air-conditioned arena after a long wait in 112-degree temperatures on the hot sidewalks surrounding the building.
