Oscar Valdez says this “the biggest battle in his life” in his rematch with WBO featherweight champion Emanuel Navarrete on Saturday night, December 7.
Navarrete-Valdez 2 and Rafael Espinoza-Robeisy Ramirez 2 will be broadcast LIVE on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+ SATURDAY starting at 10:30 pm ET/7:30 pm PT
Valdez (32-2, 24 KOs) did not compete, losing a 12-round decision to Navarrete last year on August 12th. Former two-division world champion Valdez fought as hard as he could, but his punches didn’t touch ‘El Vaquero’ Navarrete (38-2-1, 31 KOs).
The feature between WBO featherweight champion Rafael Espinoza and Robeisy Ramirez 2 should undoubtedly be a big event because their first fight on December 9, 2023, last year, was one of the most exciting of the year.
Espinoza, 6’1″, pulled off a major upset, defeating two-time Olympic gold medalist Robeisy via a 12-round majority decision to dethrone him for his WBO 126-lb belt. He did a good job of going down in the fifth round to come back to wear down Robeisy and take him out in the 12th to get the win.
Robeisy said that in the build up to this fight he was not at his level, but we will see if that is true. If he wins this fight and looks amazing, you’ll have to buy his excuse for not being 100% for the last time.
Saturday’s rematch of Navarrete-Valdez 2 will take place at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona. The event begins at 10:30 pm ET on ESPN and ESPN+.
“I feel like I can do a lot in sports. After the loss, I returned home. I am disappointed with the way I played,” he said Oscar Valdez. “It’s not like other games where you can lose and you can do better next season. In boxing, most people don’t want to see you again after a few losses. So, doing that fight was very important to me. This is the biggest fight of my life.”
Valdez is not saying whether he will retire if he loses to Navarrete or not. No reason because he had a good chance to beat other champions in the 130 lb division. Valdez is asked a lot to face a big guy like Navarrete because he doesn’t have the size, strength, or volume to match him.
“Now, he is coming with a different approach. In the first fight, I think it helped both of us to work out the details. Now, here we are using the tools we took out in the first battle. This fight we will have more experience and the same heart,” he said Emanuel Navarrete.
ESPN+ Undercard at 5:30 pm ET
- Lindolfo Delgado (21-0, 15 KOs) vs. Jackson Marinez (22-3, 10 KOs): Light welterweight clash scheduled for ten rounds
- Richard Torrez Jr. (11-0, 10 KOs) vs. Issac Muñoz (18-1-1, 15 KOs): Eight-round heavyweight fight.
- Giovanni Santillan (32-1, 17 KOs) vs. Fredrick Lawson (30-5, 22 KOs): The Welterweight bout is scheduled for ten rounds.
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