| |
|
|
Emanuel Navarrete To Defend Featherweight World Title
Against Christopher Diaz Apr. 24 On ESPN
Mexican great Emanuel “Vaquero” Navarrete, boxing’s busiest
world champion, is set to kick off his 2021 campaign by
reviving a long-standing pugilistic rivalry. Navarrete will
make his first defense of the WBO featherweight world title
Saturday, April 24 against Puerto Rican contender
Christopher “Pitufo” Diaz at Silver Spurs Arena in
Kissimmee, Fla.
In the co-feature, super middleweight Edgar “The Chosen One”
Berlanga, 16-0, with 16 first-round stoppages, will step up
in class against Demond Nicholson in a bout scheduled for
eight rounds (or much less).
Promoted by Top Rank, in association with All Star Boxing
and Zanfer Promotions, Navarrete-Diaz and Berlanga-Nicholson
will air live on ESPN and ESPN Deportes (simulcast on ESPN+)
at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, with undercard bouts to stream live
and exclusively on ESPN+. Ticket information will be
announced shortly.
“The sensational Emanuel Navarrete wanted a formidable
opponent for his first featherweight title defense, and
Christopher Diaz fits the bill,” said Top Rank chairman Bob
Arum. “We are also thrilled to have Edgar Berlanga back on
ESPN, as he is the most devastating young puncher I’ve seen
in ages.”
Navarrete (33-1, 28 KOs) burst onto the world scene in
December 2018, battering Isaac Dogboe over 12 rounds to win
the WBO junior featherweight world title. He is 7-0 since
then, including five title defenses, all by stoppage.
Navarrete moved up to featherweight and picked up the vacant
WBO world title last October with a unanimous decision over
the previously undefeated Ruben Villa. Diaz (26-2, 16 KOs)
is not unbeaten, but he is battle-tested, having challenged
Masayuki Ito for the WBO junior lightweight world title in
July 2018. He lost to Ito by unanimous decision and has gone
3-1 since moving down to featherweight. Diaz rebounded from
a 2019 points loss to Shakur Stevenson, besting former world
title challenger Jason Sanchez over 10 rounds last June
inside the MGM Grand Las Vegas Bubble.
"I am a fighter who likes to face the best, and my challenge
now is to beat the tough 'Pitufo' Diaz,” Navarrete said. “I
know he is a good fighter, and I am sure we will give a
great show to the people of Florida and to those watching us
fight on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+. On April 24, I will
show that I am the best featherweight in the world. I will
not let him take my championship to Puerto Rico. That belt
will stay with me in San Juan Zitlaltepec, Mexico.”
Diaz said, "I have once again been given an opportunity to
become a world champion, but there is something very
different this time around. I will not fail. I will bring
that much-needed world title to Puerto Rico. This is my time
to become a world champion. God knows how much I have
sacrificed and how much I have evolved. I live today to make
my family happy, and it is time to change their lives. On
April 24, there is no doubt that I will become world
champion, and I will see you all on April 25 when I return
to my island as world champion."
Berlanga broke out as boxing’s consensus 2020 Prospect of
the Year, impressing fans and media with his string of
first-round routs against increasingly difficult opposition.
Last July, he knocked out veteran spoiler Eric Moon in 62
seconds, and less than three months later on the Vasiliy
Lomachenko-Teofimo Lopez undercard, he became the first man
to stop 30-fight veteran Lanell Bellows. Berlanga finished
his whirlwind 2020 on Dec. 12, stopping the normally durable
Ulises Sierra (15-1-2) in 2:40. Nicholson (23-3-1, 20 KOs)
has won five consecutive fights since a seventh-round TKO
loss to Jesse Hart in April 2018.
“I don’t like to make predictions, but make sure you tune
in. I want to show out for the fans in attendance,” Berlanga
said. “April 24 is going to be the beginning of a huge 2021
for my team. I take it one fight at a time, and this is just
another step toward my goal of becoming a champion.”
Nicholson said, “I have the experience. When I first
started, I was knocking everyone out in the first round as
well. I have 20 knockouts, and that speaks for itself. If
you look at his opponents, I’d knock them all out. Is he
ready for the next level? He might be ready, but he won’t be
ready for me.”
The undercard, which will be announced in due course, is set
to feature a plethora of Puerto Rican fan-favorites: junior
welterweight contender Josue Vargas, 18-year-old phenom
Xander Zayas, unbeaten featherweight Orlando Gonzalez,
undefeated junior lightweight Henry Lebron, big-punching
lightweight Joseph “Blessed Hands” Adorno, and junior
featherweight prospect Jeremy “Magic Hands” Adorno.
|
|
|
