Emanuel Navarrete
Emanuel Navarrete Martínez is a Mexican professional boxer. He is a three-division world champion, having held the World Boxing Organization junior featherweight title from 2018 to 2020, the WBO featherweight title from 2020 to 2023, and the WBO junior lightweight title since February 2023.
He won his first world title, the WBO junior featherweight at the age of 23, dethroning champion Isaac Dogboe and then dominated him in a rematch. He made five successful defences, before moving up to featherweight winning the vacant WBO title against Ruben Villa, becoming a two-weight world champion. He defended the title three times, before becoming a three-weight world champion in 2023, winning the vacant WBO title at super featherweight against Liam Wilson. In 2024, he dared to become a four-weight world champion when he challenged Denys Berinchyk at lightweight, only to lose via a close split decision. Navarrete then moved back down in weight to retain his super featherweight belt. He holds two successful defences over multi-weight champion Óscar Valdez. Despite holding world titles at multiple weights, he has never unified.
Early life
Navarrete was raised in a modest and tightly-knit community, where he acquired skills in resilience and discipline. The sport of boxing was a familial tradition, with his brothers Jhonny and Pedro, as well as cousins and an uncle, participating in the sport, which played a significant role in his own foray into boxing. In addition to boxing, his family was involved in construction and interior design, and Navarrete briefly participated in the family business before dedicating himself entirely to boxing. Although he completed high school, he chose to leave formal education to concentrate on his boxing career. His early commitment to the sport led him to prioritize training and competition over further academic pursuits.Amateur career
Navarrete had an amateur record of 108–7.Professional career
Early career
Navarrete made his professional debut, at the age of 16, against Misael Ramirez on 18 February 2012. He won the fight by a first-round technical knockout. He became the first boxer to stop Ramirez, achieving a notable debut in his career. In the same year, Navarrete participated in seven fights against opponents such as Ivan Donovan, Ismael Garnica, and Ramon Pena. Subsequently, he fought Daniel Argueta on 26 July 2012, which marked the first defeat of his career, in only his sixth professional fight, despite a commendable effort.Following this setback, he secured victories against Ramon Pena and Antonio Gutierrez. Additionally, on 8 August 8, he defeated Emmanuel Dominguez by technical knockout in the fourth round. He also halted the winning streaks of Enrique Bernache and Marco Gonzalez and became the first to defeat Alberto Luna. Continuing his success, Navarrete achieved a victory over Ricardo Roman on 28 November 28, winning by knockout in the third round. Similarly, he triumphed over Osvaldo Castro on 5 March 2016, winning by technical knockout in the fifth round. Navarrete amassed a 25–1 record during the first six years of his professional career, winning all but three of those fights by way of stoppage and all fights taking place in Mexico.
Super Bantamweight
Navarrete vs. Dogboe
It was announced on 17 October 2018, that Navarrete would challenge the reigning WBO junior featherweight champion Isaac Dogboe, in what was Dogboe's second title defense. The bout was scheduled for the undercard of a 8 December 2018, Top Rank card headlined by a unified lightweight title fight between Vasyl Lomachenko and Jose Pedraza. The event took place at the Hulu Theater in New York City and was broadcast by ESPN in the Americas and by VITV in Dogboe's native Ghana. Navarrete entered the first title bout of his career as a significant underdog, with most odds-makers having him a +500 underdog, while Dogboe was seen as a –800 favorite. Despite this, Navarrete won the fight by unanimous decision. Two of the judges scored the fight 116–112 for him, while the third judge scored it 115–113 in his favor. Dogboe dropped Navarrete with a right hand in the ninth round, but no knockdown was called, as referee Benjy Esteves Jr. deemed it an illegal punch. The fight ended with Navarrete having landed and thrown more punches than Dogboe.Navarrete vs. Dogboe II
The pair was scheduled to fight an immediate rematch on 11 May 2019, at the Convention Center in Tucson, Arizona. The rematch headlined a Top Rank card, broadcast by ESPN. Navarrete was more convincing in their second meeting, winning the fight by a later twelfth-round technical knockout. He was in control from the beginning of the fight, keeping Dogboe at range with jabs and accumulating damage with straight punches. Navarrete began to dominate from the ninth round onward, with the former champion visibly flagging. Doboe's father and coach finally threw in the towel in the final minute of the last round. Navarrete landed almost three times as many strikes as Dogboe, out-landing the Ghanaian 314 to 121 in total punches.Navarrete vs. De Vaca
It was revealed by ESPN on 14 June 2019, that Navarrete was expected to make his second title defense against the undefeated Francisco De Vaca at a date, location and venue which would be announced later. The fight was originally scheduled for the José Benavidez Jr. and Luis Collazo undercard, but was later promoted to headline the 17 August Top Rank card, after Benavidez withdrew due to injury. The fight took place at the Banc of California Stadium on Los Angeles, California, and was broadcast by ESPN. Navarrete justified his role as the betting favorite, winning the fight by a third-round technical knockout. Navarrete spent the entirety of the fight pressuring De Vaca, undeterred by the power coming back at him, finally finishing his opponent with a flurry of punches at the 1:54 minute mark of the third round.Navarrete vs. Elorde
Five days after Navarrete made his second title defense, Top Rank vice-president Carl Moretti confirmed that Navarrete would make his third title defense against the #2 ranked WBO junior featherweight Juan Miguel Elorde. The fight was booked for the undercard of the Tyson Fury vs. Otto Wallin heavyweight bout at the T-Mobile Arena, Paradise, Nevada which took place on 14 September 2019, just 28 days after Navarrete's previous fight. The fight was broadcast on BT Sport and ESPN+ pay-per-view. Navarrete came into the fight as a –3000 favorite. Navarrete won the fight by a fourth-round technical knockout. He first knocked Elorde down in the third round, before stopping him with a flurry of punches a round later.Navarrete vs. Horta
Navarrete was booked to make his fourth title WBO junior featherweight title defense against Francisco Horta, in his fourth fight of the year. The fight was scheduled as for the undercard of an ESPN broadcast Top Rank card which took place on 7 December 2019, at the Auditorio GNP Seguros in Puebla, Mexico. It was Navarrete's first title fight in his native Mexico. Navarrete won the fight by a fourth-round technical knockout. After a slow start, Navarrete began catching Horta with looping punches, finally stopping his opponent at the 2:09 minute mark of the fourth round.Navarrete vs. Santisima
On 30 January 2020, it was announced that Navarrete would make the fifth defense of his title against Jeo Santisima. The fight was booked for the Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury II pay-per-view undercard, which took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada on 22 February 2020. Navarrete once again justified his role as the favorite, winning the fight by an eleventh-round stoppage. Navarrete appeared to be unusually slow and fatigued throughout the bout, but still managed to stagger the Filipino challenger in the fifth round, before stopping him with a barrage of punches at the 2:20 minute mark of the eleventh round. Navarrete claimed that he had suffered a right thumb injury during the post-fight interview, saying: "I hurt him weirdly with my right hand and hurt my thumb but I had to plough through it".Featherweight
Navarrete vs. Villa
Navarrete accepted a fight at featherweight against Uriel López on 20 June 2020, for his next bout. He won the fight by a sixth-round technical knockout. He dominated his opponent, out-landing him 190 to 49 in total punches, and 150 to 38 in power punches. Following this victory, Navarrete claimed he would vacate his junior featherweight title in the post-fight interview, should the other champions refuse to face him in a title unification bout. Navarrete officially vacated the WBO junior featherweight title on 12 July 2020, and moved up to featherweight. Due to the rules of the sanctioning body, he immediately became the mandatory challenger for the vacant WBO featherweight title.The WBO ordered their #2 ranked featherweight contender Jessie Magdaleno to face mandatory challenger and #1 ranked contender Navarrete for the vacant title. As the two camps were unable to come to terms regarding the bout, the WBO ordered a purse bid to be held, which was won by Top Rank with a bid of $250,000. Although the fight was initially expected to take place in October of the same year, the idea was later scrapped as Magdaleno failed to respond to a Top Rank contract offer, unsatisfied with the proposed purse. As such, the next highest ranked contender Ruben Villa accepted the fight instead. The fight for the vacant belt between Navarrete and Villa was booked as the main event of an 9 October 2020, ESPN broadcast card.
Navarrete won the fight by unanimous decision, slightly edging Villa on the strength of two knockdowns. He first knocked Villa down with a left uppercut near the end of the first round, while the second knockdown was the result of a left hook in the fourth round. Two of the judges scored the fight 114–112 in his favor, while the third judge awarded him a 115–111 scorecard. Navarrete landed 163 to Villa's 131 total punches, while the difference in power punches landed was far more pronounced, with Navarrete landing 131 to Villa's 58. During the post-fight interview, Navarrete called for a title unification bout with the IBF featherweight champion Josh Warrington.