Navarrete vs Lopez 20-06

Emanuel Navarrete beats Uriel Lopez soundly, as expected.

The WBO Junior Featherweight champion started slow, but in a very short time he demonstrated the huge gap between a champion and a good journeyman who really had no answer for the incessant assault of Vaquero.

Something that was immediately clear was the athletic condition of Lopez, who, probably by choice, fights at least one weight class above his natural one; this explains the choice of an opponent who poses no risks and at the same time lets a champion keep active in the ring to prepare for more prestigious matches.

There lies the difficulty for the promoter, choosing an opponent who’s not too good or too poor; Navarrete needed a test, and he got it.

Navarrete can go back to 122 and fight the best for sure; he can go up one category as well, like he did last night at Featherweight, 126 lbs (although he weighed in at 127) and face other champions; his promoter and the circumstances, that we cannot always foresee, will decide.

Speaking of the match, Lopez was knocked down in the fifth round, although he really took some heavy blasts before going down, and was then stopped in the sixth after one more knock-down.

We look forward to see more from Navarrete, who has only one defeat back in 2012, which reminds us of the great fighters you can find early in Mexican rings, that will maybe never be champions for a thousand reasons, but really know how to boxe.

photo by youtube

Translation by Davide De Nisi (ddntrad@gmail.com)