Christopher “Pitufo” Diaz is quite familiar with both Emanuel Navarrete and Eduardo Nunez, having faced and lost to each. Diaz is picking Navarrete to triumph over Nunez in their junior lightweight unification bout this Saturday at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona.

 “It is the power and the experience he has, and also the awkward style that he brings,” Diaz, 30-6 (19 KOs), told BoxingScene. “He can throw punches from anywhere.”

Navarrete, 39-2-1 (32 KOs), is a three-division titleholder who will be defending his WBO belt. The 31-year-old from San Juan Zitlaltepec, Mexico, fought only once last year against Charly Suarez. 

The bout was originally ruled as a technical decision win for Navarrete but was later overturned to a no-contest, because the cut on Navarrete that caused the fight to be stopped was actually caused by a punch from Suarez. The original ruling should have therefore been a TKO win for Suarez.

Diaz recalled fighting Navarrete in 2021 after a layoff. Diaz had previously put forth a solid performance 10 months before in a decision win against Jason Sanchez before stepping in with Navarrete. Diaz felt the ring rust, but he also felt Navarrete’s power. Navarrete put away Diaz in the 12th round and is the only man to stop Diaz in his career. 

“What makes Navarrete so difficult is the power he has,” Diaz said. “He breaks you down little by little, but also the punching volume. He throws a lot of punches. [...] With Navarrete, you can’t show a lot of skills, because of the style he brings. You just got to beat him to the punch.”

Diaz also noted that he learned about rehydration from fighting Navarrete, who was big on fight night. 

Nunez, 29-1 (27 KOs), won the vacant IBF title against Masanori Rikiishi in May and then made his first title defense last September against Diaz. Nunez dropped Diaz twice in what was otherwise a wildly competitive bout, which Nunez won by unanimous decision.

It was also a fight in which Diaz forced Nunez, a 28-year-old from Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico, to show more of his arsenal, as he boxed. Diaz believes Nunez needs to plant his feet to throw shots against Navarrete, who likes to throw punches in combination. 

“Nunez throws his punches,” Diaz said. “He throws a lot of punches, but with Navarrete’s style, I think he is going to have some problems.”