Emanuel Navarrete: record, next fight and profile →
Liam Wilson has flown halfway around the world for his first major title shot but will feel right at home in the ring. On deck for the visiting Australian is a dangerous showdown versus Emanuel Navarrete. The two will meet for the vacant WBO junior lightweight title this Friday (ESPN, 10:00 p.m. ET) at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona.
Emanuel Navarrete and Rey Vargas could become three-division champions within an eight-day span this month. The Mexican veterans never fought when they owned world titles in the 122-pound and 126-pound divisions, but Vargas thinks a title unification bout versus Navarrete is at least a possibility if they win their upcoming fights for unclaimed 130-pound championships.
The stars were perfectly aligned during this training camp for Liam Wilson. Original plans called for the Australian junior lightweight to face England’s Archie Sharp on the undercard of the January 28 Jermell Charlo-Tim Tszyu junior middleweight championship in Las Vegas. Wilson was pulled from the show just in time, when his team accepted an offer to replace an injured Oscar Valdez versus Emanuel Navarrete for the vacant WBO junior lightweight title scheduled for just six days later.
Navarrete, Wilson Weights Photos Gallery - The Top Rank on ESPN 2023 schedule continues with a world title card on Friday evening at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. (photos by Mikey Williams)
Emanuel Navarrete insisted prior to fight week that he is not yet done with the featherweight division. That said, the 28-year-old Mexican looked comfortable at Thursday’s weigh-in ahead of his bid to become a three-division titlist. Navarrete was 129.2 pounds for his scheduled twelve-round fight with Australia’s Liam Wilson, who checked in at a career-light 126.3 pounds for his U.S. debut.
Navarrete, Wilson Final Press Conference Photos Gallery - The main event is a battle for the vacant WBO junior lightweight world title, as Emanuel "Vaquero" Navarrete (36-1, 30 KOs) seeks to become a three-weight world champion against Australian upstart Liam Wilson (11-1, 7 KOs).
Oscar Valdez will watch from a ringside seat Friday night as Emanuel Navarrete and Liam Wilson fight for the WBO junior lightweight title Valdez once owned.
By Jake Donovan - The body language offered by Emanuel Navarrete before and after his most recent win suggested we would never again see him as a featherweight. That was then, this is now—even with hopes of becoming a three-division titlist this weekend. “I’m still undecided on what we’re going to do after this fight,” Navarrete insisted to BoxingScene.com. “Before my last fight, we decided that if I can’t get a unification at featherweight that we would look at winning a world title at 130.
Emanuel Navarrete had this date circled on his calendar for quite some time. There is still a sense of pride heading into this weekend’s showdown with Australia’s Liam Wilson, with the vacant WBO junior lightweight title at stake this Friday on ESPN from Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. The February 3 date was reserved for an all Mexico-showdown between Navarrete and former two-division titlist Oscar Valdez (30-1, 23KOs), who withdrew due to a previous injury that hasn’t fully healed.
Undefeated rising star Andres Cortes (17-0, 11 KOs), fresh off a string of impressive wins in the super featherweight division, will face his most challenging opponent when he steps in the ring with Luis Melendez (17-2, 13 KOs), from Miami by way of Puerto Rico.