LAS VEGAS – Emanuel Navarrete has been mentioned more and more as a potential opponent for Shakur Stevenson as they come closer to fighting other opponents Thursday night at T-Mobile Arena.

If the heavily favored Navarrete beats Brazil’s Robson Conceicao in ESPN’s co-feature and Stevenson defeats Dominican southpaw Edwin De Los Santos in the network’s main event, talk of Stevenson-Navarrete will only intensify. Forgive Stevenson for not necessarily understanding why.

“I think that’s a distraction fight,” Stevenson told BoxingScene.com. “I think that it’s distracting us from the fact that I should be fighting Lomachenko next. I think that me and Lomachenko is the big pay-per-view fight that should happen. I think that Navarrete is somebody that’s thrown out there as a distraction.

“I don’t think Navarrete is as good as Lomachenko. We seen Lomachenko in his last fight. He looked real good in his last fight. So, honestly, I’m down for fighting Navarrete. I would love to fight him, but I think it’s just throwing us off from the fact that we’re supposed to be in the ring with Lomachenko next.”

Navarrete (38-1, 31 KOs) is undoubtedly a worthy opponent. He has won world titles in three weight classes, and although he would have to move up five pounds to challenge Stevenson, Navarrete relentlessly pressures opponents, is a strong puncher and hasn’t lost a fight in 11 years.

Stevenson still would rather test himself against Lomachenko, another three-weight world champion who was long listed among the top 10 boxers, pound-for-pound, in the sport.

The 2016 Olympic silver medalist wanted to oppose Lomachenko in the fight that was eventually scheduled for Thursday night. Lomachenko was ranked first among the WBC’s lightweight contenders, one spot atop Stevenson, when the Ukrainian southpaw informed their promoter, Bob Arum, that he wouldn’t fight again in 2023.

Stevenson (20-0, 10 KOs), who has since ascended to the number one position in the WBC’s 135-pound rankings, will instead box the sixth-ranked De Los Santos (16-1, 14 KOs) for the WBC’s unclaimed lightweight championship.

It is unclear when Lomachenko (17-3, 11 KOs) will return to the ring, but Stevenson hopes another opportunity to regain the WBC lightweight title will be enough to entice Lomachenko to face him next. The 35-year-old Lomachenko lost a closely contested, 12-round unanimous decision to undefeated, undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney in his last fight, May 20 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

The WBC designated Haney as its lightweight champion in recess once Haney (30-0, 15 KOs) decided to move up to the 140-pound division for his next bout, a shot at WBC super lightweight champ Regis Prograis (29-1, 24 KOs) on December 9 at Chase Center in San Francisco.

The 26-year-old Stevenson is nevertheless prepared for more questions about possibly boxing Navarrete in his first fight of 2024.  

“It’s cool,” Stevenson said. “I ain’t trippin’ on that. I’m just saying let’s like really think about it. Lomachenko said he wanted to take the rest of the year off. That was basically his excuse for not fighting me in November. So, why not in his first fight back come fight me next year? But we gotta get past De Los Santos first, so I can’t even keep talkin’ about what’s next until I handle business on Thursday.”

Navarrete will defend his WBO junior lightweight title against Conceicao (17-2, 8 KOs, 1 NC). BetMGM sportsbook lists Navarrete as a 10-1 favorite and Stevenson as a 14-1 favorite over De Los Santos.

ESPN’s coverage of the Stevenson-De Los Santos/Navarrete-Conceicao doubleheader is scheduled to start at 10:30 p.m. ET (7:30 p.m. PT).

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.