Saturday night in suburban Phoenix, AZ, Emanuel Navarrete became a unified 130 lb. world champ with a one-sided beating of Eduardo "Sugar" Nunez in a TKO.
On a charged Saturday night in Glendale, Arizona, Emanuel Navarrete delivered a masterclass in controlled aggression and wiped out Eduardo “Sugar” Nunez, stopping him in the 11th round to unify the junior lightweight titles.
What had been billed as an all-Mexican war in the Matchroom Boxing, DAZN main event before a roaring crowd of roughly 12,000 at Desert Diamond Arena instead became a demolition showcase of Navarrete’s power.
From the opening bell, Navarrete, now 40-2-1, 31 KOs, imposed his will. The three-division world champion — previously holding the WBO belts at featherweight and junior featherweight — entered the bout defending his WBO 130 lb. crown for the fifth time.
By night’s end, he had added Nunez’s IBF championship to his collection, doing so with startling authority.
Navarrete enlisted a nutritionist in his camp for the first time to ensure a smooth weight cut down to junior lightweight, again and the results on this night were evident. He looked in peak physical condition, and performed at arguably the highest level of his career.
The bout marked just the third all-Mexican title unification title bout in boxing history, placing it alongside legendary Julio Cesar Chavez’s 1988 win over Jose Luis Ramirez and Erik Morales’ 2000 victory against Marco Antonio Barrera in their first of three legendary meetings.
Despite travel complications that delayed his arrival into Arizona until Thursday due to a lost passport, Navarrete fought with purpose and pride. He pounded Nunez inside from the opening rounds with hard left uppercuts and right hooks.
The shorter Nunez, now 29-2, 27 KOs couldn't move the 31 year old Navarrete with his shots inside and the rounds began to pile up for Navarrete.
Navarrete continued to hammer away with lefts and by the ninth round, Nunez’s right eye had rapidly swollen shut.
Starting the 10th round, the ringside doctor examined Nunez, who the DAZN broadcast showed close up that the eye was closed. However, the fight continued and Navarrete landed a big left hook sending blood streaming down the right side of Nunez's face.
Navarrete, now in full control, punished him relentlessly, as calls to stop the fight grew louder from ringside, including Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn going to his fighter's corner telling them to stop the fight. That happened at the beginning of the 11th round for another KO win for Navarrete.
After the bout, the new unified champ expressed gratitude to the fans and to Nunez for the opportunity, calling the achievement a dream realized.
“It’s a dream to be here,” Navarrete said through an interpreter. “I want to say thanks to all the people that came here to see me unify and to ‘Sugar’ for the opportunity. I’ve been waiting a long time for this opportunity. Thank you, ‘Sugar’ — you’re a warrior. Thanks for the opportunity.”
Stylistically, the fight unfolded unexpectedly. Navarrete was anticipated to press forward — and he did, outlanding Nunez 182-114 in power shots by Compubox stats. However, even though that margin was 68 punches, Navarrete's power shots were bigger and more damaging over the 10 rounds.
To that point, Navarrete had won every round on one official card and was ahead 8-2 on the other two cards at the time of the stoppage.
“I feel like there are many things I have gone through but I feel like I have the heart and the guts of a Mexican warrior. I want to continue in this same vein and continue to show this version of ‘Vaquero’ (Cowboy) Navarrete,” he said Saturday night.
That version of Navarrete, in his prime and with tremendous left hand power, should scare everyone at 130 lb.