Emanuel Navarrete overwhelms Francisco De Vaca for a round 3 TKO

WBO junior featherweight champion Emanuel Navarrete continued his winning ways with a round 3 TKO of previously undefeated Francisco De Vaca.

WBO junior featherweight champion Emanuel Navarrete (28-1, 24 KOs) took care of business on Saturday, Aug. 17 by stopping Francisco De Vaca (20-1, 6 KOs) in round 3. De Vaca was utterly overmatched as Navarrete tried to prove he’s the division’s best boxer.

Coming into their fight, De Vaca had a perfect record, but against subpar opposition. Navarrete was a gigantic step up in competition, and the move proved to be too much, too soon. De Vaca doesn’t have heavy hands, but he tried to convince people he’s stronger than his record indicates. He didn’t succeed.

In round 1, De Vaca tried to come out aggressively despite only having six KOs to his name. Navarrete stayed patient and did an excellent job of boxing on the outside. De Vaca did get inside of Navarrete’s defenses in the last minute, but Navarrete landed powerful counterpunches.

De Vaca was active to start round 2, but most of his punches found nothing but air. Navarrete remained calm on the outside, but eventually mixed some of his punches to De Vaca’s body. Ultimately, De Vaca left his head open.

Navarrete dropped De Vaca with a right uppercut. An initial uppercut did most of the damage and Navarrete followed it up with another that put him down. De Vaca got to his feet and survived the round.

De Vaca tried to rally in round 3. He threw a series of punches to Navarrete’s body, but he left himself open to Navarrete’s full arsenal. Navarrete broke him down with relentless overhand rights that bloodied De Vaca’s nose and face.

Navarrete’s onslaught was gruesome, and De Vaca lost the ability to defend himself. He was stuck on the ropes and refused to go down under Navarrete’s constant pressure. Referee Raul Caiz Jr. interceded and stopped the fight at the 1:54-minute mark in the third.

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After the bout, Top Rank CEO Bob Arum said that Navarrete would return to the ring on Mexican Independence Day weekend on the undercard of the Tyson Fury vs. Otto Wallin main event.

“He [Navarrete] is Mexican. He’s proud to be Mexican. Sept. 14 is Mexican Independence weekend, and the best fighter in Mexico will be there defending his title,” said Arum emphatically.

After Arum’s words, the only question is who will Navarrete fight on Sept. 14? The only titleholder in the division that doesn’t have a scheduled bout is Rey Vargas, but Golden Boy promotes him. A unification bout on short notice seems unlikely, but we’ll see in the coming weeks who’s next for Navarrete.