Emanuel Navarrete drops Uriel Lopez twice to win by round 6 TKO
WBO super bantamweight champion Emanuel Navarrete stepped up to featherweight to fight Uriel Lopez in a bout that he closed in round 6.
Emanuel Navarrete didn’t have his WBO super bantamweight title on the line on Saturday, June 20, during the Top Rank on ESPN main event. Still, he systematically broke down Uriel Lopez over six rounds of their boxing bout in San Juan Zitlaltepec, Mexico.
Navarrete (32-1, 27 KOs) is well-established as a super bantamweight, but he has a large frame for the division and will likely be moving on to a new division shortly. He tested the featherweight waters against Lopez.
Lopez (13-14-1, 6 KOs), who now sports a losing record after the Navarrete fight, was never in Navarrete’s league. Boxrec.com had him listed as the 308th best featherweight in the world. Matchmaking in boxing during the pandemic has been difficult, but Lopez got in some shots despite losing via TKO.
Navarrete alluded to ESPN before the fight that his days as a super bantamweight are numbered.
“Including the belt I have right now at junior featherweight, I want to conquer two more divisions,” Navarrete told ESPN. “That’s what I see myself in three to five years, becoming a three-division champion.”
Navarrete looked solid as a featherweight despite his opponent being severely overmatched. To his credit, Lopez was competitive in the first three rounds. Lopez was aggressive and had Navarrete moving backward during that time, but he could never establish a rhythm.
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Even though Navarrete started slowly, he scored well with the jab while on his backfoot. Things changed in round 4.
Navarrete stopped retreating and let his hands go. As he upped his output, Navarrete connected with uppercuts and hooks to the head and body with both fists. Lopez tried to fight back, but he was getting hit often for his troubles.
Emanuel Navarrete doesn’t have the fastest hands, but his boxing style is unique and puzzles opponents.
Navarrete switched back and forth between orthodox and southpaw stances, which further confused Lopez. He also threw punches from awkward angles and kept Lopez guessing. It only took him about a little over a round to break Lopez down.
In round 5, Navarrete’s pressure wilted Lopez. About a minute into the round, Navarrete floored Lopez with a left hook to the body. Lopez was hurt but made it back to his feet. He tried to protect his body, so Navarrete unleashed a barrage of punches to Lopez’s head.
In round 6, Navarrete continued to find Lopez’s head with right hooks out of the southpaw stance. Lopez was fading quickly and lost the ability to protect himself. Navarrete connected with a right to the center of Lopez’s body that put him down for the second time. The referee saw enough and waved the fight off. Navarrete was the winner by TKO.
There were no surprises in this contest. Navarrete stayed active and helped further establish his name. He will have a hard time making the 122-pound limit, but he’s not ready for guys like Garry Russell Jr. or Shakur Stevenson at featherweight. It will be interesting to see Navarrete’s next move.
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