Navarrete v Lopez
After six rounds of action, WBO world junior featherweight champion Emanuel “Vaquero” Navarrete (32-1, 28 KO’s) stopped a game but vastly over-matched Uriel “Yuca” Lopez (13-14-1, 6 KO’s). Despite being the WBO junior featherweight champion, there was no hardware on the line as the prizefight was contested at the 126lbs featherweight limit.
Remaining true to his nature, Navarrete began the fight competing at a somewhat slow and measured pace. While he had the chance, Lopez took the time to throw punches frequently and assume as much control as he could. This pattern maintained until the third round when Navarrete began thawing out his notoriously relentless offense.
Initially, it was only the volume of Navarette’s attack that increased. With the coming of the fourth period however, Navarette began tossing much harder shots and going to the body with acute viciousness. The torso torture continued in the fifth round. Beyond just touching Lopez’s body with bad intentions, he was able to put Yuca down with a deflating body shot.
Even though he was clearly hurt and discouraged, Lopez did manage to make it to his feet and continue. However, it was a short-lived moral victory because a newly energized Navarrete increased his output and put Lopez down anew in the sixth period. This time however, Lopez’s corner puts an end to the fight that was quickly spiraling out of control.
With this essentially stay-busy victory in the bag, it’s expected for Navarrete to drop back down and defend his WBO strap in his next outing.
By: Bakari Simpson
