Earlier today at the WBO’s rating meeting, Top Rank’s Carl Moretti informed the sanctioning body that they were actively negotiating a unification bout between lightweight titlist Emanuel Navarrete and IBF champion Eduardo Nunez. Mike Coppinger names January 24th in Phoenix as a “possibility being explored” for the DAZN-aired bout.
This doesn’t come as much of a surprise, as “Vaquero” (39-2-1, 32 KO) and “Sugar” (29-1, 27 KO) faced off in the ring last month after Nunez’s decision victory over former
Navarrete foe Christopher “Pitufo” Diaz.
As Moretti and Coppinger point out, however, there remains a major obstacle: Charly Suarez, Navarrete’s mandatory challenger. The Filipino challenger split Navarrete open with what appeared to be a punch, forcing an eighth-round stoppage, but officials called it a headbutt and gave Navarrete a technical decision victory. CSAC ultimately overturned the result, leading the WBO to order a rematch upon Navarrete’s recovery.
Odds are that Suarez gets a step-aside deal and a guaranteed crack at the winner. With how inconsistent Navarrete has been of late, I can’t see Arum and Hearn letting this one marinate any longer.
That might just be my love of violence influencing my optimism, admittedly. Assuming we don’t get the weirdly careful Nunez of the Diaz fight or the weight-drained Navarrete who barely escaped Suarez, this absolutely screams “Fight of the Year.”
