Navarrete rallies against Baez to retain featherweight title with body-shot KO

Santillan outpoints Luna in tough battle; Ali Walsh knocks out Sanchez in rematch

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Emanuel Navarrete was nowhere near at his best. The WBO featherweight world titlist looked rusty after 10 months out of the ring. He had a brutal weight cut. And he had a determined opponent in Mexican countryman Eduardo Baez in front of him on Saturday night.

After the fifth round, Navarrete’s trainer, his uncle Pedro Navarrete, knew the fight was getting away from him and there was urgency. He let him know that he needed to pick things up.

Navarrete listened — and, boy, did he listen well.

He went out in the sixth round and landed a paralyzing left hook to the body for a one-punch knockout to retain his 126-pound title for the third time in the main event of the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card at Pechanga Arena in San Diego.

“I expected a fight like this,” Navarrete said through an interpreter. “I never underestimated Eduardo Baez. I knew that he was an excellent fighter and the fact that he hit pretty hard. It was a lot more complicated than I anticipated. But then came that shot, and I was able to finish him.”

Baez did not appear have a whole lot of steam on his punches, but he landed enough to give Navarrete (36-1, 30 KOs), 27, all kinds of problems. Baez also was outboxing Navarrete and showed toughness against an obviously rusty Navarrete, who did not appear to be in ideal condition.

Going into the sixth round, Baez was ahead 50-45 on judge Zachary Young’s card and 48-47 Lou Moret’s, but Pat Russell incredibly had Navarrete leading 49-46, which seemed wildly off base.

But Navarrete, a former junior featherweight titlist before vacating to move up in weight, made it all irrelevant in the sixth round when he fired a right uppercut and followed with a brutal left hook to Baez’s liver. He took a step back and went down to one knee in agony on a delayed reaction.

Baez remained motionless on his knee as referee Jack Reiss counted him out at 1 minute, 5 seconds. After Reiss waved off the fight, Baez fell to all fours and then fell over onto his back as he tried to shake off the obvious pain from the punch.

“That’s a very Mexican punch,” Navarrete said of the body blow. “It comes with my blood. And you can see, I don’t throw a perfect left hook like you’re used to seeing. But this one came out perfect for me. And you saw the result because not many guys can take that shot.”

The fight was the first for Navarrete under a new multi-year deal he signed with co-promoter Top Rank. Given the difficulty of making weight there is a chance Navarrete will move up to the 130-pound junior lightweight division next.

There are major fights Top Rank can offer him, including against unified champion Shakur Stevenson or former titlist Oscar Valdez. Top Rank chairman Bob Arum has been vocal about his interest in matching Valdez and Navarrete.

Navarrete said he has not decided what he will do but admitted he had a hard time making weight.

“I’m not going to deny those 10 months away from the ring made it tough for me. At the end of the day, coming down and melting myself to 126 pounds was difficult,” Navarrete said.

Baez (21-3-2, 7 KOs), 26, dropped to 1-2 in his last three fights, having lost a majority decision to junior featherweight contender Ra’eese Aleem in November 2021 before rebounding for a majority decision over Jose Vivas on March 26 on a Top Rank undercard.

Santillan outpoints Luna

In the co-feature, San Diego welterweight Giovani Santillan won a unanimous decision over Julio Luna even if the scores were shockingly one-sided in a fight that appeared much closer.

It was a much tougher fight than the scores would indicate as two judges gave it to Santillan by shutout scores of 100-90 and one had him winning 96-94.

Santillan (30-0, 16 KOs), 30, a southpaw, did appear to deserve the decision and fought for much of the second half of the fight with a terrible cut over his right eye caused by an accidental head butt.

It was tough-luck scoring for Luna (19-1-2, 10 KOs), 24, of Mexico, who was fighting outside of his home country for the first time and had his moments, including in a big fourth round when he rocked Santillan with a left uppercut.

“It was a lot tougher than I expected,” Santillan said. “Luna gave me a great fight and I am just thankful for the opportunity to fight once again in my hometown. It was a rough fight, a lot of head butts, but I battled through it. That was a hard 10 rounds.”

Two judges did not give Luna even a singe round even though he outlanded Santillan in the fight. According to CompuBox, Santillan connected with 186 of 544 punches (34 percent) and Luna landed 210 of 679 (31 percent).

Ali Walsh KOs Sanchez

In the opener, middleweight Nico Ali Walsh, the grandson of Muhammad Ali, knocked out Reyes Sanchez with a body shot in the second round of their scheduled four-round rematch.

In his third pro fight, Ali Walsh edged Sanchez by majority decision in December. This time Ali Walsh left no doubt.

“I feel amazing. This was a special win because it was a rematch,” said Ali Walsh, who is now working with trainer Kay Koroma, his third head trainer in six pro bouts. “It’s everything I’ve been working towards. My hard work is now showing in the ring. I want everyone to see that it’s a new me.”

After cruising through the first round, Ali Walsh landed a left hook to the body and Sanchez (7-3, 3 KOs), 30, of Topeka, Kansas, went down and was counted out by referee Jose Cobain at 2 minutes, 45 seconds of the second round.

“It was so gratifying,” Ali Walsh said. “(ESPN commentator) Timothy Bradley called it in the fighter meetings yesterday. It was a beautiful shot. It was the shot I was looking for. It was the shot I was dreaming about, and it happened because I worked so hard for it.”

Ali Walsh (6-0, 5 KOs), 22, of Las Vegas, won the fight in the same building where Muhammad Ali had one of his most famous fights, a March 1973 bout against Ken Norton, who broke Ali’s jaw and won by split decision in a major upset when it was known as the San Diego Sports Arena.

Photos: Mikey Williams/Top Rank

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