Notebook: Navarrete defends 130 title but for how much longer?
Muratalla relishes opportunity; Cacace, Wood all business ahead of clash; 'Chocolatito' plans; Sulaiman rips Scull for running; Shields defense set; Boxing Social, BetUS shows; Quick hits; Show & tell
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Emanuel Navarrete has won world titles at junior featherweight, featherweight and junior lightweight, where he currently holds the WBO belt. One of his goals is to win a title in a fourth division.
He took the opportunity to move up to lightweight to challenge Denys Berinchyk for the vacant WBO belt last May but lost a split decision and elected to return to 130 pounds to continue defending his title.
He did that with ease when he dominated and knocked out Oscar Valdez in the sixth round in December in a rematch of a hellacious battle that Navarrete won by decision when they fought for the first time in 2023.
Now Navarrete is set for his fourth junior lightweight title defense when he takes on the little-known Charly Suarez in the main event of a Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card on Saturday (ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET) at Pechanga Arena in San Diego.
It marks a return to the same arena where Navarrete (39-2-1, 32 KOs), 30, of Mexico, lost to Berinchyk but has also won two other fights.
“My performance against Oscar Valdez was my way of showing that I’m now at 100 percent,” Navarrete said through an interpreter at this week’s news conference. “There’s no doubt about that now. So, all we have to do is prepare well to achieve my goals.
“We know what happened the last time I was in San Diego. We did not get the victory. We lost against Denys Berinchyk in our attempt to win a title at 135 pounds. But now, defending at 130 pounds, we want to let the people know I’m ready to move forward with my career.”
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Win or lose it could mean another move up to 135 pounds, which after seeing how Navarrete struggled at Friday’s weigh-in, might do him some good. He needed three attempts and most of the allotted two hours to make 130 pounds naked.
The day before the weigh-in, Navarrete did not allude to any weight issues.
“I prepared for a great fight,” said Navarrete, one of boxing’s most crowd-pleasing fighters. “We know that Suarez is coming for my title. So I want a great fight so everyone can see I’m ready to continue on the path of victory.
“We have to defend my title first. We’re going to work hard and take the title home. After, we’ll see if I stay at 130 or move up again.”
The little-known Suarez (18-0, 10 KOs), 36, who was a 2016 Olympian for the Philippines, but did not turn pro until 2019, will be taking a massive step up in competition. He has yet to face anybody of note, but that will change against Navarrete in the fight Suarez has wanted. Given his penchant for movement and switching stances from right-handed to southpaw, he just might give Navarrete some problems.
“I prayed for this fight and here it is,” said Suarez, who will be fighting in the United States for the fourth consecutive bout. “The opportunity has come, and I have taken it and we won’t lose. I’m bringing all my amateur experience into this fight. This is it. The world title shot is here, so I’m ready and I’m excited for the fight.
“This is a good opportunity for me to represent my country and to show the world that Filipinos are good at boxing and that Filipinos and Mexicans put on great fights.”
Muratalla’s big opportunity
Nobody knows whether IBF lightweight titlist Vasiliy Lomachenko, the three-division champion, former pound-for-pound king and two-time Olympic gold medalist, will fight again.
He is sidelined recovering from a back injury and also was contemplating retirement even before the injury.
That has paved the way for Raymond Muratalla and Zaur Abdullaev to meet for the vacant IBF interim title in the co-feature of Top Rank’s Navarrete-Suarez fight on Saturday night. It’s the big opportunity both fighters have been looking for.
If Lomachenko retires or vacates — he has until Oct. 8 to defend against the winner, per the IBF medical exception he received in January — the Muratalla-Abdullaev winner will be elevated to full titleholder status. If Lomachenko returns to defend the belt he is obligated to face the winner in his first fight back.
“This is a huge opportunity for me, my family, and my team,” said the Robert Garcia-trained Muratalla. “This is exciting and motivating because it gets me one step closer to even bigger fights.
“I want to get these big fights that everyone wants to see. My main goal is to get past Zaur Abdullaev, so I can start calling out for these big fights everyone wants to see. But I’m not looking past him. I know this will be a tough one.”
Indeed, it shapes up as one of Muratalla’s toughest fights. Last July, Muratalla (22-0, 17 KOs), 28, of Fontana, California, narrowly outpointed former junior lightweight titlist Tevin Farmer but Abdullaev is a more physical fighter and he has been a career-long lightweight. Abdullaev (20-1, 12 KOs), 31, of Russia, is also riding a nine-fight wining streak since a fourth-round knockout to Devin Haney in a WBC interim title bout in 2019.
Since the loss, Abdullaev has beaten fighters such as former titleholders Jorge Linares, Dejan Zlaticanin and Roger Gutierrez as well as then-unbeaten contender Roman Andreev.
“Abdullaev has improved a lot as a fighter. He’s gotten better since the Devin Haney fight,” Muratalla said. “That was a few years ago, and now he’s on a winning streak. I know he’s coming to fight and he’s not just here to fight, he’s here to win. And I’m on the same page. So, it’s going to be a good one. I can’t wait.
“He comes forward with a high guard. He’s strong, but I think he’s a little too slow for me. I have too many skills and different things he hasn’t seen yet. At the same time, I feel there are a lot of skills that I haven’t even shown yet. I’m ready to go. This is something that all fighters dream of. I’ve put in all the work to get here and I’m ready to show out.”
The fight will be Abdullaev’s second in the United States. The other was his loss to Haney but he said he is happy to be back in the U.S. for the biggest fight of his career.
“I’m happy to return to the United States after five years and I’m ready to finally become a world champion,” Abdullaev said. “I’m ready to do anything to win. Muratalla is a very good fighter. I’ve watched many of his fights but I’m ready to overcome this challenge.”
Cacace, Wood ready to go
Anthony Cacace not only vacated the IBF junior lightweight title to facilitate a fight with Leigh Wood, he also agreed to fight the former two-time WBA featherweight titlist in his hometown.
They will square off in the 12-round main event of the Queensberry Promotions card on Saturday (DAZN, 2 p.m. ET) at Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England, where Wood is a beloved figure.
“I’m just raring to go,” Cacace said this week. “It doesn’t matter where it is. It is Leigh Wood who is in front of me and I’ve watched him for years. When I wasn’t really doing much and not getting opportunities, I was watching him fight. He is the ‘Cinderella Man’ of Nottingham and I would love to come here and do the business.”
Cacace (23-1, 8 KOs), 36, a southpaw from Northern Ireland, pulled a major upset last May by knocking out heavy favorite Joe Cordina in the eighth round to win the IBF 130-pound belt in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Then he soundly outpointed former featherweight titlist Josh Warrington in September at London’s Wembley Stadium.
But rather than face mandatory challenger Eduardo “Sugar” Nunez, Cacace vacated the belt for a much bigger fight with Wood.
“This is all new in Nottingham and it feels like I am in Belfast, to be honest. It is a great city,” Cacace said. “I am here. Leigh is my third two-time world champion in a row. If you looked at my life two years ago, I was nowhere, now I am fighting these caliber of fighter. I’ve got nothing but respect for Leigh, but I am here to do a job in Nottingham and I will do that on Saturday night.
“I could have done this fight in Belfast if I wanted and I am sure Leigh would have traveled, but I decided to come to Nottingham because I thought Leigh sells a lot of tickets and it would be something new for me.”
Wood (28-3, 17 KOs), 36, is moving up in weight and will end a 19-month layoff. He has been out of action since stopping Warrington in the seventh round to retain the WBA 126-pound belt in October 2023.
“I am extremely excited for Saturday night. It has been way too long out of the ring, but not out of the gym,” Wood said. “I’ve been staying disciplined and trying to get big fights for a while. I’ve had injuries but at the end of last year I was ready to go and was sat around. I saw the fight between Cacace and Warrington. He did a great job, now we are finally here.
“I’ve got a few belts already, so this is more about the win, the name and what Cacace has achieved. Taking that scalp is a lot more important to me (than another title).”
Plans for ‘Chocolatito’
Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez, the four-division champion, former pound-for-pound king, and surefire first-ballot Hall of Famer, could be back in action this summer off a one-year layoff as he continues to seek another title opportunity.
All Star Boxing promoter Felix “Tutico” Zabala is looking at putting on Gonzalez’s next bout on July 25 in his hometown of Managua, Nicaragua, he told Fight Freaks Unite. Zabala works closely with Teiken Boxing’s Akihiko Honda, Gonzalez’s promoter, and said they are trying to work out the particulars.
“Right now we are looking at a stay-busy fight to wait for the title shot,” Zabala said. “He is currently ranked No. 1 (by the) WBO, WBA and WBC (at junior bantamweight), so it will be a matter of time now before he gets his title shot.”
Gonzalez, who has won titles from strawweight to junior bantamweight, has also talked of challenging for a bantamweight title but so far no opportunity has emerged.
Gonzalez (52-4, 42 KOs), 37, last fought last July 12 in Managua in a bantamweight bout as he ended a 19-month layoff by knocking out Rober Barrera in the 10th round in his first fight in Nicaragua since 2015. The fight was Gonzales’ first since a debatable majority decision loss in his trilogy fight with Juan Francisco Estrada for Estrada’s lineal junior bantamweight title and the vacant WBC belt in December 2022.
In late 2024, there were discussions for Gonzalez to challenge WBO junior bantamweight titlist Phumelele Cafu this past March in Managua, but those talks broke off and Cafu eventually signed for a unification fight with lineal/WBC champion Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, who took the title from Estrada, on July 19 in Frisco, Texas.
At the WBC convention in December, the organization ordered a final eliminator between Gonzalez and Andrew Moloney but that went nowhere.
Boxing Social appearance
I joined my friends at Boxing Social to discuss a variety of topics, including Manny Pacquiao’s probable return against WBC welterweight titlist Mario Barrios; thoughts on Ryan Garcia’s loss to Rolando Romero and whether there should still be a rematch next with Devin Haney; Canelo Alvarez’s awful fight with William Scull; what could be in the future for Teofimo Lopez; the exciting Naoya Inoue and Rafael Espinoza title defenses; and more. Check out the video here:
Sulaiman rips Scull performance
WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman is loath to criticize boxers but he could not contain himself after having watched from ringside as IBF super middleweight titlist William Scull spent 12 rounds running from lineal and unified champion Canelo Alvarez last Saturday night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in their fight for the undisputed title,
Alvarez won 119-109, 116-112 and a laughable 115-113 but nobody left satisfied due to the utter lack of action as they set the all-time CompuBox record for fewest combined punches thrown (445) in a 12-round fight.
“My dear father, (the late former WBC president) Jose Sulaiman, taught us never to speak ill of anyone,” Sulaiman said. “‘My son, if you don’t have anything good to say, it’s better not to talk about that person.’ And that’s how I’ve tried to live my life. It’s because of this principle that I have a hard time talking about the fight we saw in Riyadh. How sad to see the terrible performance of Cuban William Scull, who ran away and refused the fight!
“Cuban boxing is one of excellence and greatness, and what happened was shameful, giving our sport a black eye. It’s one thing to fight strategically and find a way to counter your opponent to impose your style and win the fight, and another to go out dancing, running, and simply coasting through 12 rounds to avoid being knocked out, and that’s what Scull did. Canelo became the undisputed WBC, WBO, WBA, and IBF super middleweight champion by defeating three undefeated champions in what was the best year of his career. In 2021, he defeated Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders, and Caleb Plant. Eventually, the IBF required him to fight his mandatory defense. Against who do you think? Yes, against William Scull. That’s how he ceased to be champion of all four organizations last year (because the IBF stripped him for not facing Scull).
“In order to regain the title of undisputed champion, Alvarez decided to fight Scull, who had won the IBF belt. Mandatory challengers must be of the highest quality, especially when it comes to a prestigious champion. The WBC learned its lesson with (former Alvarez mandatory) Avni Yildirim, even though the Covid-19 pandemic had a lot to do with the Turk’s poor performance. Since then, we have adjusted our rules to dignify our sport and ensure that the mandatory challenger is of the highest quality.”
Shields defense set
Claressa Shields, the women’s pound-for-pound No. 1, four-division champion, three-division undisputed champion, and reigning undisputed heavyweight champion, will defend her crown against IBF light heavyweight titlist Lani Daniels on July 26 (DAZN) in the main event of a Salita Promotions card at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, where the Flint, Michigan, native has fought before and drawn well.
Shields (16-0, 3 KOs), 30, who was a two-time Olympic gold medalist and also competes in MMA, outpointed Danielle Perkins in February to unify the four belts and become undisputed champion in Flint.
“My fights continue to get bigger and better. My opponent is coming to bring all the smoke, or so she says,” Shields said.
Daniels (11-2-2, 1 KOs), 36, of New Zealand, has won seven fights in a row but will be fighting outside of her home country for the first time.
Daniels, who recently signed with Salita Promotions to join the same company that promotes Shields, previously held the IBF heavyweight belt and will seek to regain it.
“To be the best you have to fight the best,” Daniels said. “On the darkest nights the full moon will rise and the truth will be revealed.”
BetUS Boxing Show
If you missed the BetUS Boxing Show live at 1 p.m. ET on Friday please check out the replay (and also subscribe to the YouTube channel). We previewed and picked four fights from a busy weekend: WBO junior lightweight titlist Emanuel Navarrete’s defense against Charly Suarez and Raymond Muratalla versus Zaur Abdullaev for the vacant IBF interim lightweight title on Top Rank’s ESPN card on Saturday in San Diego; former junior lightweight titlist Anthony Cacace against former two-time featherweight titlist Leigh Wood headlining Queensberry’s DAZN card on Saturday in Nottingham, England; and WBA junior bantamweight titlist Fernando Martinez defending in a rematch against Kazuto Ioka on Sunday in Tokyo. We also took viewer questions and comments and discussed the latest boxing news! Please check out the show here:
Quick hits
Weights from San Diego for the Top Rank card on Saturday (ESPN, 10 p.m. ET): Emanuel Navarrete 130 pounds, Charly Suarez 129.9 (for Navarrete’s WBO junior lightweight title); Raymond Muratalla 134.4, Zaur Abdullaev 134.6 (for vacant IBF interim lightweight title); Sammy Contreras 139.8, Dyllon Cervantes 139.6; Andres Cortes 131.7, Salvador Jimenez 131.9; Giovani Santillan 147.2, Angel Beltran 146.6; Perla Bazaldua 114.4, Mona Ward 114.1; Alan Garcia 136.7, Cristian Medina 136.7; Sebastian Hernandez 122, Azat Hovhannisyan 122.7. The Albert Gonzalez-Jose Guardado featherweight bout was canceled because Guardado passed out Thursday during his weight cut, was hospitalized, and released.
Per the California State Athletic Commission, official contract purses for Saturday night’s Top Rank ESPN card: Emanuel Navarrete $1 million, Charly Suarez $60,000; Raymond Muratalla $400,000, Zaur Abdullaev $150,000; Sammy Contreras $5,000, Dyllon Cervantes $4,000; Andres Cortes $40,000, Salvador Jimenez $10,000; Giovani Santillan $40,000, Angel Beltran $3,000; Perla Bazaldua $5,000, Mona Ward $2,000; Alan Garcia $10,000, Cristian Medina $3,000; Sebastian Hernandez $20,000, Azat Hovhannisyan $30,000.
Weights from Nottingham, England for the Queensberry Promotions card on Saturday (DAZN, 2 p.m. ET): Anthony Cacace 129.8 pounds, Leigh Wood 129.8; Ezra Taylor 173.8, Troy Jones 173.8; Liam Davies 125.2, Kurt Walker 125.4; Owen Cooper 145.7, Chris Kongo 146.7; Sam Noakes 141.7, Patrik Balaz 141; Lewis Williams 226, Viktar Chvarkou 218.6; Huey Malone 139.5, Jakub Laskowski 141.1; Charlie Senior 128l.5, Cesar Ignacio Paredes 129.9; Joe Cooper 163.4, Dmitri Protkunas 162.8; Joe Tyers 134.2, Mario Portillo 136.2; Harris Akbar 156.7, Octavian Gratii 156.6; Nico Leivars 124.6, Darwing Martinez 128.
Weight from Kissimmee, Florida, for the ProBox TV card on Saturday (ProBox TV, 6 p.m. ET): Erickson Lubin 153.4 pounds, Ardreal Holmes 154 (IBF junior middleweight eliminator); Nicklaus Flaz 147, Alan Sanchez 146.6; Nazarena Romero 121.8, Mayelli Flores Rosquero 122.6 (for Romero’s WBA women’s junior featherweight title); Najee Lopez 174.4, Juan Gerardo Osuna 173.8; Darrelle Valsaint 153.2, Rodolfo Orozco 153.2; Dominic Valle 130.6, Brandon Valdes 130.8; LaVonte Earley 141.4, Jorge de Jesus 141; Hebert Conceicao Sousa 162.8, Rowdy Montgomery 161.8; Ryan Maine 154.8, Gabriel Escalante 154.2; Jonas Sylvain 158.8, Yojanler Martinez 160.2.
The WBC granted a one-week postponement of the purse bid for the fight between middleweight titlist Carlos Adames (24-1-1, 18 KOs), 30, of the Dominican Republic, and mandatory challenger Meirim Nursultanov (20-0, 11 KOs), 31, of Kazakhstan, at the request of both sides. The purse bid was scheduled for May 6 but now will be May 13 unless they make a deal. Adames retained the belt in a draw with previous mandatory challenger Hamzah Sheeraz — which most thought Adames won — on Feb. 22.
Already postponed twice, the WBC purse bid for a junior lightweight final title eliminator between Eduardo “Rocky” Hernandez (37-2, 32 KOs), 27, of Mexico, and former WBC featherweight titlist Mark Magsayo (27-2, 18 KOs), 29, of the Philippines, that was to have taken place May 6, has been called off altogether. According to PBC, which represents Magsayo, the fight is on hold due to a medical issue that has arisen with Hernandez and called into question his availability for the bout. The purse bid was postponed at the promoters’ request because they were nearing a deal and then again while the WBC observed a seven-day mourning period due to the death of Pope Francis. The winner would have become mandatory for titlist O’Shaquie Foster, who stopped Hernandez in the 12th round of a 2023 defense.
Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn announced he has signed bantamweight Adam Maca, 17, who hails from Albania but lives in England, to “along-term promotional deal” and that he will make his professional debut on the undercard of IBF junior welterweight titlist Richardson Hitchins’ defense against George Kambosos Jr. on June 14 (DAZN) at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York. As an amateur, Maca, who is managed by Sam Jones and trained by Dan Woledge, was a two-time junior European champion and five-time national champion. “I was on the Albanian Olympic team. I could have waited for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles but that’s not what I wanted to do,” Maca said. “Since I’ve been a little boy, I’ve wanted to be a professional boxer. I’m following my dreams.”
Welterweight Raul Curiel (15-0-1, 13 KOs), 29, a 2016 Mexican Olympian fighting out of Riverside, California, announced he will now be trained by Robert Garcia. The Golden Boy-promoted Curiel, who is managed by Frank Espinoza, is coming off a 12-round majority draw with Alexis Rocha in December in his first significant fight. “I feel very happy with this new stage in my career,” Curiel said. “It is definitely another level of training and sparring. I have gotten along very well with everyone in the gym, and with the whole team of trainers. We are working hard and we are extremely excited for our next fight, which I am sure I will win.” Said Garcia: “Curiel is a great kid with a lot of potential, plus he’s friends with most of my fighters in my gym. He knows he’s not very far from fighting for a world title so he knows how important it is for the whole team to work very hard.”
Show and tell
Three fights removed from a one-sided decision loss to Floyd Mayweather that cost him the WBC junior middleweight title, and coming off back-to-back wins over Alfredo Angulo and Erislandy Lara in nontitle bouts, Canelo Alvarez was matched with powerful but chinny James Kirkland in a155-pound nontitle fight that marked Alvarez’s return to HBO after several fights with rival Showtime. Alvarez and Kirkland, who was coming off a 17-month layoff and had split with longtime trainer Ann Wolfe, met at Houston’s Minute Maid Park, which was hosting boxing for the first time, and 31,588 turned out to cheer wildly for Alvarez. It was an action-packed fight but all Alvarez. He dropped Kirkland with a right hand in the first round, again with a right in the third and later in the third blasted the wide-open Kirkland with a monstrous right hand that knocked him out cold.
It is perhaps the most spectacular knockout of Alvarez’s storied career and was widely viewed as the 2015 knockout of the year. The victory also set up Alvarez for his next fight, a shot at then-middleweight champion Miguel Cotto, who later got through his tune-up fight ahead of a mega Mexico versus Puerto Rico showdown that was one of the biggest in the history of the rivalry. The Alvarez-Kirkland fight, which I covered at ringside, took place on May 9, 2015 — 10 years ago on Friday. Here is a scarce heavy stock site poster in my collection.
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Photos: Navarrete-Suarez and Muratalla-Abdullaev: Mikey Williams/Top Rank; Cacace-Wood: Leigh Dawney/Queensberry; Gonzalez: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom Boxing; Sulaiman: WBC
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Ringside for the Kissimmee show, looking to see if Lubins experience and power prevails over the light hitting but undefeated Andreal Holmes. support local boxing 🥊🥊🥊
Muratalla is uber talented. But runs hot and cold. I’m not sure he has any real passion for the sport.