Top Rank hosted a duo of world title rematches this past Saturday in a show where Emanuel Navarrete and Oscar Valdez headlined at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona, while Rafael Espinoza and Robeisy Ramirez would be the co-headliners. Coincidentally, both of the defending champions possessed WBO belts which they successfully retained on the night―while further managing to finish their opponents within the 6th round of their respective matches.

Emanuel Navarrete Vs. Oscar Valdez

The rematch between Mexican WBO super featherweight (130 lbs) champion Emanuel Navarrete (39-2-1, 32 KO’s) and countryman Oscar Valdez (32-3, 24 KO’s)―who was in possession of the interim version of the WBO title―notably ended in a different fashion than their 2023 bout which saw Naverrete coast to a unanimous decision (UD) win.

This time around, the same sort of dominance on display by Navarrete was fully honed by the Mexican champion as he resolved to finish the fight rather than going the distance with his compatriot. The overall course of the rounds went abundantly in favor of Navarrete whose famed work ethic in the ring and come-forward style looked unstoppable against Valdez who he knocked down early in the 1st round.

The knockdown appeared to decide the entire course of the match as a heavily-damaged Oscar Valdez appeared to spend the remainder of the match attempting to hold on against Navarrete’s barrage of attacks. To Valdez’ credit, he managed to remain upright against Emanuel Navarrete for at least 3 rounds as Navarrete’s offensive simmered, but on his own part Valdez failed to fully rally to turn the tides of the scorecards.

In the 4th round―which favored Emanuel Navarrete, Valdez again suffered a knockdown in the closing seconds of the fight, though this would not prevent Valdez from having a decent showing in the following 5th round where he still brandished his fighting spirit. The 6th round would be the end of the road for Oscar Valdez, however, as another late knockdown dropped him for the 3rd round.

Valdez proved unable to beat the referee’s count of 10, resulting in Navarrete being declared the winner by knockout―thereby retaining his WBO 130 lbs title for the second time against Valdez.

Rafael Espinoza Vs. Robeisy Ramirez

Mexican WBO featherweight (126 lbs) champion Rafael Espinoza (26-0, 22 KO’s) and Cuban contender Robeisy Ramirez (14-3, 9 KO’s) also staged a rematch during their co-main event. The first bout between saw Ramirez―then in possession of the WBO 126-pound title―lose to Espinoza by majority decision (MD) in a close contest that saw both fighters getting knocked down.

This time around, the match would exhibit the same level of competitiveness as the two fighters went toe-to-toe throughout all the rounds with it being debatable as to who had taken a lead. However, early in the 6th round, the match fell into the hands of Espinoza entirely after Ramirez abruptly quit in lieu of an eye injury that occurred following a punch from his opponent. Espinoza retained his WBO belt as a result and further was acknowledged as the winner by technical knockout (TKO).

The manner in which the match finished will be contentious as Ramirez had claimed of suffering from double vision after getting hit by a right hand from Espinoza in the 6th round, leading to his retirement from the ring. The point of discussion will revolve around why the fight had not simply gone to a technical decision instead and allowed the judges to decide the winner based on the prior 5 rounds.

CompuBox’s punch stats also indicated the extreme closeness of the fight, with Espinoza largely distinguishing himself through his output while Ramirez was undoubtedly the more efficient fighter:

Undercard fights:

• American WBO interim welterweight (147 lbs) champion Giovani Santillan (33-1, 18 KO’s) returned on the card following his KO defeat to current WBO 147-pound champion Brian Norman Jr. (26-0, 20 KO’s) in May of this year. Faced against Ghanaian contender Fredrick Lawson (30-6, 22 KO’s)―who was on a two-match losing streak, Santillan’s 1st round stoppage victory over Lawson offered no surprises.
  
• American heavyweight (200+ lbs) prospect Richard Torrez Jr. (12-0, 11 KO’s) maintained his undefeated record in a TKO win over Mexican heavyweight Issac Munoz Gutierrez (18-2-1, 15 KO’s).