Top Rank will be hosting a rematch-centred card on December 7th as Emanuel Navarrete defends his WBO super featherweight title against Oscar Valdez for the second time, while Rafael Espinoza and Robeisy Ramirez will also face off to stage a return of their own 2023 fight. Espinoza will be defending his WBO featherweight title against Ramirez. The Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona, has been chosen as the venue where this Top Rank card will be staged.
Mexican WBO super featherweight (130 lbs) champion Emanuel Navarrete (38-2-1, 31 KO’s) and countryman Oscar Valdez (32-2, 24 KO’s) last competed against each other in August of 2023 in a title bout where Navarrete succesfully defended his WBO title against Valdez by unanimous decision (UD).
During the first battle, Navarrete had arguably dominated the fight, but recent circumstances involving both fighters might paint a different match this time around. Navarrete, 29, is coming off a split-decision (SD) loss against Ukrainian fighter Denys Berinchyk (19-0, 9 KO’s)―thereby narrowly missing out on the vacant WBO lightweight (135 lbs) title that had been up for contention.
Valdez, 33, is in slightly better form after defeating Australian contender Liam Wilson (14-3, 8 KO’s) in a battle that would make him the WBO interim champion at 130 lbs. With Oscar Valdez arguably in better form and more experienced, the two are headed into what appears to be a 50/50 fight to decide who is either going to remain, or become, the WBO super featherweight champion.
In the featherweight (126 lbs) division below, another WBO title is on the line which is set to be defended by Mexican champion Rafael Espinoza (25-0, 21 KO’s) against Cuban contender Robeisy Ramirez (14-2, 9 KO’s). That same WBO title had belonged to Ramirez up until he and Espinoza met in December of 2023. Their first match was resoundingly close and impactful, with both fighters getting knocked down once and leaving to extremely close scorecards that eventually chose Espinoza to be the winner by majority decision (MD).
December 7 will therefore showcase two pivotal rematches revolving around WBO titles, with the “Score to Settle” name of the card perfectly encapsulating both upcoming fights. Notably, both fights are also mandatory fights as dictated by the WBO, indicating the sanctioning body is intent on fostering competition while mingling this with ordered grudge matches that further aim to increase the quality of fights.
With both fights having intriguing narratives set in place that serves as motivation for both the challenger and the champion, two hard-fought battles will be expected come December 7. The Navarrete-Valdez II fight will be headlining the Top Rank card, with Espinoza-Ramirez II serving as the co-main event.
