Emanuel Navarrete open to lightweight return to become four-division titleholder

Emanuel Navarrete came up short in his first attempt at winning a world title in a fourth weight class. He’s open to the prospect of trying again.

The 29-year-old from San Juan Zitlaltepec, Distrito Federal, Mexico lost a split decision to Denys Berinchyk in May in a bout for the vacant WBO lightweight belt. Navarrete has returned to junior lightweight, defending his WBO title in that division on December 7 in a rematch with Oscar Valdez. 

Navarrete, who looked fleshy against Berinchyk, had no problem dropping five pounds back down.

“It’s easy to go from 135 and then go back to 130 to fight against Valdez, who earned his opportunity for the world title by becoming the mandatory challenger of the title, of which I'm still a champion,” . “And I think that would have been a more attractive fight than, for example, staying at 135, fighting against someone who's ranked at number 5 or 10 or 8. I think because of that initial fight with Valdez, and the attraction it has, it makes it more feasible. So it helped make that decision for me.”

Navarrete topped Valdez via unanimous decision when they first met in August 2023 in an entertaining outing. Since then, Navarrete fought Robson Conceicao to a draw in November 2023 and then had the Berinchyk bout in May. He is 38-2-1 (31 KOs). 

Valdez returned in March with a seventh-round TKO of Liam Wilson. The 33-year-old from Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, is now 32-2 (24 KOs).

Valdez won world titles at 126 and 130 before losing the latter in a unification bout with Shakur Stevenson in April 2022. When Stevenson left junior lightweight, Navarrete picked up the vacant WBO belt, giving him a title in a third weight class after reigns at 122 and 126.

The allure of a fourth reign remains.

“We can do something at 135 in the future. But I have to take my time,” Navarrete said. “I have to do things calmly and work better. And when that opportunity comes, we're going to come with everything for that title in the fourth weight class.”

Navarrete-Valdez II will take place at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona, and will be broadcast on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+ in the United States, and on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter and . He is the co-host of the . David’s book, “,” is available on Amazon.