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Emanuel Navarrete vs Charly Suarez: Who has the edge heading into their fight?
Emanuel “Vaquero” Navarrete aims to defend his WBO junior lightweight world championship against undefeated Charly Suarez at Pechanga Arena San Diego this Saturday.
After losing to Denys Berinchyk via a hard-fought split-decision, the star missed out on the chance to make history and become a four-division world titleholder last May.
But Navarrete (39-2-1, 32 KOs) dropped back down to 130 pounds and crushed Oscar Valdez in six rounds to retain his junior lightweight world championship in December.
He will be up against a Suarez (18-0, 10 KOs) who fights for the pride of Philippines and is coming off a scintillating third-round knockout of Jorge Castaneda last September.
Will Navarrete rack up another eye-opening title defense? Or will Suarez remain undefeated by becoming world champion in an upset?
With the stakes high, DAZN News analyzes who has the edge across three main categories heading into their championship fight.
Boxing styles
By now, it should not come as a surprise what Emanuel “Vaquero” Navarrete is going to do in the ring — relentlessly pressure and turn his hard-hitting punch volume way up to drown opponents out. It is what the 30-year-old has done throughout his career to be at the doorsteps of knocking on his 40th professional victory.
Where Navarrete is all gas, no brakes, Suarez tends to be slightly more patient but once he sees an opening — look out as he tends to pounce with heavy-handed shots.
At 36 with a rich amateur background as part of his ring history, Suarez will be forced to provide resistance and answers to Navarrete’s suffocating style. Not an easy task against a fighter who spells nonstop action.
Edge: Navarrete
Power
Suarez certainly has pop to his punch. Just ask Jorge Castaneda who was overwhelmed by the Filipino fighter’s onslaught of combinations last fall.
That said, the quality of opponents Navarrete has knocked out and the way in which he manufactured these stoppages within his forward-fighting style cannot be overlooked.
Navarrete’s hard-fought bouts with the likes of Oscar Valdez, Liam Wilson, Eduardo Baez and Christopher Diaz, to name a few, have all ended in emphatic knockouts. His 76 percent knockout rate helps him get the edge here.
Edge: Navarrete
Mental Warfare
If there is a push when it comes to mental warfare, it is Navarrete’s experience. Since December 2018, the Mexican warrior has been on an absolute tear to the point that this weekend marks his whopping 16th world title bout.
He also holds more than double the pro fight experience with 42 total bouts to Suarez’ 18.
The edge goes to the champion here, too.
Edge: Navarrete
Who has the edge in Navarrete vs Suarez?
In the buildup to this fight, Navarrete has labeled Suarez “dangerous,” adding “he’s exactly the kind of challenge that fuels me," as reported by Top Rank.
Plus, the three-division world champ has the extra motivation of winning at the same venue where he tasted defeat last spring to Berinchyk.
Already a pugilist who will abandon his sweet science for flat out, forward fighting, Navarrete does not need the extra motivation. Yet, here is with just that.
The motivation and urgency is there for Suarez, too, who will try to cash in with his first world title chance at 36-years-old where the window of opportunity is closing.
While Suarez is certainly capable of making this a firefight and hurting Navarrete, the champ gets the 3-0 edge here until the unbeaten Filipino fighter proves otherwise.
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