The junior lightweight division is going to heat up Saturday night when Emanuel Navarrete (pictured) and Eduardo ‘Sugar’ Nunez fight in what is bound to be an all-action title unification bout at Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, and live on DAZN. Navarrete (39-2-1, 32 KOs), the WBO champion, is coming off a controversial no contest with Charly Suarez in May. Navarrete was originally awarded a technical decision after a ringside doctor ended the fight due to a cut over the Mexican fighter’s left eye. But it was ruled that the referee incorrectly deemed the cut was caused by a headbutt, when it was really opened up due to a punch, thus changing the verdict to a no contest. If he is to notch his 40th professional victory, Navarrete will have to overcome the power of IBF titleholder Nunez (29-1, 27 KOs) who last scored a unanimous decision over Christopher Diaz in September. Will Navarrete’s high volume of punching lead to the first championship unification of his career? Or will Nunez walk exit with two titles in tow? DAZN News examines who has the edge in this high-stakes matchup.
Boxing Styles: Navarrete and Nunez each let their hands fly in different ways. Navarrete is one to apply pressure with volume, leading with a long jab but more than willing to attach looping left uppercuts and sweeping right hands as stinging combinations. Meanwhile, Nunez does not waste time walking opponents down and ripping the body with punishing shots. He is also equipped with a corkscrew uppercut that he manages to leverage with maximum impact due to its compact delivery. This clash of styles is truly intriguing with the slightest edge going to Navarrete on the strength of his four-inch reach advantage which could be used to pick off an incoming Nunez if executed efficiently. Edge: Navarrete
Power: From the way he ravages the body or throws his uppercuts and hooks with blunt force, ‘Sugar’ Nunez does not have any sweetness to his style, especially his power. The IBF titleholder is a mean, ferocious puncher as evidenced by 27 of his 29 wins coming by way of knockout. Navarrete has power too with 32 of his 39 wins coming by knockout. Nunez’ power is on another level, though. He takes this category comfortably. Edge: Nunez
Mental Warfare: Navarrete has fought against the likes of Oscar Valdez twice, Denys Berinchyk, Robson Conceicao and Joet Gonzalez to name a few. With those fights come plenty of experience and confidence that ‘Vaquero’ has accrued over the years. Nunez is brimming with confidence of his own as an absolute terror for any man sharing the ring with him. But perhaps Navarrete, who has dealt with unrelenting stalking fighters before, has the savvy to curb Nunez. He has the rounds of experience to draw from and gets another slight nod here. Edge: Navarrete
Who has the edge in Navarrete vs. Nunez? Whether Navarrete is successful teeing off on Nunez with hard combinations or Nunez throws ‘Vaquero’ into the pressure cooker, this matchup stylistically should be about as fan-pleasing as any fight this year. Despite Nunez being installed as the favorite by most oddsmakers, Navarrete has the hard-hitting guile to have his hand raised. But it certainly feels like a 50-50 fight. Will one of these all-action fighters stop the other? Or will they throw hands and go the distance? We are about to find out.
