Emanuel Navarrete Vs. Eduardo Nunez Breakdown

WBO Super Featherweight Champion Emanuel Navarrete boxes the IBF Champion Eduardo Nunez in a unification on February 28, as we preview the fight. 

Navarrete enters this fight looking to re-establish his dominance after a poor run of form. He has one win from his last three, which came against Oscar Valdez as he secured a sixth-round stoppage. Prior to that, Navarrete suffered a split decision loss to Denys Berinchyk at lightweight before returning to 130 where he had a no-contest against Charly Suarez in his last fight due to a refereeing error.

Nunez is the “boogeyman” of the division, entering this unification with a 93% KO ratio. He captured the vacant IBF title by beating Masanori Rikiishi. He then made his first defense, defeating the veteran Christopher Diaz via unanimous decision and then secured a win over Christopher Diaz-Velez in his last fight. Nunez has won 17 of his last 19 fights by stoppage, meaning Navarrete will have to be wary.

Pre-Fight

“I’m really excited about this fight with Sugar Nuñez. More than the fight, the main goal has been to unify these titles. But I am happy that it begins with him. I studied him for probably six months and knew that he was the one I wanted to fight next. “I was very happy for him that he won that night in Los Mochis,” Navarrete said

The Approach

Navarrete will likely use his 72″ reach to tag Nunez with lead uppercuts and looping hooks. His goal will be to maintain a pace of 80+ punches per round, forcing Nunez to stay in a high-guard. By keeping Nunez defensive, Navarrete hopes to prevent the younger fighter from ever getting his feet set to throw his power shots. When Navarrete gets timed, he often switches stances or uses lateral movement to reset the range. 

Nunez’s primary goal will be to minimize Navarrete’s space. He will look to use small, purposeful steps to herd Navarrete toward the ropes. Nunez can then have a brawl where his shorter, power shots have the advantage. Nunez is expected to target Navarrete’s long midsection early in the fight. If he can land heavy left hooks to the liver, he can slow Navarrete’s feet and lower his guard, setting up the right hand to the chin in the later rounds. As Navarrete throws wide, looping shots, he often leaves “lanes” open down the middle. Nunez will look to time these wide swings.