Emanuel Navarrete controversially defended his WBO super featherweight title with a technical decision win over Charly Suarez at the Pechanga Arena in San Diego on Saturday.
Navarrete (40-2-1, 32 KOs) was last out in December 2024, knocking out Oscar Valdez in the sixth round of their rematch in Phoenix, while Suarez (18-1, 10 KOs) came into this one ranked number one by the WBO, and his last victory was a third round stoppage of Jorge Castaneda in Glendale last September.
It was toe-to-toe stuff from the opening bell, with Navarrete landing with a heavy right hand in the first round that Suarez felt, and his knees momentarily buckled.
The champion let his hands go in round four, raining in several power shots that the Filipino took in his stride, and the challenger kept on coming forward.
Suarez then targeted the body of Navarrete in the fifth, but the talking point of the fight came a round later.
The 36-year-old landed a punch that seemingly caused a nasty cut on Navarrete’s eye, and the two then clashed heads, with the referee ruling the cut was caused by the clash.
‘Vaquero’ responded by hurting Suarez towards the end of the round, but he enjoyed a solid seventh, connecting with combinations, but before he could build on that success, the fight was waved off by the doctor at the start of round eight, and with the commission ruling a head clash, the bout went to the cards.
Two scores of 77-76, and a third at 78-75 ensured Navarrete kept hold of his belt.
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Muratalla battles past Abdullaev
The interim IBF lightweight world title went to Raymond Muratalla, as he took a wide points win in his bout with Zaur Abdullaev (20-2, 12 KOs).
Muratalla (23-0 17 KOs) was a handy winner by two scores of 119-109, and a third tally of 118-110.
The 28-year-old would be upgraded to full champion if Vasiliy Lomachenko relinquishes the title.
Cortes overcomes Jimenez
In ten round attractions, super featherweight contender Andres Cortes was a dominant winner against Rafael Salvador Jimenez (14-2-1, 6 KOs), taking a clear points victory.
Cortes (23-0, 12 KOs) won all ten rounds on two cards, and took a 99-91 win on a third scorecard.
Remaining Undercard
At welterweight Giovani Santillan (34-1, 18 KOs) recorded a points win against Angel Beltran Villa (18-3, 11 KOs) by three identical scores of 97-93 in their contest, and Sebastian Hernandez Reyes (20-0, 18 KOs) clearly outscored Azat Hovhannisyan (21-6, 17 KOs) over ten rounds at super bantamweight. Three scores of 98-91 sealed the win.
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In the sole eight rounder, Alan Garcia (16-1, 11 KOs) took a 79-73 win across the board against Cristian Medina Garcia (8-3-1, 5 KOs) in their lightweight clash.
In four round action, Samuel Contreras (2-0, 1 KO) took all four rounds against Dyllon Cervantes Alvarado (4-6-1, 2 KOs) at super lightweight, and Perla Bazaldua (2-0, 1 KO) did the same at super flyweight against Mona Ward (0-2).
