By Miguel Maravilla at ringside
Photos: Sumio Yamada
WBO junior featherweight world champion Emanuel “Vaquero” Navarrete (28-1, 24 KOs) scored an impressive third round TKO over previously unbeaten Francisco “Panchito” de Vaca (20-1, 6 KOs) before 3,944 on Saturday night in the inaugural boxing card at the Banc of California Stadium located on the site of the former Los Angeles Sports Arena.
Navarrete came out landing big punches in the opening round snapping de Vaca’s head back a few times. De Vaca answered with some solid counters as the things began to warm up. In round two, Navarrete landed a three punch combination dropping De Vaca. The third round saw Navarrete go for the stoppage as he came out attacking De Vaca and bloodying him. Credit to the challenger as he kept fighting back but the champ’s attack was too much and referee Raul Caiz Sr. stepped in to stop the fight at 1:54.
Afterward, Navarrete stated, “I want to thank my supporters, and second of all, I want to continue the tradition of Mexican boxing in Los Angeles. I want to fill arenas and follow in the footsteps of Mexican legends.”
“I’m talking to {Top Rank} about fighting September 14 on the Tyson Fury card in Las Vegas. I want to thank Bob Arum and Zanfer Promotions for the opportunity…De Vaca showed his fighting heart. He gave 100 percent in the ring tonight.”
–
Navarrete too big and strong for De Vaca. What can you do against an opponent who has all the physical advantages, throws a high volume of punches most of them hard, and can keep you at a distance? Not much, especially since De Vaca lacks power.
There will be very few boxers who can match up with Navarrete in the super bantam or featherweight divisions. Leo Santa Cruz will be a good opponent, but Leo just doesn’t punch hard enough to discourage Navarrete. I really look forward to seeing him fight in next month’s Fury card.
100% what you said, i’d like to add this kid is for real, and he one of the few that likes to fight. He wants to fight in September, imagine that in this day and age of fighters who fight once every 2 years, or once a year like they’re doing you a favor. The fact that he wants all the titles in his division, and will fight on a regular basis make me a fan.
Imagine that. Someone who likes to fight more than once a year. He wasn’t marred in this fight, so coming back a month later makes a lot of sense. I love watching this guy fight. He doesn’t pose and throw 10-20 per round. More like 100 and up to 160 per round.
He is a good fighter. The point where he could be called a great fighter may come when he goes up against someone who is tough and can punch. Navarrete , at this stage , likes to fight close and could be open for power shots. I think he may be advised to keep his distance and use his height and reach to dominate his opponents. With a good opponent, he may be in line for some big PPV shows as the main event.
The second I saw Panchito De Vaca, I knew he wasn’t going to last much,, he looked physically soft, forget about Andy Ruiz,,he’s a heavyweight with good speed,, I understand Vaquero was bigger and all,,but my point here is De Vaca and many other fighters don’t bring their best possible physical condition into the ring,, I’m and old school boxing trainer/former amateur boxer etc.,, but I’ve seen thru the years how fighters train differently; boxing routines, strength & conditioning, weights, swimming, nutrition advice, etc, (too many to mention) ,,most fighters won’t be able to compete by just doing the traditional; road work, boxing gym, and that’s it. There are many fighters I can mention, but the one example I can think of is Evander Holyfield, never weighted more than 209 pds., and was one of the best fighters ever,, fought fighters much bigger than him,,,but his conditioning was amazing,,it was modern and well planed. Most times you can predict that the best conditioned fighter is going to win.
I like what you’re saying. And i’m happy to hear someone saying only good things about Evander. I have seen many of his pro fights in person, and I can only say that I’ve seen perhaps one other hwt with the heart and toughness of Evander, that other hwts name was M.Ali. And I.M.O a prime Evander could beat and stay in there with ANYONE. We all know how many times we saw Evander throw 10/20/30 punch combos at a time NON STOP, the only other hwt that did that was Ali. And ALWAYS in the best condition like you said. His fights should be mandatory watching for those that want to study the game.