Emanuel Navarrete won the rematch with Oscar Valdez by knockout. He dropped Valdez three times and finished him with a body shot at 2:42 of the sixth round in Phoenix on December 7, 2024, keeping his WBO junior lightweight title.
Navarrete’s next fight is a unification: he defends his WBO and IBF junior lightweight titles against WBC champion O’Shaquie Foster in San Antonio on October 24, 2026, according to ESPN’s boxing schedule.
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How the rematch went
The first fight, in August 2023, had gone the distance, with Navarrete winning a unanimous decision and no knockdowns. The rematch was over far sooner.
- Round 1: Navarrete dropped Valdez with a combination in the closing seconds.
- Round 4: a right hand put Valdez down again late in the round.
- Round 5: a left uppercut sent Valdez’s mouthpiece flying.
- Round 6: a liver shot dropped Valdez for the count of 10, at 2:42.
Navarrete led 50-43, 49-44 and 49-44 on the cards when it ended. ESPN reported that he left Phoenix at 39-2-1 with 31 knockouts and Valdez at 32-3 with 24.
What the two fighters said
Navarrete credited his left hand, surgically repaired in December 2023: “I told everyone before that I would have a new left hand. And that’s what has happened.” He said he could do “a lot of good things at 130 pounds,” at least one or two more fights, before looking at 135.
Valdez, then 33 and a two-time Olympian, said: “No excuses from me. He beat me well.” Counting that night, ESPN put him at two wins in his last five fights.
Navarrete vs. Foster, and betting the next one
The ESPN schedule lists Navarrete vs. O’Shaquie Foster for October 24, 2026, in San Antonio on DAZN, 12 rounds, with Navarrete’s WBO and IBF junior lightweight titles and Foster’s WBC title on the line. This page names no price for it. When a line is posted, turn it into a chance first: -200 implies 66.7% and +170 implies 37%.
Navarrete’s move up to lightweight, against Denys Berinchyk in May 2024, ended in a points loss; for Berinchyk against Keyshawn Davis, see our Berinchyk vs. Davis odds page. For the fall schedule, see our boxing odds and predictions, and compare the books in our sportsbook reviews.