One of the most underrated match-ups in the WBO boxing circuit will be taking place in the featherweight division as the champion Emanuel Navarrete Martínez defends his title against Eduardo Baez in the main event in San Diego, California on August 20.
The fight will be the main event on this card and is a highly intriguing match-up. Emanuel Navarrete is currently considered the best featherweight fighter in the world and is ranked highly by The Ring, ESPN, Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and BoxRec.
Emanuel Navarrete(35-1, 29 KOs) won his first WBO junior featherweight title against Isaac Dogboe. He then went on to defend that title immediately in a re-match. Following that victory, he proceeded to win the vacant WBO featherweight title after defeating Ruben Villa at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In his last fight, he fought contender Joet Gonzalez in the main event of an ESPN broadcast card, which took place at the Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California on October 15, 2021. The fight was a completely one-sided affair as Emanuel dominated the majority of the fight. He was 150 strikes ahead of Joet and won the fight via unanimous decision. There was not even a single moment in the fight where it seemed that Joet might take the belt away from Navarrete. All three judges agreed and scored the fight for Emanuel.
When his next fight was announced, Emanuel said that he wanted to compete much earlier but unfortunately, the fight got delayed. With the extra time, Navarrete used this to his advantage as best he could to heal and get back in better shape for his next bout against Baez.
“The inactivity of these last eight months has served to give my body the rest it needed and to reflect on many things,” Navarrete said.
Eduardo Baez (21-2-2, 7 KOs) is one of the most rising prospects in the lower-weight classes. Though he is yet to catch the limelight and love from the fans, the real boxing fans know that Baez can be a real threat to any boxer in his weight class.
Eduardo Baez, who now fights out of California, is a tough Mexican-born fighter that relies upon his durability to outlast his opponents. In his last fight, he fought Jose Enrique Vivas and dominated the fight from start to finish securing a win over Vivas via majority decision.
Even with this amazing performance in his last fight, Baez is a huge underdog in his fight against Emanuel. Baez opened as a huge underdog in the fight and his odds fell even further in the following weeks after the fight announcement.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: August 14th, 12:00 P.M. (EST)
Emanuel is coming in as the heavy favorite in the fight priced at 1.10 with BetOnline while Eduardo Baez is the underdog at 7.00.
Can Baez put in a shock performance to take the title away from Navarrete? Or will Emanuel continue his dominance in the division?
One thing for certain is that both fighters will be coming at each other with all guns blazing!
