Emanuel Navarrete retained his title on May 10 when he faced Charly Suarez in the main event at Pechanga Arena in San Diego, CA. The fight, however, ended early as Mexico’s three-weight champion suffered a big cut over his left eyebrow in the sixth round that rendered him unable to continue.
It wasn’t clear on a video replay whether Suarez’s punch did the damage or if it was due to an accidental clash of heads. Nevertheless, the latter was ruled as the cause, and the fight was stopped at the beginning of the eighth round. The verdict was made in accordance with the scorecards that read 78-75, 77-76, and 77-76.
Navarrete (40-2-1, 32 KOs) took the victory via technical unanimous decision and retained his WBO super featherweight title, which marked his fourth successful championship defense. Filipino contender Suarez (18-1, 10 KOs), who entered the ring undefeated, recorded his first career loss, falling short in his first bid to claim one of the four major belts.
“It’s that warrior spirit of being a Mexican that helped us today,” Navarrete said. I felt good, I felt strong, I felt complete.”
“Unfortunately, what happened with the headbutt obviously it ended like that. But while we were fighting, I felt good.”
“From the first moment of the impact, I knew it was a headbutt. It split my eyebrow completely, and from the first moment I noticed it was a headbutt.”
Muratalla lands interim title, wants to fight Lomachenko
In the co-main event, Raymond Muratalla (23-0, 17 KOs) of West Covina, CA defeated Zaur Abdullaev (20-2, 12 KOs) by unanimous decision. The judges scored the 12-round bout 119-109, 118-110, and 119-109. With the victory, Muratalla claimed the interim IBF lightweight title. Vasyl Lomachenko (18-3, 12 KOs) of Ukraine is the reigning IBF 135-pound champion.
“He was a tough fighter. He came to fight. I knew that,” Muratalla said. “I was just using my skills and picked him apart and beat him every round.”
“I’m the mandatory for [IBF champion] Vasyl Lomachenko. That’s what we’re looking for. It would be an honor to fight him, to have his name on my resume. I’m looking forward to that.”
On Navarrete vs Suarez undercard
Among other Navarrete vs Suarez results, Andres Cortes (23-0, 12 KOs) of Las Vegas, NV improved his unbeaten record, landing a unanimous decision against Salvador Jimenez (14-2-1, 6 KOs) of Spain. After 10 rounds at super featherweight, two judges scored the fight 100-90 and one judge scored it 99-91.
Stepping through the ropes in front of his hometown crowd, Giovani Santillan (34-1, 18 KOs) defeated Angel Beltran Villa (18-3, 11 KOs) of Mexico by unanimous decision. After 10 rounds at welterweight, all three judges scored the fight 97-93.
Perla Bazaldua (2-0, 1 KO) of Los Angeles, CA earned a four-round unanimous decision over Mona Ward (0-2) of Saint Louis, MO at junior bantamweight. All three scores were 40-36.
Alan Garcia (16-1, 11 KOs) of Ulysses, KS defeated Cristian Medina Garcia (8-3-1, 5 KOs) of Mexico by unanimous decision at lightweight. The judges scored the eight-round bout 79-73, 79-73, and 79-73.
In the event opener, Mexico’s Sebastian Hernandez (20-0, 18 KOs) defeated Azat Hovhannisyan (21-6, 17 KOs) of Armenia by unanimous decision. After 10 rounds at super bantamweight, all three scores were 98-91. In the ninth round, Hovhannisyan was deducted a point for holding.
Plus, LA’s Samuel Contreras (2-0, 1 KO) defeated Dyllon Cervantes Alvarado (4-6-1, 2 KOs) of Salt Lake City, Utah by unanimous decision in a swing bout at super lightweight. All three judges scored the fight 40-36.