Fight Week: Emanuel Navarette returns against Christopher Diaz

FIGHT WEEK

HARD-HITTING VOLUME PUNCHER EMANUEL NAVARRETE IS SCHEDULED TO DEFEND HIS NEWLY WON FEATHERWEIGHT TITLE AGAINST CHRISTOPHER DIAZ ON ESPN AND ESPN+.

***

EMANUEL NAVARRETE (32-1, 27 KOs)
VS. CHRISTOPHER DIAZ (26-2, 16 KOs)

• When: Saturday, April 24
• Where: Silver Spurs Arena, Kissimmee, Fla.
• TV/Stream: ESPN, ESPN+
• Division: Featherweight
• At stake: Navarrete’s WBO title
• Pound-for-pound ranking: None
• Odds: NA
• Also on the card: Edgar Berlanga vs. Demond Nicholson, super middleweights; Josue Vargas vs. Willie Shaw, junior welterweights
• Prediction: Navarrete UD
• Background: Navarrete is coming off a close decision over previously unbeaten Ruben Villa to win his title last October, making him a two-division champion. Villa went down twice, which proved to be the difference in the scoring. The 26-year-old Mexican is a high-volume puncher with power. He had stopped his previous five opponents, not counting an unofficial fight during the coronavirus pandemic in Mexico. Navarrete has said he wants to unify the 126-pound titles. Diaz is a capable boxer-puncher who has fallen short in his biggest fights. The Puerto Rican, also 26, lost a wide decision in a competitive fight against Masayuki Ito for a vacant 130-pound title in 2018. Then, after moving down to 126, he was outclassed by Shakur Stevenson and lost another one-sided decision the following year. He’s coming off a unanimous-decision victory over Jason Sanchez last June. Super middleweight prospect Edgar Berlanga, facing Demond Nicholson, will be seeking his 17^th knockout in as many fights on the undercard.

***

JELENA MRDJENOVICH (41-10-2, 19 KOs)
VS. ERIKA CRUZ HERNANDEZ (12-1, 3 KOs)

• When: Thursday, April 22
• Where: United States Military Academy, West Point, N.Y.
• TV/Stream: NBC Sports Net
• Division: Featherweight
• At stake: For Mrdjenovich’s WBA title
• Pound-for-pound ranking: None
• Odds: NA

• Also on the card: Juan Pablo Romero vs. Deiner Berrio, junior welterweights
• Prediction: Mrdjenovich UD
• Background: Mrdjenovich vs. Hernandez became the main event when the scheduled main event between Jermaine Franklin and Stephan Shaw fell out because Franklin tested positive for COVID-19. Mrdjenovich will be making the seventh defense of the title she won by outpointing Edith Matthysse in March 26, which earned her a major belt in a third division. The 38-year-old Canadian, a native of Edmonton, is coming off a unanimous-decision victory over Iranda Paola Torres this past December in Los Angeles. Hernandez, a 30-year-old southpaw from Mexico City, will be fighting for a major title for the first time. She has fought outside her native country only once. She last fought in February, when he outpointed Leticia Uribe in Tijuana. Her only loss came in her second pro fight.

Also fighting this week: Heather Hardy (22-1, 4 KOs) of Brooklyn faces Jessica Camara (7-2, 0 KOs) of Canada in an eight-round lightweight fight on Friday in Tampa, Fla. (UFC Fight Pass). Also on Friday, in Barcelona, Spain, Sandor Martin (37-2, 13 KOs) of Spain takes on Kay Prospere (14-1-1, 7 KOs) of the U.K. in a scheduled 12-round bout (DAZN). And on Saturday, in Osaka, Japan, Kenshiro Teraji (17-0, 10 KOs) defends his WBC junior flyweight title against Tetsuya Hisada (34-10-2. 20 KOs).