Navarrete Stops Nuñez in 11 to Unify WBO/IBF Titles

By Miguel Maravilla

WBO super featherweight champion Emanuel “El Vaquero” Navarrete of Mexico City, Mexico, and IBF super featherweight champion Eduardo “Sugar” Nuñez of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, squared off in a unification bout Saturday night at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona.

In what was expected to be a battle and anticipated slugfest, the fight did not quite live up to the buildup, as El Vaquero Navarrete pummeled a very tough and determined Sugar Nuñez to an eleventh-round stoppage.

The fight started slowly, as Navarrete and Nuñez pawed with their jabs in a feel-out opening round. Nuñez boxed in the second, circling as Navarrete stalked him. Near the end of the round, Navarrete connected with a hard left hook that staggered Nuñez. An exchange early in the third sparked the action, as Navarrete landed a solid right hand, but Nuñez returned the favor by connecting with a left hook. Closing out round three, Navarrete again staggered Nuñez with a hard left hook.

Nuñez suffered a cut over his right eye in the fourth and appeared to be giving Navarrete too much respect, as El Vaquero continued applying pressure and outworking him. Momentum briefly appeared to shift when Nuñez attacked the body and backed Navarrete to the ropes, but the Mexico City fighter fought off the ropes and dismantled Nuñez’s attack. Navarrete was precise in his assault, pounding away in the seventh as Nunez continued attacking downstairs.

Nuñez’s body attack persisted, as the Sinaloan followed up by connecting with right hands upstairs. However, Navarrete’s steady offense appeared to be catching up with Nuñez, whose eye was completely swollen shut heading into the tenth. The cut over Nuñez’s right eye reopened, and Navarrete seized the opportunity, teeing off on him. After the tenth round, Nuñez came out for the eleventh but was examined by the ringside physician, who decided to stop the fight.

With the victory, Emanuel Navarrete improves to 40-2-1 with 33 KOs, unifying the WBO and IBF super featherweight titles. Eduardo Nuñez falls to 29-2 with 27 KOs, relinquishing his title.

The post Navarrete Stops Nuñez in 11 to Unify WBO/IBF Titles appeared first on Fight News.