In his attempt to make history in Mexican boxing, Emanuel “Vaquero” Navarrete ran into an uncomfortable Denys Berinchyk, who beat him in a surprising way by decision and sign a historic day for Ukrainian boxing.
A few hours after the boxing world witnessed pure history in the heavyweight division with Oleksandr Usyk’s victory over Tyson Fury in Saudi Arabia to be the first undisputed monarch of that division in a quarter of a century, Denys Berinchyk stunned the fans who came to the Pechanga Arena in San Diego to support “Vaquero” Navarrete by leaving with the vacant WBO version lightweight title.
The judges gave Berinchyk the victory by split decision. One judge saw Navarrete as the winner 116-112, but the others scored 115-113 and 116-112 in favor of the European. La Opinión scored the fight as a 114-114 draw, although there were several difficult rounds to score.
Emanuel Navarrete reacted, but it was too late
“Vaquero” Navarrete, 29, was seeking to become the sixth Mexican-born fighter to be world champion in four divisions. Before he had done it in super bantamweight, featherweight and super featherweight – where he is still the monarch -, but when he rose to 135 pounds he was seen lacking in power.
Clearly down after three quarters of the fight, the fighter born in the State of Mexico closed strong and seemed to win the final three rounds. However, he never looked dominant in the ring, throwing less volume of punches than he is used to and missing too many punches.
Navarrete (38-2-1), who on the eve of the fight received messages of support from his five compatriots, four-time champions in different divisions, He had not lost a fight since 2012, but it is worth mentioning that in his most recent presentation he could not win either, Well, the Brazilian Robson Conceicao got a draw from him last November.
Erik “Terrible” Morales, Jorge “Travieso” Arce, Juan Manuel Márquez, Leo Santa Cruz and Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez are the five Mexicans who were crowned in four divisions.
The Ukrainian Berinchyk used good boxing and also tricks
Denys Berinchyk, 36, came into the fight with a perfect record of 18-0, although he had never fought in the United States. It was uncomfortable from start to finish with his mobility, counterattacks and also with a series of tricks: hugs, blows to the back of the head and pushes. that made the Mexican’s night more complicated. Referee Jack Reiss continually called him out and actually warned him in the 11th round that he would penalize him if he held the lock again.
Navarrete, who was hurt by a clash of heads in the final rounds, found himself out of range all night. He had some flashes in rounds 2 and 4. At times he had success with his left hand throwing as an uppercut, but by the time the fight became an adult he was already behind on the ballots due to Berinchyk’s activity and greater precision.
After hearing the decision against him, Navarrete was surprised. He then applauded his rival with the sportsmanship that characterizes him.
Keep reading:
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– In a conversation with La Opinión, Vaquero Navarrete reveals that he uses a JC Chávez film to motivate himself
– Emanuel Navarrete says he would love a revenge fight against Óscar Valdez