Emanuel Navarrete vs. Christopher Diaz April 24th For WBO Title

April 24: Mexican Star Emanuel Navarrete To Defend WBO Featherweight World Title Against Puerto Rican Contender Christopher Diaz LIVE On ESPN, ESPN Deportes And ESPN+

Mexican great Emanuel “Vaquero” Navarrete, boxing’s busiest world champion, is set to kick off his 2021 campaign by reviving a long-standing pugilistic rivalry. Navarrete will make his first defense of the WBO featherweight world title Saturday, April 24 against Puerto Rican contender Christopher “Pitufo” Diaz at Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, Fla.

In the co-feature, super middleweight Edgar “The Chosen One” Berlanga, 16-0, with 16 first-round stoppages, will step up in class against Demond Nicholson in a bout scheduled for eight rounds (or much less).

Promoted by Top Rank, in association with All Star Boxing and Zanfer Promotions, Navarrete-Diaz and Berlanga-Nicholson will air live on ESPN and ESPN Deportes (simulcast on ESPN+) at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, with undercard bouts to stream live and exclusively on ESPN+. Ticket information will be announced shortly.

“The sensational Emanuel Navarrete wanted a formidable opponent for his first featherweight title defense, and Christopher Diaz fits the bill,” said Top Rank chairman Bob Arum. “We are also thrilled to have Edgar Berlanga back on ESPN, as he is the most devastating young puncher I’ve seen in ages.”

Navarrete (33-1, 28 KOs) burst onto the world scene in December 2018, battering Isaac Dogboe over 12 rounds to win the WBO junior featherweight world title. He is 7-0 since then, including five title defenses, all by stoppage. Navarrete moved up to featherweight and picked up the vacant WBO world title last October with a unanimous decision over the previously undefeated Ruben Villa. Diaz (26-2, 16 KOs) is not unbeaten, but he is battle-tested, having challenged Masayuki Ito for the WBO junior lightweight world title in July 2018. He lost to Ito by unanimous decision and has gone 3-1 since moving down to featherweight. Diaz rebounded from a 2019 points loss to Shakur Stevenson, besting former world title challenger Jason Sanchez over 10 rounds last June inside the MGM Grand Las Vegas Bubble.

“I am a fighter who likes to face the best, and my challenge now is to beat the tough ‘Pitufo’ Diaz,” Navarrete said. “I know he is a good fighter, and I am sure we will give a great show to the people of Florida and to those watching us fight on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+. On April 24, I will show that I am the best featherweight in the world. I will not let him take my championship to Puerto Rico. That belt will stay with me in San Juan Zitlaltepec, Mexico.”

Diaz said, “I have once again been given an opportunity to become a world champion, but there is something very different this time around. I will not fail. I will bring that much-needed world title to Puerto Rico. This is my time to become a world champion. God knows how much I have sacrificed and how much I have evolved. I live today to make my family happy, and it is time to change their lives. On April 24, there is no doubt that I will become world champion, and I will see you all on April 25 when I return to my island as world champion.”

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