Navarrete vs. Wilson Fight Results: Navarrete Becomes Three Division Champ

In his maiden voyage into the junior lightweight division, Emanuel Navarrete captured the vacant WBO title with a ninth-round TKO victory over Liam Wilson at the Desert Diamond Arena Friday night.

Navarrete, who was dropped by a barrage of shots from Wilson, making his United States debut in the fourth round, survived the knockdown and the subsequent two rounds, where Wilson continued to pressure Navarrete. But, as the fight progressed, Navarrete regained his legs and began his counterattack against Wilson.

DOWN GOES NAVARRETE 😱 #NavarreteWilson pic.twitter.com/rvn6HjlNYp

— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) February 4, 2023

Navarrete dropped Wilson with a right hand at the beginning of the ninth round. Wilson, who looked exhausted, kept fighting even as his legs weren’t steady. At one point, the state commission went to the apron to stop the fight but was called back down by Wilson’s team. Navarrete continued his relentless attack, and referee Chris Flores finally called the fight at 1:57 of the ninth round.

Navarrete, from San Juan Zitlaltepec, Mexico, improved to 37-1 with 31 knockouts. Wilson, a native of Caboolture, Australia, fell to 11-2 with seven knockouts.

WHAT A FINISH THIS WAS 🤯 #NavarreteWilson pic.twitter.com/FRD6sKh186

— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) February 4, 2023

Navarrete, who was scheduled to fight Oscar Valdez before Wilson took over due to injury, also remains the WBO featherweight champion.“The Mexican spirit never lets me down,” Navarrete said. “Liam came here to win, and he stunned me. When I was able to settle myself down, I was able to get the victory.” Navarrete becomes the tenth Mexican to win world championships in three divisions.

Barboza remains undefeated with a win over veteran Pedraza

UNTIL THE FINAL BELL 💥@JrBarbozaArnold x @Sniper_Pedraza pic.twitter.com/8ttOJXkbX1

— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) February 4, 2023

In the co-feature, South El Monte, California native Arnold Barboza, Jr. improved to 28-0, 10 knockouts, with a unanimous decision victory over Jose Pedraza, the Puerto Rican native who fell to 29-5-1, 14 knockouts.

97-93, 96-94, and 96-94 were the scorecards in favor of Barboza.

Barboza controlled the first four rounds with stellar defense and clean punching until the veteran Pedraza switched from an orthodox to a southpaw stance to start the fifth round. The switch in strategy paid off, as Pedraza got himself back into the fight as the change confused Barboza for a round or two. However, Barboza quickly solved the southpaw puzzle and proceeded to finish the fight with more of the sharp punching and defense, which seemingly gave him the early edge he didn’t relinquish, even though Pedraza didn’t make the victory easy.

“He was a tough guy,” Barboza said. “I’m surprised he didn’t turn southpaw sooner. But I managed to figure it out.”

Torrez Jr. makes quick work of Bryant

GLENDALE, ARIZONA – FEBRUARY 03: Richard Torrez Jr celebrates after defeating James Bryant. (Photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images)

Richard Torrez. Jr’s 2023 debut proved he’s still very good at two things, boxing, and time management.

Torrez ended his fight with James Bryant rather abruptly. He scored with a lead uppercut at the end of the first round, snapping Bryant’s head back as he tumbled to the canvas. Bryant got up from the tremendous shot but looked like he was in no condition to continue, as his legs were not steady. The bell to end the first round rang, and the official allowed Bryant to continue, but his corner stopped it in between rounds. The official time of the stoppage was 3:00 of the first round in their heavyweight encounter.

The shot that ended it 🫣#NavarreteWilson | LIVE on @ESPN pic.twitter.com/BkHJ6saCU3

— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) February 4, 2023

Torrez, the native of Tulare, Calif., and the silver medalist at the Tokyo Olympics, improved to 5-0, with all five victories coming by knockout. Bryant, from Reading, Pa., fell to 4-2, two knockouts.

“I really wanted to fight some rounds and show everyone my conditioning,” Torrez said. “But, I saw the uppercut was going to in the second part of the first round, and I wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to get hit with an overhand right before I threw it.” Torrez wants to have an active 2023. “Four to six fights would be perfect,” he said.

Ali Walsh scores victory over hometown fan favorite Ayala

GLENDALE, ARIZONA – FEBRUARY 03: Nico Ali Walsh celebrates after defeating Eduardo Ayala, during their middleweight fight at Desert Diamond Arena on February 03, 2033 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images)

Nico Ali Walsh (he’s the grandson of Muhammad Ali, in case you didn’t know) improved to 8-0 on his career with a unanimous decision over Eduardo Ayala in their middleweight clash.

Ayala (9-3-1, 3 KOs, Phoenix) displayed an aggressive style that pleased his hometown fans but that usually left him vulnerable to counter right crosses and uppercuts from Walsh (8-0, 5 KOs, Las Vegas) like the right cross thrown over the top of an Ayala left hook that dropped him in the second round. The scorecards were 60-53, 59-54, and 59-54 in favor of Walsh.

Eduardo Ayala (L) and Nico Ali Walsh (R). (Photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images)

“I wanted to bully him,” Walsh said. “He’s the naturally bigger guy, so I wanted to let him know I had the strength to push him back. I started landing a lot of shots by just boxing, but I still wanted to use my strength in the right to control the action. I could have sat back and boxed, but that’s boring for the fans. Heck, it’s even boring for me.”

Delgado scores a late knockdown victory over Booth

GLENDALE, ARIZONA – FEBRUARY 03: Lindolfo Delgado (L) knocks-down Clarence Booth (R). (Photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images)

Lindolfo Delgado improved to 17-0 on his career, scoring a knockdown over Clarence Booth and earning a unanimous victory in the process.

Delgado (17-0, 13 KOs), from Linares, Mexico, landed the cleaner punches throughout the fight, especially counter shots, and then dropped Booth (21-7, 13 KOs), Saint Petersburg, Florida, with one at the beginning of the eighth and final round with one. The scores were

Vargas improves to 3-0

GLENDALE, ARIZONA – FEBRUARY 03: Emiliano Vargas celebrates after defeating Francisco Duque. (Photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images)

Highly touted prospect Emiliano Vargas showed the same speed and skill he showed in his first two fights, which has made him a lot of boxing experts’ pick for 2023 prospect of the year.

However, in this fight, he had an opponent in front of him more than willing to accept the challenge and absorb the blows. Despite the 40-36 decision on all three scorecards, Francisco Duque (1-2, 0 Kos) of Monterrey, Mexico, stood up to Vargas’ (3-0, 2 KOs barrage and returned fire himself, sometimes with great success.

GLENDALE, ARIZONA – FEBRUARY 03: Francisco Duque (L) and Emiliano Vargas (R) exchange punches during their lightweight fight. (Photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images)

“It was good to get four rounds for the first time,” Vargas said. “Sometimes, you think you’re in shape, but when you try to get a guy out of there, you get tired. I felt strong the entire fight.”