New Time for Navarrete vs Berinchyk Saturday

The stage is officially set for Saturday’s Navarrete vs. Berinchyk Top Rank Boxing event at San Diego’s Pechanga Arena on Saturday, May 18, after Friday’s official weigh-in at the Mission Valley Hilton.

Note a change in time for this fight card. Undercard fights will begin at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT, with the main event and co-main fights starting at 10:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. PT. This is a half-hour earlier than initially scheduled. The undercard will air on ESPN+ and ESPN for the main and co-main events.

San Diego Weigh-In Gets Real

No fake weigh-ins for the Navarette Barinchyk card in San Diego. Photo: Gayle Falkenthal, NY Fights

An enthusiastic crowd, including fighter teams, gathered to cheer on the athletes as they stepped on the scale Friday.

Unlike major fight cards in Las Vegas and elsewhere, weigh-ins overseen by the California State Athletic Commission are legitimate, real-time weigh-ins. Not ceremonial. It’s refreshing and should be the norm instead of deceiving fight fans thinking the staged stepping on the scales isn’t going through the motions to hype a card and sell more tickets and merchandise.

Navarrete Seeks Third Division Title

Emanuel Navarrete and Denis Berinchyk fight for the vacant WBO lightweight belt. Photo: Top Rank Boxing

The event is headlined by a world lightweight championship featuring Emanuel Navarrete of Mexico (38-1-1, 31 KOs) facing Ukrainian boxer Denys Berinchyk (18-0, 9 KOs), fighting to win the vacant WBO World Lightweight title. It will be Navarrete’s third appearance in San Diego since 2021. Navarrete weighed in at the lightweight limit of 135 pounds, with Berinchyk weighing 134.5 pounds.

Navarrete will be fighting for a title in his third-weight division. The question he needs to answer is whether his power will carry up from 122 pounds to 126 pounds to Saturday's 130-pound fight. Berinchyk is a skilled technician with a good jab and enough power to keep Navarrete honest. But so far, Navarrete has (with a single exception) found a way to win.

Santillan and Norman Jr. Battle For Bud's Belt

Giovani Santillan and Brian Norman Jr. will get up close again on Saturday. Photo: Gayle Falkenthal, NY Fights

The welterweight division fight between hometown hero Giovanni Santillan (32-0, 17 KOs) and Brian Norman Jr. of Conyers, Georgia (25-0, 19 KOs) will now be for the vacant World Boxing Organization interim world welterweight world title.

Current WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford has announced that he will be moving to the junior middleweight division, according to a letter from the WBO. As a result, the sanctioning organization will put Saturday’s winner in a position to become the world champion later this summer after Crawford’s move is official after his next scheduled fight on August 3 in Los Angeles.

Santillan weighed 146.4 pounds, and his opponent Norman Jr. did likewise at 146.5 pounds, which is under the 147-pound limit.

If Santillan wins, he will become only the second San Diego-born world champion in history, following Paul Vaden in 1995.

Norman Jr. acknowledged Santillan has the edge at home. “Everything is against me in this fight. But once again, this is where I shine the best. I thrive off of negativity. I love this opportunity. I love this moment.”

Torrez Jr., Vargas Lead Undercard

Even without the cowboy hat, Brandon Moore is four inches taller than Richard Torrez Jr. Photo: Gayle Falkenthal, NY Fights

Heavyweight prospect Richard Torrez Jr. has been blowing out opponents but may finally get to fight a few rounds in a step-up against Brandon Moore of Lakeland, Florida. Torrez Jr. of Tulare, California (9-0, 9 KOs) weighed in at a tidy 229.9 pounds. Moore (14-0, 8 KOs), taller than Torrez Jr. by four inches, weighed 229.4 pounds.

Emiliano Vargas gets back in the ring just six weeks after his last bout. Photo: Top Rank Boxing

Also on the card is flashy junior lightweight phenom Emiliano Vargas of Las Vegas (9-0, 7 KOs), who faces Angel Varela of Sonora, Mexico (10-2, 7 KOs). Vargas is back in the fight six weeks after a six-round unanimous decision win. Vargas weighed in at 139.6 pounds, Varela at 140 pounds.

Accomplished amateur Jonny Mansour makes his pro debut Saturday against Anel Dudo. Photo: Top Rank Boxing

San Diegan Jonny Mansour will make his professional debut in a four-round lightweight division fight against Anel Dudo (3-5, 1 KO) of Colorado, a native of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Mansour is a 2023 U.S. Golden Glove amateur champion and a veteran of multiple international competitions. Mansour weighed in at 134 pounds, and Dudo was well under at 130.8 pounds.