After finishing Isaac Dogboe in his first title defense in May, Emanuel Navarrete put on another power display Saturday and proved that his heavy hands are for real.
Navarrete blasted Francisco De Vaca via third-round TKO to retain his WBO junior featherweight title at the Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles.
It didn't take long for Navarrete (28-1, 24 KOs) to give De Vaca trouble. He dropped the challenger in the second round with a splintering uppercut-uppercut-right hand combination. Although De Vaca survived the onslaught to make it to the third round, he wouldn't advance any further.
Navarrete seemingly loaded up and landed chopping overhand rights at will in the third. He punished De Vaca with a barrage of punches — most of which went unanswered — until the referee had no choice but to stop the action and award "Vaquero" his 23rd consecutive victory.
It was easy work for Navarrete as he reinforced that he's a legit champion and a force to be reckoned with at 122 pounds.
Could a title unification bout with IBF/WBA champion Daniel Roman or WBC titleholder Rey Vargas be on the horizon?
Co-main event: Jessie Magdaleno def. Rafael Rivera by ninth-round technical decision (89-81, 89-81, 88-82)
Magdaleno was clearly in charge of the featherweight fight after he hurt Rivera in the seventh round and dropped him with a chopping left early in the ninth. Then the bout took a turn.
Rivera caught Magdaleno with an elbow over the right eye later in the ninth, instantly opening a nasty gash. The referee immediately stopped the fight because of the severity of the cut and the blood pouring from it. Magdaleno had done enough in the judges’ eyes to take the technical decision.
Not the way he wanted to have his hand raised, but Magdaleno was thankful for the victory nonetheless