Emanuel Navarrete and Denys Berinchyk will fight for the vacant WBO 135-pound title on Saturday night at Pechanga Arena in San Diego.
EMANUEL NAVARRETE (38-1-1, 31 KOs)
WITH. DENYS BERINCHYK (18-0, 9 KOs)
- Day: Saturday, May 18
- Time: 10pm ET / 7pm PT (main event will be shown later)
- Where: Pechanga Arena, San Diego
- Television/Streaming: GAME+
- Assignment: Light (135 pounds)
- Under threat: WBO title is vacant
- Pound-for-pound boxing addict: Do not have
- The odds: Navarrete 5-1 favorite (average of multiple matches)
- Meaning (maximum five stars): ****
- Also on the card: Giovani Santillan vs. Brian Norman Jr., welterweight
- Background: Navarrete is a former 122-pound champion who was given the opportunity to fight for the vacant WBO title even though he was just making his debut in the weight class and was about to compete majority draw with Robson Conceicao at 130 in November. Navarrete had arguably his best performance in his previous fight, a one-sided affair decision on former champion Oscar Valdez Late August. The 29-year-old is a durable fighter with a knack for high volume punches. Berinchyk, a 36-year-old Ukrainian, will compete for a major title for the first time. The 2012 Olympic silver medalist captured the title belt by easily edging Anthony Yigit on the Oleksandr Usyk-Daniel Dubois card last August.
- Guess: Navarrete SD
