Home Boxing News Emanuel Navarrete says size won’t matter in his bid to become three-weight...

Emanuel Navarrete says size won’t matter in his bid to become three-weight world champion

Emanuel Navarrete and Liam Wilson. Photo credit: Mikey Williams/Top Rank

Emanuel ‘Vaquero’ Navarrete 36-1 (30) is confident that size won’t be a factor when the former two-weight world champion steps up another division to challenge Liam Wilson 11-1 (7) for the vacant WBO super featherweight title at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona on Friday night.

The 28-year-old Mexican will be giving away two-and-a-half inches in height to Wilson as he makes his 130-pound debut.

“I did notice that he is taller but we have worked really well so there is nothing to worry about,” Navarrete told News Corp.

“If I say he has no chance then I would be overconfident. All opponents come with a desire in the ring and Wilson is no exception. He is very dangerous.

“But I feel confident. I am familiar with boxers who hit hard so for me that’s something that is normal.”

Australian Wilson, 26, was not the original opponent for Navarrete, who was slated to face fellow two-time champion Oscar Valdez before his countryman withdrew from the bout with an undisclosed injury. Wilson was the next available opponent in the WBO rankings.

“This means everything. This is what me, my team, my promoter, my manager and my trainers have worked for,” Wilson said.

“We’ve taken the risks and challenges, and I know that on fight night I have a tough fight ahead of me. Navarrete is a great champion, but I do plan on giving him the fight of his life. I’m going to win.”

Victory for Navarrete will see him join an elite group of fighters to win versions of the world title across three separate weight classes.

“For me and my team, being a three-division world champion will be the culmination of yet another goal in my career,” he said. “We know that it won’t be easy. But, by doing that, I’ll feel that I have done something good in my career and I’ll be satisfied with what I have achieved in my 10 years as a professional boxer.”

With Navarrete having had more than three times the number of professional bouts than Wilson, it is easy to see why he is the overwhelming betting favourite.

But Wilson is adamant that the key to many of those victories was the fact he was the naturally larger man. That will not be the case on Friday night.

“I saw a smaller man in front of me. Navarrete is a weight bully,” Wilson said when the two boxers came face-to-face for the first time at the final press conference.

“Throughout his career, he has fought guys smaller than him in smaller divisions, but for the first time he is stepping up into this division and I think it’s too far of a leap.

“I know I am the underdog and I can’t blame that. I’m 11-1 and he is 36-1, statistics don’t lie, but I’ve come here to cause an upset and bring a halt to his plan of being a three-division world champion.

“Navarrete is a great champion, but I am hungry and I worked my arse off for this.

“I plan on giving him the fight of his life… I am going to win.”