By Norm Frauenheim
GLENDALE, Ariz. – For a while, the only thing separating Emanuel Navarrete and Eduardo Nunez was a valid passport. Now, even that’s gone.
Navarrete and Nunez stood face-to-face, seemingly even for perhaps the most intriguing fight in a new year Friday, just a day after Navarrete resolved issues over a lost passport and boarded a private jet in Mexico City for a flight to Arizona.
He landed, his papers and weight all in order. As he stepped off the scale, he looked relieved. Finally, he was where he was supposed to be. Finally, there were no issues about the weight. He safely came in under the junior-lightweight limit of 130 pounds.
In a staged weigh-in after the official one behind closed doors Friday morning at Desert Diamond Arena, he was at 129.2 and Nunez at 129.8.
Over the last few years, the 31-year-old Navarrete (39-2-1-1, 32 KOs) has often struggled to make weight. But this time, more than a passport was lost.
Pounds were, too, enough for him to stay in the hunt to keep his World Boxing Organization belt and to take Nunez’ International Boxing Federation title Saturday night at Desert Diamond in a DAZN-streamed bout.
“Obviously, we had our setbacks, all out of our hands,’’ Navarrete said through an interpreter. “But, finally, we’re here.’’
Navarrete sounded confident. The three-division champion is no stranger to Arizona where he’s already fought three times since 2023.
“This is a lot like my second home,’’ Navarrete said.
He’s been lucky in Maricopa County. He escaped with a victory over Australian Liam Wilson, scoring a stoppage after getting up from a controversial knockdown. He’s also been dominant, punishing Oscar Valdez, first at Desert Diamond and again at the Suns home arena in downtown Phoenix.
He knows the city. It knows him. But a boxing ring never includes any of the comforts of home. It’s full of danger and shifting allegiances, both of which are personified in the emerging face of Nunez.
Navarrete has the resume and an awkward style, a puzzle to most who have tried to solve it.
But Nunez has the momentum, which includes an astonishing knockout rate. He’s not perfect, but he’s close. He’s stopping opponents at a 93.1-percent clip.
Twenty-nine victories in 30 fights, 27 by stoppage. It comes with no surprise, perhaps, that his only loss came on the scorecards early in his career. Nunez’ power has dictated what he does. Who he is.
“Navarrete has been a champion for a long, long time,’’ Nunez said, also through an interpreter. “But I feel like it’s my time to write my own destiny.’’
Nunez woke up Friday as the favorite. The betting odds have been close since the fight was announced. Throughout, however, Nunez has been the bettors’ slight favorite, a sign perhaps that the fighter from Sinaloa has captured the imagination of Mexican fans.
For now, at least, Nunez is a name. Few American fans have seen him fight. In August 2024, he beat Miguel Marriaga in Carson, Calif. Last May, he traveled to Japan, scoring a unanimous decision over Masanori Rikiishi for a vacant IBF title in Yokohama. Twice, his passport has been punched with some noteworthy credibility.
But none would be more powerful than a victory over Navarrete, whose name has been near the top of Mexico’s boxing royalty for many years.
A victory over Navarrete would be a sure sign that he has arrived, especially among Mexicans, boxing’s biggest and loudest demographic. It’s no coincidence that promoters, Matchroom and Top Rank, have dubbed the fight “King of Mexico.”
Canelo Alvarez, who still plans a post-Terence Crawford comeback in September, might argue with that one. For one night, however, the marketing title works.
The 27-year Nunez has youth and evident energy. Against a Navarrete, he might need a lot of both. Navarrete’s edgy victories over Valdez suggest he’s at his best against fellow Mexicans. Valdez is popular in Arizona, in part because he has roots in Tucson. But Navarrete walked through him. From round to round, it looked as if he was energized by a partisan crowd. Those Valdez fans might be his fans now.
Nunez figures to encounter that version of Navarrete, who is also motivated by talk that he is not the fighter he was five years ago. In his last fight, he escaped against Charly Suarez. It ended in controversy over whether a punch or a head butt left Navarrete with a nasty cut. Eventually, it was ruled a No Contest. Navarette kept his belt, but couldn’t shed the questions.
“Some of the criticism was unfair,’’ said Navarrete, who has never had a better chance to prove just how unfair.
