4/24 ESPN/ESPN+: Emanuel Navarrete vs Christopher Diaz / Edgar Berlanga vs Demond Nicholson

[patscorpio]

As revealed last month, “Vaquero” Navarrete (32-1, 27 KO) will take on former title challenger and WBO #6 contender Christopher “Pitufo” Diaz (26-2, 15 KO). Navarrete looked strong at his new weight in his title-winning decision over Ruben Villa last October, while the move from 130 to 126 pounds appears to have treated Diaz well; his only featherweight defeat came against Shakur Stevenson.

“I am a fighter who likes to face the best, and my challenge now is to beat the tough ‘Pitufo’ Diaz,” Navarrete said. “I know he is a good fighter, and I am sure we will give a great show to the people of Florida and to those watching us fight on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+. On April 24, I will show that I am the best featherweight in the world. I will not let him take my championship to Puerto Rico. That belt will stay with me in San Juan Zitlaltepec, Mexico.”

Diaz said, “I have once again been given an opportunity to become a world champion, but there is something very different this time around. I will not fail. I will bring that much-needed world title to Puerto Rico. This is my time to become a world champion. God knows how much I have sacrificed and how much I have evolved. I live today to make my family happy, and it is time to change their lives. On April 24, there is no doubt that I will become world champion, and I will see you all on April 25 when I return to my island as world champion.”

In the co-feature, which we also learned about last month, super middleweight bruiser Edgar Berlanga (16-0, 16 KO) looks to maintain his status as the most time-efficient fighter in the sport against a solid test in Demond Nicholson (23-3-1, 20 KO). Berlanga’s never needed more than three minutes to beat an opponent into submission, but while Nicholson’s been down before, he’s got more than enough pop to make this an interesting matchup.

“I don’t like to make predictions, but make sure you tune in. I want to show out for the fans in attendance,” Berlanga said. “April 24 is going to be the beginning of a huge 2021 for my team. I take it one fight at a time, and this is just another step toward my goal of becoming a champion.”

Nicholson said, “I have the experience. When I first started, I was knocking everyone out in the first round as well. I have 20 knockouts, and that speaks for itself. If you look at his opponents, I’d knock them all out. Is he ready for the next level? He might be ready, but he won’t be ready for me.”

Undercard

TBA’s current assignments include Xander Zayas, Josue Vargas, Orlando Gonzalez, Henry Lebron, Joseph Adorno, and Jeremy Adorno.​

 

[patscorpio]

Emanuel Navarrete vs. Christopher Diaz - Undercard Information

BY RANDOM HITS
Published Thu Apr 15, 2021, 05:14 PM EDT


Josue “The Prodigy” Vargas was born in Isabel, Puerto Rico, and idolized the great Felix “Tito” Trinidad. For the first time in his professional career, he’ll have a building full of Puerto Rican fans cheering him on. Vargas will fight Willie Shaw in a 10-round junior welterweight bout Saturday, April 24 at a sold-out Silver Spurs Arena in the Puerto Rican enclave of Kissimmee, Florida.

Promoted by Top Rank, in association with All Star Boxing, Vargas-Shaw will highlight a loaded undercard showcasing Puerto Rico’s top young talent streaming live and exclusively on ESPN+ at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT. Following the undercard, Mexico's Emanuel Navarrete defends his WBO featherweight world title against Puerto Rican contender Christopher Diaz, and super middleweight Edgar Berlanga (16-0, 16 KOs) seeks to score his 17th consecutive first-round knockout against Demond Nicholson (ESPN, ESPN Deportes & ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT).

“It is time to show the world who ‘The Prodigy’ is," Vargas said. "Fighting in Kissimmee is like fighting in Puerto Rico. After this fight, the Puerto Rican fans will talk about me. I am going to put on a show. I’ve seen some videos of Shaw on YouTube. I’m not going to take anything away from him, but he doesn’t have skills like I do. I have more experience than him. It’s time for me to break him down and show the world I’m a contender.”

Vargas (18-1, 9 KOs) had a breakthrough performance last October on the Vasiliy Lomachenko-Teofimo Lopez undercard, dominating contender Kendo Castaneda via unanimous decision. He made headlines last June when he conducted his post-fight interview on ESPN after Salvador Briceno knocked out a pair of his upper front teeth. Despite the dental mishap, Vargas nearly shut out Briceno. Vargas has won 12 consecutive fights since a controversial disqualification loss.

“I’ve shown my intelligence in the ring. I barely got touched against Castaneda,” Vargas said. “I threw more than 800 punches in 10 rounds. It showed me that I belonged with higher-level fighters. I was letting him survive. That was me being nice. This time, I’ll apply more pressure and get the stoppage.”

Shaw (13-2, 9 KOs), from Oakland, California, enters the lion’s den as an experienced road warrior, having fought six times in Mexico since turning pro in 2017. Last August, Shaw pushed top prospect Omar Juarez before losing a six-round decision. He rebounded in January with a second-round stoppage in Tijuana.

In other undercard action:

Joseph Adorno (14-0-1, 12 KOs) vs. Jamaine Ortiz (14-0, 8 KOs)

8 Rounds, Lightweight

Orlando Gonzalez (16-0, 10 KOs) vs. Juan Antonio Lopez (15-8, 6 KOs)

8 Rounds, Featherweight

Xander Zayas (7-0, 5 KOs) vs Demarcus Layton (8-1-1, 5 KOs)

6 Rounds, Welterweight

Jeremy Adorno (4-0, 1 KO) vs. Ramiro Martinez (2-0-2, 1 KO)

4 Rounds, Junior Featherweight

Jaycob Gomez (1-0, 1 KO) vs. Mobley Villegas (3-1, 2 KOs)

4 Rounds, Junior Lightweight

 

[patscorpio]

Edgar Berlanga: Everybody Will Make It Seem Bigger Than It Is If I Go Into 2nd Round

BY KEITH IDEC
Published Wed Apr 21, 2021, 01:28 AM EDT


Edgar Berlanga obviously realizes his first-round knockout streak will come to an end, probably sooner than later.

While appreciative of the attention he has received for knocking out each of his 16 professional opponents in the opening round, the 23-year-old Berlanga looks forward to showing the different dimensions of his game once an opponent goes some rounds with him. If that finally happens Saturday night, Brooklyn’s Berlanga will be completely prepared to display what he can do against Demond Nicholson in a super middleweight match scheduled for eight rounds.

ESPN will televise Berlanga-Nicholson as its co-feature Saturday night from Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, Florida (10 p.m. ET; 7 p.m. PT).

“For me, we just work hard in the gym,” Berlanga said during a conference call Tuesday. “Like I always say, everybody’s always like, ‘Oh, how he’s gonna do when he goes to the second [round]?’ And at the end of the day, listen man, I’ve been boxing for 16 years. You know, I got all the experience in the world. I’ve been all over the world. I’ve sparred and I’ve got the most experience I could as an amateur, and even just sparring and everything, you know. So, for me to go into the second round, I know everybody out there will make it seem bigger than what it is.

“But it’s nothing that, you know, for me it’s just another day in the office if I go into the second round. You know, I’m working hard extremely in the gym. You know, I push myself to the limit in the boxing gym. You know, in sparring I’m getting the rounds in. I’m sparring with three different guys, you know, sparring 10 rounds, 12 rounds, eight rounds straight with different guys, just to always put my conditioning to another level.”

The 28-year-old Nicholson (23-3-1, 20 KOs), of Laurel, Maryland, has been stopped inside the distance twice.

Jesse Hart (26-3, 21 KOs) beat him by seventh-round technical knockout in April 2018 in Philadelphia, Hart’s hometown. In November 2014, Lekan Byfield, who took a 5-5-1 record into their fight, upset Nicholson by sixth-round TKO in Chicago.

Nicholson has won five straight fights since Hart stopped him nearly three years ago.

Following Berlanga-Nicholson, ESPN will televise a 12-round main event between WBO featherweight champ Emanuel Navarrete (33-1, 28 KOs), of San Juan Zitlaltepec, Mexico, and Christopher Diaz (26-2, 16 KOs), of Barranquitas, Puerto Rico.

 

[patscorpio]

 

[aceboon]

Ortiz was impressive as hell on the undercard of Tyson vs Jones

 

[Conscious Pilot]

 

[Omar Little]

Is this kid Xander Zayas any good?

 

[patscorpio]

Navarrete-Diaz ESPN Weigh-In Report From Kissimmee, Florida

BY JAKE DONOVAN
Published Fri Apr 23, 2021, 03:43 PM EDT


Emanuel Navarrete and Christopher ‘Pitufo’ Diaz are set for the next entry of boxing’s rich in-ring rivalry between Mexico and Puerto Rico on the title stage.

Both boxers made weight ahead of their WBO featherweight title fight, which will air live on ESPN in front of a sellout crowd at Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, Florida.

Navarrete (33-1, 28KOs) weighed 126 pounds ahead of the first defense of the WBO featherweight belt, stripping down after initially weighing in just over the divisional limit. Diaz (26-2, 16KOs) weighed 125.8 pounds for his second career title fight.

The bout marks Navarrete’s third at featherweight following an active WBO junior featherweight title reign, cramming five defenses into a nine-month period before abandoning his reign last summer. The 26-year-old from San Juan Zitlaltepec, Mexico enjoyed a soft touch for his first fight at a new weight, scoring a 6th round stoppage of countryman Uriel Lopez last June in Mexico City. The win paved the way for a shot at becoming a two-division titlist, fending off a determined and unbeaten Ruben Villa en route to a 12-round unanimous decision last October at MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas.

The title win took place without fans in attendance, as was the case for Diaz’s most recent bout. The 26-year-old from Barranquitas, Puerto Rico—who now lives and trains in the greater Orlando area—soundly outpointed former title challenger Jason Sanchez last June, also in the MGM bubble. The win was his second straight, while flirting with the idea of campaigning at junior featherweight.

Diaz instead remained put upon the promise of a second title bid. It comes in the same town as his first failed attempt, a 12-round decision defeat to Japan’s Masayuki Ito in their July 2018 WBO junior lightweight title fight at the nearby Kissimmee Civic Center.

Opening the ESPN doubleheader, Brooklyn’s Edgar Berlanga (16-0, 16KOs) looks to extend his perfect run of 16 1st round knockouts in as many pro fights, as he faces Demond Nicholson (23-3-1, 20KOs). The bout is scheduled for eight rounds, to be fought just above the super middleweight limit.

Berlanga weighed 168.4 pounds for his first fight since a 1st round knockout of last December in Las Vegas. Nicholson—who hails from Laurel, Maryland—weighed 168.2 pounds, as he ends a 14-month layoff following a split decision win over Mike Guy last February in Hanover, Maryland.

Below are the weights for the rest of the undercard, which airs live on ESPN+ beginning 6:00 p.m. ET.

Josue Vargas (18-1, 9KOs), The Bronx, 141.4 pounds vs. Willie Shaw (13-2, 9KOs), Vallejo, California, 139.8 pounds—10 rounds, junior welterweight

Joseph Adorno (14-0-1, 12KOs), Allentown, Pennsylvania, 135.2 pounds vs. Jamaine Ortiz (14-0, 8KOs), Worcester, Massachusetts, 136.6 pounds*—8 rounds, lightweight

*Ortiz is 0.6 pounds over the contracted 136-pound limit after initially weighing 137 pounds; has one hour to make weight

Orlando Gonzalez (16-0, 10KOs), Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, 127.6 pounds vs. Juan Antonio Lopez (15-8, 6KOs), Dallas, 128.4 pounds*—8 rounds, featherweight

*Lopez is 0.4 pound over the 128-pound weight limit, renegotiated from the originally contracted 127-pound limit. Fight will proceed as both sides have agreed to undisclosed terms

 

[patscorpio]

Felix Trinidad Backs Christopher Diaz To Shock Emanuel Navarrete

BY MIGUEL RIVERA
Published Fri Apr 23, 2021, 10:52 PM EDT


Puerto Rico's Christopher “Pitufo” Diaz is less than 24 hours away from one of the biggest opportunities of his career.

On Saturday night in Kissimmee, Florida, Diaz will challenge the featherweight champion of the World Boxing Organization (WBO), Mexico's Emanuel “Vaquero” Navarrete.

Several personalities from Puerto Rico have pledged their support for Diaz - but the most important piece of motivation has come from former three division world champion, Hall of Famer Felix "Tito" Trinidad - who backs Diaz to bring home the belt to Puerto Rico.

“Diaz is a tremendous person and an excellent human being. He is from Barranquitas, a town very close to Naranjito where I have my farm. He is a humble boy and a good boxer,” said Trinidad, according to Carlos Gonzalez.

"He has two defeats, but I know that on April 24 he will be the new world champion of Puerto Rico."

For Diaz, Trinidad's words of support were overwhelming.

"I feel very happy and ready," said Diaz. “But I feel even better that I have the support of people on the level of Felix 'Tito' Trinidad and also other former champions like Ivan Calderon.

"Now it's my part to do my best to win that title on Saturday night. I feel well prepared physically, but even more so mentally and spiritually. I feel like we have done a perfect job and we know it will also be a strong fight. But I am ready to become world champion."

Diaz is 26-2 with 16 KOs, and in 2020 he had two unanimous decision victories.

Navarrete, who will make his second title defense against Diaz, is 32-1 with 27 knockouts.

 

[The axe murderer]

 

[Derek Lee]

Undercard about to start

 

[patscorpio]

Undercard about to start

 

[patscorpio]

this adorno martinez fight is a nice ass scrap so far

 

[Morethan1]

Decent fight

 

[Conscious Pilot]

Dope opener.