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Mike CoppingerESPN
Emanuel Navarrete, one of boxing’s most reliable action fighters, and Joet Gonzalez have agreed to terms for an Oct. 16 featherweight title fight, multiple sources told ESPN.
Navarrete’s 126-pound title defense will headline Top Rank Boxing on ESPN+. A venue has not yet been finalized.
A 26-year-old Mexican, Navarrete rose to prominence with an upset victory over Isaac Dogboe in 2018 to win a 122-pound title. He defeated Dogboe again in the rematch and, after a few routine title defenses, relinquished his belt to compete at 126 pounds.
Navarrete (34-1, 29 KOs), a Los Angeles-based fighter, won the vacant featherweight title in October 2020 with a decision victory over Ruben Villa. He was successful in his first defense, a 12th-round TKO of Christopher Diaz in April.
Matched with a fellow pressure fighter in Gonzalez (24-1, 14 KOs), Navarrete figures to be part of another slugfest. The bout will also pit Top Rank against Golden Boy (Gonzalez’s promoter).
Gonzalez’s lone pro defeat came in October 2019, a unanimous-decision loss to Shakur Stevenson in a 126-pound title fight. He rebounded with a victory over Miguel Marriaga in September 2020.
Navarrete is rated No. 2 by ESPN at 126 pounds. Gonzalez, 27, is unranked.