Emanuel Navarrete vs Ruben Villa Preview Oct. 9th
Former WBO Super Bantamweight Champion Emanuel Navarrete of Mexico returns to the ring when he faces unbeaten Ruben Villa of Salinas, California for the vacant WBO Featherweight Title this Friday, Oct. 9th. The 12-round bout from the bubble at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas can be seen live in America on ESPN and fans in Canada can catch it on TSN. Navarrete last fought in June when he went six rounds with Victor Uriel Lopez and it was called a no contest. Even though Navarrete stopped him. Villa last saw action in January with a 10-round unanimous decision over Alexei Collado to retain the WBO International Featherweight Crown.
Navarrete vs Villa Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Ruben Villa +235
- Emanuel Navarrete -275
My Pick
The 25-year-old Navarrete won the bantamweight title by beating Isaac Dogboe by unanimous decision in December of 2018 and then stopped him in the 12th round in their rematch five months later. Navarrete has an impressive mark of 31-1 along with 27 big Kos which gives him a current knockout ratio of 81.8 per cent so he obviously has quite a bit of power. The champion stands 5-feet-7-inches tall with a 72-inch reach. He turned pro back in 2012 when he was just 17 and has boxed 153 rounds since then.
Navarrete’s lone defeat came in his sixth pro bout when he came out on the wrong end of a four-round unanimous decision to Daniel Argueta. Other than meeting and beating Dogboe twice, the average fan won’t really recognize many of Navarrete’s opponents up to now though other than perhaps Dennis Contreras, Luis Orozco and Glenn Porras. But on the bright side, most of his foes have entered the ring with winning records. He proved he has a solid chin against Dogboe and his power didn’t appear to fade in the later rounds.
Villa enters the contest with a perfect mark of 18-0 with 5 Kos. The 23-year-old southpaw has boxed 111 rounds since making his pro debut in 2016 but hasn’t got much in the way of power with a current knockout ratio of just 27.8 per cent. He enjoyed a fine amateur career with a reported record of 116-17. He won the 2009 and 2011 U.S. National Silver Gloves Championships, the 2013 U.S. National Junior (Under-17) Championships, the 2014 U.S. National Youth (Under-19) Championships, the 2015 U.S. National Golden Gloves Championships and placed second at the 2015 U.S. Olympic Trials.
Since turning pro he’s beaten the likes of Ernesto Guerrero, German Meraz, Juan Sandoval, Jose Gonzalez, Ricardo Torres and Ruben Cervera. He beat Marlon Olea for the vacant WBO Youth Featherweight Belt in 2018 and Luis Vargas for the vacant WBO International Featherweight Title in May, 2019. Villa stands 5-feet-6-inches tall with a 66.5-inch reach which leaves him an inch shorter than Navarrete and at a 5.5-inch reach disadvantage.
Prediction…
Navarrete loves to keep busy and he’s always in top shape. When you add his power into the equation he’s quite a handful and tough to beat. Villa has great boxing skills but with no power to speak of it’s going to be tough to get close enough to Navarrete without paying the price due to his reach disadvantage. Eventually, I see Navarrete just walking through Villa to land his power shots and taking the vacant title.
Villa doesn’t have the power to keep Navarrete off of him.
Play Navarrete -275 @ BetOnline.ag
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Emanuel Navarrete betting • Ruben Villa betting