O’Shaquie Foster beat Navarrete by unanimous decision on Saturday in San Antonio, flooring him twice in the 12th round to add the WBO and IBF super featherweight belts to his WBC title.
Emanuel Navarrete lost on scores of 118-108, 118-108 and 115-111, according to Top Rank. Foster also won the vacant Ring title, The Ring reported.
Foster now holds the WBC, WBO and IBF belts. The WBA belt belongs to Anthony Cacace. “I want to become undisputed,” Foster said afterward. “That’s my dream.”
How Foster beat Navarrete
The Top Rank card at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio was streamed on DAZN. Top Rank said it began at 8 p.m. ET, which was 3 a.m. EAT on Sunday. No main-event time was published.
Both knockdowns came in the 12th round, and both came from right hands, The Sporting Tribune and The Ring reported. The first arrived in the opening minute of the round. The second came with 58 seconds left.
Navarrete argued that the first knockdown was a slip, The Sporting Tribune reported, but the referee counted it. Navarrete got up both times and lasted to the final bell.
Foster said the plan came from film study. “I knew watching film that he liked to lunge in, and I just kept picturing that overhand right,” he said, according to The Sporting Tribune.
According to The Ring’s CompuBox figures, Foster landed 157 of 451 punches and Navarrete landed 99 of 527. The punch counts come from that single source and have not been independently confirmed.
The records
The table shows each fighter’s record before and after the fight, as listed by Top Rank in its pre-fight and recap pages.
| Fighter | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| O’Shaquie Foster | 25-3 (12 KOs) | 26-3 (12 KOs) |
| Emanuel Navarrete | 40-2-1 (33 KOs) | 40-3-1 (33 KOs) |
The decision did not change either knockout total. Foster’s record shows 12 knockouts in 26 wins, and Navarrete’s shows 33 in 40 wins. It is Navarrete’s third loss.
what Foster needs for undisputed
Foster now owns four of the five belts listed below. The WBA title is the only one he does not hold. The table below shows who holds what, based on reports from The Ring and DAZN.
| Belt | Holder | How it got there |
|---|---|---|
| WBC | O’Shaquie Foster | Held before Saturday |
| WBO | O’Shaquie Foster | Taken from Navarrete on Saturday |
| IBF | O’Shaquie Foster | Taken from Navarrete on Saturday |
| Ring | O’Shaquie Foster | Vacant, won on Saturday |
| WBA | Anthony Cacace | Held by Cacace |
The remaining step is one opponent. Cacace is due to face Nick Ball for the WBA title on Dec. 19, DAZN reported. The Sporting Tribune put the fight in Belfast. Foster has said he wants the winner.
That means Foster cannot know his opponent until the Belfast fight is over. By our reading, Cacace keeps the WBA belt if he wins and Ball takes it if he wins, and either man would then be the champion Foster says he wants to face.
So, the winner out of Cacace and Ball, come see me.
O’Shaquie Foster, quoted by The Sporting TribuneFoster told DAZN’s Chris Mannix: “But first I want to go undisputed, build my name, do something nobody’s ever done in the 130-pound division.”
He also put Shakur Stevenson at the top of his list of targets, The Sporting Tribune, DAZN and The Ring reported. No date or venue has been announced for a further unification bout.
The Ring named several other fighters as possible opponents. That is the magazine’s speculation, and neither Foster nor Top Rank has confirmed any of them.
What Navarrete said
“This sport is all about styles,” Navarrete said, according to The Ring. “His style was better than mine tonight, and he won tonight.”
His next move has not been decided, The Sporting Tribune reported. No other outlet has reported an update on his plans.
On the undercard
Albert Gonzalez, unbeaten at 19-0 with 12 knockouts, stopped Edward Vazquez at 1:04 of round two, Top Rank said. He kept his NABF featherweight title, The Sporting Tribune reported.
In his Top Rank debut, Frank Martin stopped Tarik Zaina at 2:38 of round seven, according to Top Rank.
What happens next
Dec. 19: Cacace v Ball for the WBA super featherweight title (DAZN), in Belfast (The Sporting Tribune). Foster’s next fight: not announced. He has said he wants the winner of Cacace v Ball (The Sporting Tribune, DAZN). Navarrete’s plans: not decided, according to one outlet (The Sporting Tribune).
More from our sports desk: read our UFC 333 preview on Evloev, Yan and Dvalishvili, the El Clasico preview and our Chelsea vs Tottenham preview.
