Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, Florida - WBO featherweight world champion Emanuel Navarrete fought off a very game Christopher Diaz for a twelfth round stoppage.
The Mexican star knocked down Puerto Rican contender Christopher “Pitufo” Diaz four times.
It was the first successful featherweight title defense for Navarrete (34-1, 29 KOs), who also reigned as WBO super bantamweight world champion.
The contest was an absolute war in several of the rounds.
During the fourth, Navarrete scored the first knockdown of the fight when he dropped Diaz with a big uppercut and was looking for the finish with Diaz fighting him off.
In the eight, Navarrete landed a big three punch combination, with an uppercut, to send Diaz down for the second time. Navarrete let his hands go, dropping Diaz for a third time with a combination of shots.
They were going to war at the start of the twelfth, as Diaz was going for broke with big punches and Navarrete fighting was fighting fire with fire. During an exchange, Navarrete rocked Diaz bad and dropped him for a fourth time. He beat the count, but Diaz’s corner had seen enough and threw in the towel.
It was the first stoppage loss in Diaz’s career.
“I’m very disappointed. I wanted to win. It’s a title shot. But next time. He’s a great f—— fighter. He hit hard. We went to war. I made my best fight. I was in shape. Everything was good,” Diaz said.
“I’m not a weak fighter. I always bring my heart with me. I came here to fight. I said I want to box but that guy, he’s a problem. We came here to fight, too. He caught me. My coach loves me like a son, and he stopped the fight.”