Emanuel Navarrete faced Robson Conceicao on Thursday, November 16 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The contest featured Mexico’s three-division world champion up against Rio 2016 Olympic gold medalist of Brazil. The pair squared off in the co-feature on the card, headlined by Shakur Stevenson vs Edwin De Los Santos live on ESPN.
The scheduled for 12 rounds world championship bout went the full distance. Over the course of the fight, Navarrete secured a pair of knockdowns, sending Conceicao to the canvas with an uppercut in the fourth round and body shot in the seventh round.
In the end, judge Don Trella had 114-112 in favor of champion, while judges Chris Flores and Max DeLuca scored the fight 113-113.
As a result of a majority draw, Emanuel Navarrete (38-1-1, 31 KOs) retained his title. The 39-year-old native of San Juan Zitlaltepec, Mexico claimed the vacant title by TKO in the ninth round against Liam Wilson in February and made his first successful defense by unanimous decision against Oscar Valdez in August.
“The decision is well-deserved,” Navarrete said. “Robson is a great fighter. He left his heart in the ring. There were some details with regard to technique, but we accomplished what we said we would do. We gave a great show for the fans. And, at least, I am very happy to come away with the title.
“He deserves the rematch, but that decision doesn’t depend 100 percent on me. But, if it does happen, I would train even better. He knows how I fight, and I know how he fights, so it would make for an excellent fight.”
Robson Conceicao (17-2-1, 8 KOs) didn’t succeed in his third attempt to become world champion. The 35-year-old native of Salvador, Brazil fought Shakur Stevenson for the unified WBC and WBO super featherweight titles last September and challenged Oscar Valdez for the WBC belt in September 2021, dropping a unanimous decision on both occasions.
“It was a hard fight,” Conceicao said. “He is very strong. It was a difficult. But I know what I did tonight.
“It was a good fight. It deserves a rematch. If we do get the rematch, we will both train harder and will give an even better fight.”
In Australia, the event aired on Friday, November 17 live on Kayo.
Get Stevenson vs De Los Santos full fight card results.
