December 7th In Phoenix Will See A Doubleheader Matchup Between Navarrete And Valdez II And Espinoza And Ramirez II

In Phoenix, a highly anticipated rematch between Rafael Espinoza and Robeisy Ramirez will take place, while WBO Super Featherweight Champion Emanuel Navarrete defends his championship against Oscar Valdez

Emanuel Navarrete is getting ready for his much awaited rematch with Oscar Valdez on December 7 in Phoenix / Mark Ralston/AFP Via Getty Images.

By Miriam Onyango

A dual bout between Rafael Espinoza and Robeisy Ramirez 2 and Emanuel Navarrete and Oscar Valdez 2 will take place in Phoenix on December 7.

The WBO super featherweight champion Emanuel Navarrete (38-2-1, 31 KOs) will defend against interim champion Oscar Valdez (32-2, 24 KOs) on the card that also features two-time Cuban Olympic gold medalist Robeisy Ramirez (14-2, 9 KOs) as the co-feature. This is according to Salvador Rodriguez. August 12, 2023, in Glendale, Arizona, saw the decisive victory of 29-year-old Navarrete over Valdez via unanimous 12-round verdict.

The decision by Navarrete's management to want a rematch with Valdez seems strange given how convincing the fight's result was. It would be preferable if Navarrete tried to exact revenge on May 18 in San Diego, California, after his most recent 12-round split decision loss to Denys Berinchyk.

In an attempt to win the vacant WBO title, Navarrete upgraded to lightweight, but 2012 Olympian Berinchyk outboxed him. It was unfair because Navarrete lacked the abilities to defeat the extremely skilled Ukrainian.

On December 9, 2023, at Pembroke Pines, Florida, Robeisy Ramirez, the former WBO featherweight champion, was defeated by Rafael Espinoza via an unexpected 12-round majority decision. Robeisy used a right hand to the head to take down the towering 6'1" Espinoza in the fifth round, but he was outworked the rest of the fight. Robeisy appeared fatigued as Espinoza land a barrage of punches in the twelfth.

“[Rafael] Espinoza and Robeisy Ramirez have an agreement for a rematch for the [WBO] Featherweight Championship. The estimated starting date and venue was December 7 in Phoenix. We’ll see if it holds,” said Salvador Rodriguez in a post on X. 

“Rafael ‘Divino’ Espinoza vs Robeisy ‘Tren’ Ramírez #DivinoTren2 will be on the coestelar of #NavarreteValdez2 on the 7th of December in Phoenix,” added Rodriguez.