Emanuel Navarrete will return to the site of his most recent loss for his next fight.
The Ring has confirmed that Navarrete will defend his WBO junior lightweight title against Charly Suarez in a 12-round main event ESPN will televise May 10 from Pechanga Arena in San Diego. Mexico’s Navarrete (39-2-1, 32 KOs) lost a split decision to Ukraine’s Denys Berinchyk (19-1, 9 KOs) in their 12-round fight for the then-unclaimed WBO lightweight title last May 18 at Pechanga Arena.
Navarrete, The Ring’s No. 1 contender at junior lightweight, moved back down from the lightweight limit of 135 pounds to the 130-pound division for the fight after Berinchyk beat him. He knocked out former featherweight and junior lightweight champ Oscar Valdez (32-3, 24 KOs) in the sixth round of their rematch, which took place December 7 at Footprint Center in Phoenix.
The Philippines’ Suarez (18-0, 10 KOs) is the WBO’s number one contender in the junior lightweight division, but he is not ranked in the top 10 by The Ring. The 36-year-old Manila resident most recently stopped Jorge Castaneda (17-4, 13 KOs), of Laredo, Texas, in the third round September 20 at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona.
Freelance journalist Dan Rafael first reported Tuesday that Navarrete and Suarez agreed to headline this May 10 show.
As previously reported by multiple outlets, Zaur Abdullaev and unbeaten Raymond Muratalla will fight for the IBF interim lightweight title in promoter Top Rank’s co-feature May 10.
The Russian-born Abdullaev (20-1, 12 KOs), of Yerevan, Armenia, is ranked second among the IBF’s lightweight contenders, though he is not ranked by The Ring. Muratalla (22-0, 17 KOs), of Fontana, California, is rated fourth by the IBF and sixth by The Ring.
Ukraine’s Vasiliy Lomachenko (18-3, 12 KOs) won the then-vacant IBF lightweight title last May 12, when he stopped Australia’s George Kambosos Jr. (21-3, 10 KOs) in the 11th round at RAC Arena in Perth. The three-division champion was granted additional time by the IBF to determine whether he will box again.
If the 37-year-old Lomachenko retires, the Abdullaev-Muratalla winner would be elevated from interim champion to full champion.
Keith Idec is a senior writer and columnist for The Ring. He can be reached on X @idecboxing.