The WBO featherweight belt will be up for grabs in central Florida on the last weekend of April. Emanuel Navarrete will defend his newly won belt for the first time against Christopher Diaz. Navarrete (32-1 with 27 knockouts) has a ton of power for a featherweight, so Diaz (26-2 with 16 knockouts) will have his hands full in his second major title challenge. This fight will take place on Saturday, April 24, 2021. The prelims will be broadcast on ESPN Plus at 6 p.m. ET before the main card gets underway at 10 p.m. ET. The main card will be shown on ESPN, ESPN Plus, and ESPN Deportes.
When: Saturday, April 24, 2021
Where: Silver Spurs Arena, Kissimmee, Florida
Why: WBO featherweight belt
Emanuel Navarrete vs Christopher Diaz Betting Odds
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We haven’t seen boxing betting odds released for this fight yet. However, everyone expects Navarrete to be a substantial favorite as the current champion. If you are unfamiliar with betting on boxing, let’s assume that Navarrete is -1000. That means a $1000 bet on him would return a profit of $100 if the were to win the fight. At those odds, Diaz would likely be +600 or so, and a $100 wager on the challenger would net $600 if he pulled off the upset.
As the fight nears, there will be decision betting too. You will be able to bet on whether the fight is decided by KO, TKO, or decision, and you can bet on which boxer will win the fight in that fashion as well.
Emanuel Navarrete vs Christopher Diaz Preview
Navarrete’s lone professional loss came early in his career. He lost to Daniel Argueta in the finals of Cinturon de Oro 18 as a flyweight. However, Argueta did not show up at the weigh-in, so there is some dispute over whether or not that loss should actually count against the champion.
Since that defeat, Navarrete has been a man on a mission. He won 20 straight bouts to earn his first title shot against Isaac Dogboe in December 2018. Navarrete scored a unanimous decision win to claim the WBO junior featherweight belt, and he followed that up with a 12th round TKO of Dogboe in the rematch five months later.
He was even more impressive in his subsequent title defenses. Navarrete secured a 3rd round TKO of Francisco Da Vaca three months after beating Dogboe for the second time, and he picked up a 4th round TKO of Juan Miguel Elorde a month after his win over Da Vaca. Jeo Santisima lasted until the 11th round until hitting the canvas for good, and that led to Navarrete making the decision to move up a weight class.
Navarrete had little trouble with Uriel Lopez in his featherweight debut although that bout was later declared a No Contest. He secured a unanimous decision win over the previously unbeaten Ruben Villa in Las Vegas to claim the WBO featherweight belt, and this will be his first title defense.
Diaz is happy this fight is in the Orlando area because of the substantial Puerto Rican population there. A native of Puerto Rico, many of his first fights were on the island, and he claimed the WBO youth featherweight belt back in April 2016.
We saw Diaz win the WBO-NABO junior lightweight belt over Bryant Cruz in December 2017. He followed that up with a victory over Braulio Rodriguez to earn a shot at the WBO junior lightweight belt. Unfortunately, he lost to Masayuki Ito by unanimous decision and then lost a unanimous decision to current champion Shakur Stevenson nine months later for a couple minor belts.
His last two fights have gone much better. Diaz picked up a unanimous decision win over Brazilian Adeilson Dos Santos last January, and he beat Jason Sanchez by unanimous decision in June. It’s going to be difficult for him to beat Navarrete though since he is in a class with Ito and Stevenson.
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