Emanuel Navarrete and O’Shaquie Foster preview their three-belt unification showdown

Emanuel Navarrete warns O’Shaquie Foster that it will be a fight from the very first round

WBO/IBF super featherweight world champion Emanuel Navarrete (40-2-1, 33 KOs) and WBC king O’Shaquie Foster (25-3, 12 KOs) will collide in a three-belt unification showdown Saturday, Oct. 24, at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio.

In the 10-round featherweight co-feature, Albert "Chop Chop" Gonzalez (18-0, 11 KOs) takes on Edward Vazquez (20-3, 6 KOs).

Additionally, super lightweight contender Frank Martin (19-1-1, 13 KOs) makes his Top Rank debut in a 10-round battle against an opponent to be announced shortly.

Navarrete-Foster, Gonzalez-Vazquez, Martin’s return, along with an additional fight, will be streamed LIVE on DAZN beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

Promoted by Top Rank, tickets go on sale Friday, Sept. 11, at 10 a.m. CT via Ticketmaster.com.
This is what the fighters and Top Rank president Todd duBoef had to say Wednesday.

Emanuel Navarrete

“I’m very happy that this fight came together. I’m training very well and working hard on figuring out what this fight is going to require. We know what Foster represents. We know he’s a very skilled fighter with a lot of weapons in his boxing repertoire, and that’s what we’re preparing for. I’m extremely excited for fight night to arrive, to show everyone the great preparation I’ve had, put on a great fight and give 100 percent of myself to accomplish the goal.

“I think boxing also depends on moments. There are moments in any fighter’s career when injuries, emotional instability or perhaps some other situation can affect you. In my case, physically, I wasn’t at 100 percent. There were certain things that weren’t allowing me to be the fighter I’ve always been—aggressive and with a positive mentality. Physically, I’m recovered. Thank God, we’ve overcome some injuries. There are no excuses now.

“If he doesn’t come to fight, if he tries to win on points and make it an easy fight without making things too complicated for himself, we’re going to try to force him to fight. We’re going to put our face right in front of him so he can hit us, and we’re going to try to hit him, too. It’s going to be very difficult, but I’m coming in with the mentality of bringing the fight from the very first round, trying to land my punches and imposing the pace of the fight.”

O’Shaquie Foster

“I definitely feel like I’m at my best right now. Mentally, physically, everything is coming together. I’m ready for any challenge, and I feel like I’m there right now.

“We weren’t going to sit around and wait for Shakur {Stevenson}. Whatever the next big opportunity was, I was going to take it. Everybody knows that’s who I wanted, but my career is going to keep moving. We’re going to keep knocking them down until the fans keep calling for that fight. Right now, we’ve got a great opponent in front of us that we need to handle.

“The biggest difference in me at this stage of my career is my mentality. I went through those losses, turned them into lessons, got stronger, kept building and stayed consistent. Now I’m here.

“I’m going to go in there and control the fight. I’m going to dominate from round one. I saw an interview where he said I like to run and make fights difficult. I’ve never run from anybody. I put punishment and pain on my opponents, too. That night, he’s going to get a boxing lesson. There won’t be any running. It’s going to be a boxing lesson.

“To beat Navarrete, I just have to be me. I have to come out, be dominant like I have been, not take any rounds off and keep pressing the gas. It’s going to be a great night. I feel good about it.”

Albert “Chop Chop” Gonzalez

“I’m feeling great. I’m feeling blessed to be here. I’m grateful to God and grateful to my team. It’s only been about a month since our last fight, and thank God we had a great outcome and a great victory. But we’ve got to keep pushing forward. You’re only as good as your last performance. We had a great performance last time out, and now we’ve got another tougher test ahead of us. It’s time to handle business.

“Like Edward said, you see my style and you see his style, and I think it creates a fan-friendly fight. He’s close to home, and I’m from Texas, so I know he’s going to bring a crowd. I’m thankful that I have some Texas supporters, and hopefully after this fight I’ll have a lot more.

“We’re in for a fan-friendly fight that everybody is going to enjoy. At the same time, I’m coming in looking to show everybody that it’s not just hype behind me. I’m here to live up to it.”

Edward Vazquez

“This is an exciting fight. Gonzalez is a young, exciting fighter with a lot of hype behind him. But I'm battled tested. I know what it takes to get here."

“One thing I know for sure is that he hasn’t been in there with someone like me. This will be his first real test, and we’ll see what that’s like on October 24.

“I don’t want to give away too much of the game plan, but it’s going to be fireworks. You guys have seen how I fight and how he fights. It’s a perfect clash of styles, and the fans are in for a real treat.”

Frank Martin

“I’m excited. I feel like I’ve got a new spark, fighting with a new promotional company. I’ve got to come in and show out and show them that signing me was a good decision. I’m going to bring some excitement over to the Top Rank side. I feel like Top Rank is going to keep me busy, and that’s what I’m looking forward to.

“The key is to come out in this next fight, dominate and move forward. I actually feel like I’m in a good position. There are going to be fighters who might take an opportunity or take a chance to fight me based off my last performance and think it’s sweet or think it’s an easy fight. They’re just going to put me in the position that I want to be in.”

Todd duBoef (Top Rank President)

“I think it’s a 50-50 fight. It’s ultra-competitive between two guys with very different styles. With Navarrete, you have an absolute tornado coming at you. We’ve seen it going back to the Dogboe fights. Punches come from all over the place, and you don’t know where they’re going to come from. That’s going to make things very difficult.

“Then you have Foster, who has an incredible boxing IQ. He sees things, he loves to counterpunch, and he’s going to have to be very careful. It’s a real contrast of styles, and I think it’s going to be interesting to see who can impose his will. That’s why I see it as a 50-50 fight."