O'Shaquie Foster vs Emanuel Navarrete fight preview, betting odds, prediction

O'Shaquie Foster vs Emanuel Navarrete fight preview, betting odds, prediction

By James Blears

When two champions collide, its a monumental clash of willpower, heart and destiny, where sheer greatness meets its ultimate test.

And so it comes to pass that WBC super-featherweight champion O'Shaquie 'Ice Water' Foster (25-3, 12 KOs) clashes with WBO and IBF unified titlist Emanuel 'Vaquero' Navarrete (40-2-1, 33 KOs), on Saturday October 24 at Frost Bank Center, San Antonio, Texas, live on DAZN.

Emanuel is a three-division champion, at super-bantamweight, featherweight and super-featherweight. He almost won the lightweight crown too. While Foster is a two-time WBC super-featherweight champion.

Neither is given to trash talk - no nonsense, all business.

Navarrete stresses that it takes two to make a fight and hopes the best vs the best can be decided in a fight containing plenty of exchanges. He would say this, because he's a high volume, pressure fighter who thrives in the atmosphere of a firefight.

Foster 0has countered by insisting he's not going to run and will pick apart his counterpart.

Respect from Emanuel who doffs his ten-gallon hat and acknowledges; "O'Shaquie is a great champion. Very solid, very confident and it'll be a great fight. However, he hasn't fought someone like me. I'm going to pressure him from the start, and cut off the ring, with constant body punches to break down and break up his rhythm. We will see, as the fight progresses. I'm coming with all I've got. And I'm glad O'Shaquie has accepted this fight, because I want another world title."

Utterly unfazed, underwhelmed or undaunted, Fosyter, who's known for keeping his cool, evenly replies, "This is the type of fight you dream about and I'm ready. I'm excited to be back in San Antonio in front of my fans. I'm looking forward to giving everyone a performance to remember. This is the biggest fight of my career. He's going to feel my punching power, my speed and my ring IQ. No running."

The plan over the course of this fight is to give Navarrete a comprehensive boxing lesson, to deflect, parry and confound all of those unconventional angles and get straight to the point.

Foster isn't an easy target, his defence is sound and he can dish it out too. His title defence against Eduardo 'Rocky' Hernandez in sun-kissed Cancun, proved this. 

Iron willpower, backed up with precise clout. Behind on the scorecards, Foster weathered the storm and came on strong in its late stages. Ferocious exchanges occurred in round 11, but Rocky was the one looking dicey towards the bell. Begged by his corner to stick and move, Rocky bravely but unwisely to decided to get stuck in and it cost him the Green and Gold belt.  Foster, with 'Ice Water' running through his veins, cool as a cucumber amidst all of the din, pounced in the final round dropping the valiant Mexican twice and pulling the TKO victory from the embers.

The fact Foster is fighting a man who is a triple division champion is a double-edged sword.  Before he was a super-featherweight champion, Emanuel reigned as a super-bantamweight and a featherweight champion, almost winning a lightweight title.

Navarrete has grown into his current and ideal weight category, whereas Foster is a natural at this poundage.

One has suffered misfortune, while the other has had a slice of luck. In his first fight with Brazilian Robson Conceicao, O'Shaquie was clinical and technically superior, but Robson gave it everything. You've got to love a trier and the judges decided it was an SD victory for Robson. 

Shocked, O'Shaq was more visible and tangible in the rematch and vowed to thereafter blend technical skill with palpable desire.

Navarrete's stroke of luck came two fights ago, against the extremely tough and resourceful Charly Suarez. 

Navarrete was cut over the left eye in round six. In the heat of a close-range tussle, referee Edward Collantes saw it as an accidental clash of heads. Subsequent lengthy recorded analysis hindsight finally suggested it had actually come from a left hook. A technical victory after eight for Emanuel was later changed to an NC.

He made up for all of this in his most previous fight, defeating IBF champion Eduardo 'Sugar' Nunez, whose right eye had swollen shut and the Ring Doctor decided at the start of round eleven that it wouldn`t be either prudent or safe to continue.

Foster took on the accomplished two-division champion Stephen Fulton who was coming up in weight, but then Cool Boy Steph, surprisingly weighed too much, so they fought for the WBC interim belt, with Foster convincingly winning via UD.

A harder test followed against former WBA featherweight champion Raymond Ford, which Foster won by MD.

If we glance at the record of Navarrete it reads: 40-2-1, 33 KO's including that NC. Foster's is 25-3, 12 KOs.  One is a notable puncher, the other is a boxer who can punch when the occasion demands and we're fast approaching that crunch time. Emanuel turned pro way back in 2012, the same year as 33-year-old O'Shaquie.

The big break for Foster came in defeating previously unbeaten Jon Fernanez for the WBC Silver title via UD and then two successful defences, until he took on lanky Absolute champion Rey Vargas, handily outboxing him.

Navarrete's first title involved defeating Isaac Dogboe via UD. In the rematch he upped the tempo and Isaac's Father and Coach threw in the towel at the start of round 12.

He's also twice defeated Oscar Valdez. Once by UD. The second time Navarrete knocked down Oscar in the first, fourth and fifth, and a left to the liver one round later brought him a TKO victory. 

Then, a majority draw against Robson Conceicao after knocking him down in the fourth and seventh. Just before the second Oscar Valdez fight, Navarrete ambitiously fought Denys Berinchyk for the WBO lightweight title, losing a split decision and ending an impressive 24-fight winning streak. He returned to his natural super-featherweight division.

The only opponent who has ever dropped Navarrete was Australian Liam Wilson when they fought for the vacant WBO super-featherweight title. Liam canvassed Emanuel with a left hook in round four. Navarrete punished him in round nine and Referee Chris Flores stopped the fight.

The most trouble Foster encountered was against Eduardo Hernandez. He overcame a rocky patch to prevail, just in the nick of time.

For this fight, Emanuel Navarrete is going to set a blistering pace trying to land a high volume of punches to test the tempo, while O'Shaquie Foster will try to outbox him, accurately counter exploiting mistakes and pepper him with jabs.

The question of whether he will stand and deliver or box at range will unfold. It's going to be a clash of styles, a stern test of willpower and who adapts the most intelligently.

As Floyd Mayweather Jr once said: "A true champion can adapt to anything." 

Grasping the moment with bold initiative is the very essence of a champion of champions. As Billie Jean King stressed, fortune favours the bold, involving tipping the balance of power… with the fateful words: "A champion is afraid of losing. Everyone else is afraid of winning."

Betting Odds

13/8 Foster
6/10 Navarrete
16/1 Draw

1/1 Foster by Decision
7/2 Navarrete by Decision

5/1 Foster by KO / TKO / DQ
9/2 Navarrete by KO / TKO / DQ

Prediction

Really looking forward to this one. O’Shaquie Foster is the cleaner, more conventional boxer; Emanuel Navarrete is awkward, relentless and almost impossible to establish a comfortable rhythm against. His punches arrive from strange angles, and even when they miss, the next attack is already coming. Foster will have the tidier moments, but tidiness alone does not win rounds.

Navarrete’s advantage is his engine. He changes rhythm, loops punches around the guard and keeps working to head and body. His balance can desert him when he reaches, so Foster’s counter right will land. Foster’s weakness is his tendency to wait and study for too long. Against a man throwing constantly, those quiet spells could leave him chasing the fight, however accurate his counters look.

I expect Foster to catch Navarrete cleanly and make him look clumsy at times. The problem is keeping him off for an entire fight. Navarrete will force the pace, crowd Foster near the ropes and keep punching through the gaps. Foster may finish strongly, but he will have surrendered too many of the earlier rounds. I’m taking Navarrete on points, with his pressure, work rate and body punching earning a clear but competitive decision.