Emanuel Navarrete locked in on Foster as legacy plays loom

Emanuel Navarrete may bring a solitary focus to Saturdays super-featherweight unification against OShaquie Foster, but so much more is at stake if the Mexican power puncher wins the fight.The mantle of standing as his nations most distinguished champion.Unified 130lbs champion Emanuel Navarrete talks to Lance Pugmire ahead of his unification fight with O'Shaquie Foster this Saturday.Unified 130lbs champion Emanuel Navarrete talks to Lance Pugmire ahead of his unification fight with O'Shaquie Foster this Saturday.A future match with Hall-of-Fame-bound, three-division champion Vasiliy Lomachenko.One triumph away from being 130lbs undisputed champion.Honestly, I am very focused on this fight with OShaquie Foster, WBO-IBF champion Navarrete, 40-2-1 (33 KOs), said of the DAZN-streamed main event versus Houstons Foster, 25-3 (12 KOs), at San Antonios Frost Bank Center. Its an important fight and I dont want to get ahead of myself and rush into any thoughts.Yet, the 31-year-old three-division champion coming off a February drubbing of former IBF champion Eduardo Sugar Nunez must know the legacy ramifications of this bout against a rapidly developing boxer in what some project as a fight-of-the-year candidate.Navarrete said he devoted a very long and solid, hard camp to ensure I present myself to all the people with a good fight.Foster is very good, very solid, very confident. The styles are completely different. The outcome will depend a lot on each fighters style. The preparation I had will help me a lot. Im very strong and I believe that can be an advantage to close the fight with strength and try to take the victory.We know what Foster does and we worked very hard on this and we are prepared to stop this. It should not be so complicated. We know how the fight will be.Yet, its Foster who has given his opponent more research, personally attending several of Navarretes recent bouts, including the stoppage of Nunez and the narrow technical decision last year over Charly Suarez.Navarrete has limited his scouting of Foster to some bouts hes watched his countrymen fight Foster on television.Including the last one, Navarrete said of Fosters majority decision victory over Ray Ford. [Foster] does have something with the fact hes seen my fights live, but when were in the fight, its going to be different.Receiving [punches], feeling the blows, knowing how I hit trying to decipher something youre seeing from below is not the same. To have the idea of how to resolve it in the main event is different.Navarrete has experienced difficulties in recent bouts, enabled by a fortunate ruling to edge Suarez and losing a lightweight title shot against Denys Berinchyk, but he overpowered Nunez and has repeated the preparation for Foster, he said.The physical aspects I have worked the same way, on nutrition, Navarrete said. We modified everything and we have improved situations that at first didnt turn out so well. Now were better.He maintains belief that no super-featherweight can weather his storm over 12 rounds.I do think that thats very important, because very few fighters can, he said. One level is not enough. They just continue to move forward, continue enduring. I think there are very good fighters who may have never felt the punishment.As Ukraines Lomachenko attempts to come back from a two-year absence to meet WBA 130lbs champion Anthony Cacace and position for an undisputed fight with the Navarrete-Foster winner next year, Navarrete admits he has dreamed of a showdown with The Matrix.Always when a fighter of the level of Lomachenko is around, it would be interesting to know how difficult he is or how many problems there can be with the technique that he delivers and what he does when he fights, Navarrete said.The bout would become more riveting based on the fact that a victorious Navarrete already slotted in the group of top-10pound-for-pound fighters will be poised to challenge as Mexicos most significant champion should countryman Canelo Alvarez lose in his attempt to recapture the WBC super-middleweight belt versus champion Christian Mbilli October 31 in Saudi Arabia.It may depend on more things there are very talented fighters from Mexico and I dont like to consider myself as the best, Navarrete said.I always focus on myself being ready to have a good fight and a good career, and the rest is left to the analysts and the people, those who dedicate themselves to making a list of fighters.Lance Pugmire has been a full-time boxing writer for nearly 20 years, serving now as BoxingScenes U.S. Senior Writer and assistant producer for ProBoxTVs BoxingScene Today. Pugmire capped a near 20-year career at the Los Angeles Times (sports investigations, NHL/MLB beat work, law enforcement/courts and boxing/UFC) to join The Athletic, and then USA Today. Pugmires stint at The Times started with the first Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez fight and the Oscar De La Hoya-Floyd Mayweather Jnr then-record pay-per-view, leading through a slew of ringside assignments at major bouts, including Mayweather-Pacquiao, Mayweather-Canelo and the Canelo-Golovkin trilogy. Lances appreciation for boxing is rooted in his admiration and appreciation for the fighters, gladiators who have proven to be the most forthcoming and candid of all the athletes he has interviewed over a career dating to 1990. Lance was honored to be named the 2022 winner of the Boxing Writers Association of America Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence and hes collected many BWAA writing awards in categories ranging from breaking news to deep-dive long features.Kevin Anton spoke with his team after DOMINATING Freudis Rojas, retaining his WBC Continental Americas super welterweight championship title. ProBox TV Fight Night Review! Chris Algieri and Robert Garcia break down all the action from Phoenix, Arizona. Kevin Anton delivers a dominant performance against Freudis Rojas, Justin Pauldo continues his rise in the lightweight division, and Carlos Orona makes a statement with a stoppage victory over Bryan Acosta. Join Chris Algieri and Robert Garcia as they review the entire ProBox TV Championship Series card, analyzing the performances, key moments and what comes next for the fighters.Carlos Andres Arteaga Orona let his hands talk in the ring, delivering a STUNNING knock out to Bryan Acosta in ArizonaKevin Anton spoke with his team after DOMINATING Freudis Rojas, retaining his WBC Continental Americas super welterweight championship title. ProBox TV Fight Night Review! Chris Algieri and Robert Garcia break down all the action from Phoenix, Arizona. Kevin Anton delivers a dominant performance against Freudis Rojas, Justin Pauldo continues his rise in the lightweight division, and Carlos Orona makes a statement with a stoppage victory over Bryan Acosta. Join Chris Algieri and Robert Garcia as they review the entire ProBox TV Championship Series card, analyzing the performances, key moments and what comes next for the fighters.Carlos Andres Arteaga Orona let his hands talk in the ring, delivering a STUNNING knock out to Bryan Acosta in Arizona