By: Sean Crose
No fan of boxing needs to be told that one of the biggest things that plagues the sport right now is the overabundance of world title belts. When people ask who’s the heavyweight champion of the world, what exactly does one answer? There used to be a time where you coule say Tyson, Holyfield, or Lewis, and people would know who you were talking about. Now you could talk about two or three fighters no one’s ever heard of dividing up the heavyweight crown into slices. And that’s just the heavyweight division. Things can get crazier the farter down you go.
Every so often however fans could get a taste of clarity or at least something close to clarity. This is the case in the junior lightweight division where Emanual Navarrete is going to be facing O’Shaquie Foster for three of the four world titles this Saturday night. Although the winner of this weekend’s fight won’t be the undisputed Junior lightweight champion of the world he will most certainly be the dominant fighter in the division. And that in and of itself is something worth celebrating in this day and age. Clarity after all is good
Look at it this way – as of the writing of this article there is exactly one, that’s right, one, undisputed world champion all boxing, and that’s the great Naoya Inoue. That my friends is sad. And while Navarrete and Foster might not be fighting for undisputed, they are indeed fighting for two of the three world title straps. Posting a record of 40 – 2 – 1, Navarrete holds the WBO and IBF belts. The 25 – 3 Foster, on the other gloved hand holds the WBC Junior lightweight title. The San Antonio showdown on Saturday will most likely leave one man out in the cold, and the other dominant.
At 31 years of age Navarrete is a force to be reckoned with in the ring. He’s one of those fighters who simply finds a way to break his opponent down. His combinations are particularly effective as they thud against his opponent’s side and head. A loss to Navarrete may not only be harmful to one’s career but it may cause a lot of pain. Navarette simply put knows how to beat a man up. Suffice to say he can be fun for fight fans to watch. Chances Are you’re not going to be bored watching him in the ring.
The 32-year-old Foster, of Texas, is the kind of fighter that will literally throw his opponent out of the ring. Just ask Ray Ford his last opponent. With that being said Foster is known to fight behind a high guard. He maintains distance well, and his footwork is disciplined and impressive. Oh, and the man is fast, too. He doesn’t hit hard like Navarrete but he knows when to apply himself. This is going to be one of those matches where it might come down to what is used more effectively, speed or power.
Foster is expected to win at least if you listen to the people who set the odds for these sorts of matches. They actually make sense as there’s a line of thought that claims a slick boxer will defeat a hard-hitting boxer. What if that hard-hitting boxer could be slick too though? Ali was known to float like a butterfly but he also knew how to sting like a bee. No one was more dangerous when the normally slick Ray Leonard unloaded with power. Will Navarrete be able to catch and hurt Foster? Will Foster be able to hold off the hard-hitting Navarrete and his deadly array of punches? All answers will be presented on Saturday and what should be a decent fight.
