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Emanuel Navarrete vs Francisco Horta official for Dec. 7

The fight will be Navarrete’s fourth title defense of 2019.

WBO
Scott Christ is the managing editor of Bad Left Hook and has been covering boxing for SB Nation since 2006.

WBO super bantamweight titleholder Emanuel Navarrete will make his fourth title defense of the year on Dec. 7, facing Francisco Horta in Puebla, Mexico.

Navarrete (29-1, 25 KO) has been one of boxing’s breakout stars over the last year, upsetting Isaac Dogboe in Dec. 2018 to win the 122-pound belt, and making a series of dominant defenses this year. He destroyed Dogboe in a May rematch, then wiped out Francisco De Vaca and Juan Miguel Elorde on Aug. 17 and Sept. 14.

Horta (20-3-1, 10 KO) doesn’t seem to be any greater a challenge than De Vaca or Elorde were, being honest. The 26-year-old “Panchito” has won 10 straight, but he’s only competed in a fight scheduled for more than eight rounds on one occasion, a 10-round majority decision win over Denovan Salazar in 2015. He’s coming off of an eight-round majority decision win over Francisco Alarcon on Aug. 10, and Alarcon is a club fighter with an 8-4-2 record. He’s never faced a legitimate contender, and BoxRec currently have Horta ranked No. 47 in the world at super bantamweight.

Navarrete-Horta is expected to stream on ESPN+, and will be going head-to-head with Showtime’s Charlo-Hogan card for US viewers. The day will be ruled, however, by the Ruiz-Joshua 2 event in Saudi Arabia on DAZN, which will air in the afternoon in the US.

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