Navarrete-Dogboe rematch likely for May 11

Top Rank’s May 11 ESPN card hasn’t been officially announced just yet, but things are coming together for what should be an exciting night of rematches.

We already know that Miguel Berchelt will defend the WBC super featherweight title against Francisco Vargas, the man he took the title from in Jan. 2017. And ESPN Deportes reports that the show will also feature a rematch between WBO super bantamweight titleholder Emanuel Navarrete and Isaac Dogboe, which had been expected for May.

Berchelt-Vargas II was originally scheduled for March 23, but was postponed when Berchelt was injured during training camp.

Navarrete (26-1, 22 KO) scored something of an upset in December, outpointing Dogboe (20-1, 14 KO) over 12 rounds to lift the 122-pound belt on the Lomachenko-Pedraza card in New York.

Now Navarrete will have to try and do it again, but this time the Mexican titleholder surely deserves to be the favorite. He hasn’t lost a fight since 2012, when he dropped a four-round decision in just his sixth pro fight, to a guy who hadn’t even bothered to weigh in. He came into the Dogboe fight a virtual unknown, no big wins to his name, but he proved he can fight, and he was the clear victor.

Dogboe will, of course, be looking to prove it was a fluke. The Ghanaian had been working on a big 2018, having beaten Cesar Juarez in January, and then knocking off Jessie Magdaleno in April to win the belt. He made a successful defense against Hidenori Otake in August.