Emanuel “Vaquero” Navarrete successfully defended his WBO featherweight world title in a punishing bout against Joet Gonzalez at Pechanga Arena Friday.
Navarrete won the unanimous decision in the 12-round fight. One judge scored the bout 118-110, with two at 116-112.
Gonzalez took considerable punishment, but saw the fight through despite a right eye that was swollen and all but closed by the end.
With the win, Navarrete, 26, improved to 35-1, with nine straight wins in title fights according to Top Rank Boxing. Gonzalez, 28, slipped to 24-2.
Meanwhile, in a 10-round welterweight co-feature, Giovani Santillan of Mira Mesa prevailed in a unanimous decision over Angel “Relampago” Ruiz, from Culiacan.
BoxingScene.com noted that the hometown crowd was firmly in Santillan’s corner, chanting, “Gio” over and over. He became “more efficient and accurate with his attack” by the third round, according to the report.
Boxing writer Sean Zittel, in a Twitter post, said that Santillan had offered “the best performance of his career in his biggest fight.”
With the victory, Santillan, 29, improved to 28-0.
In other fights on the card, according to Top Rank Boxing:
- Junior lightweight Henry Lebron denied Manuel Rey Rojas.
- Junior welterweight Lindolfo Delgado soundly defeated Juan Mendez in an eight-round bout.
- Middleweight Javier Martinez overpowered Darryl Jones.
- Bantamweight Floyd Diaz won in a unanimous decision over Jose Ramirez.
- Heavyweight Antonio Mireles scored a first-round TKO against Demonte Randle.