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Emanuel Navarrete defeats Ruben Villa to win WBO featherweight title

Emanuel Navarrete knocked down Ruben Villa in the first and fourth rounds, then withstood a late rally to capture the vacant WBO featherweight title Friday night at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas.

Two judges scored the fight 114-112 and one credited Navarrete with a 115-111 victory.

“I couldn’t get the knockout, but the most important thing is I came away with the victory and I’m now a two-division world champ,” Navarrete said after his win, according to Boxing Scene.

Navarrete (32-1, 27 KOs) upset Isaac Dogboe on Dec. 8, 2018 to win the WBO super bantamweight title and then made five defenses in the next 14 months. He took a non-title bout against Uriel Lopez in June and stopped him in the sixth round, setting himself up for the bout with Villa on Friday.

Villa’s career record dropped to 18-1 with the loss.

Emanuel Navarrete won the WBO featherweight title on Friday night. (USA Today Sports file photo)
Emanuel Navarrete won the WBO featherweight title on Friday night. (USA Today Sports file photo)

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