EMANUEL Navarrete proved too much to handle for Juan Miguel Elorde as the young Mexican scored a technical knockout win to retain his World Boxing Organization (WBO) super-bantamweight crown Sunday (Manila time) in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Following a slow start, Navarrete, 24, found his groove late in the third round when he caught the grandson of the late great Filipino boxing champion Gabriel 'Flash' Elorde with a brutal combination that sent the challenger down to the canvas.
Hardly had the 32-year-old Elorde recovered when Navarrete went for the kill in the fourth round, wobbling the Filipino with a right hook to the chin that prompted referee Russel Mora to stop the fight at the T-Mobile Arena.
End of the bout came just 26 seconds in round four.
Navarrete raised his record to 29-1 with 25 KOs as he successfully retained his title belt for the second time in a month's time.
The Mexican did agree with Mora’s decision to stop the fight even as he checked on Elorde’s condition afterwards.
“I think the referee did the right thing,” said the hard-hitting Mexican. “He’s going to go home to his family, and everything is going to be OK. It was a good performance on my behalf and he gave what he could. At the end of the day, I came away with the hard-fought victory.”
Elorde failed to duplicate the feat of his legendary grandfather – who won the world lightweight title in 1960 – following just the second loss of his career. His record now stands at 28-2, with 15 KOs.
The Filipino challenger gave himself a good account in the opening round by pounding on Navarrete with solid body punches to take control early on.
But the moment the champion warmed up, it was just a matter of time before the end came for Elorde.
The fight served as the major undercard in the Tyson Fury-Otto Wallin heavyweight showdown.
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