Emanuel Navarrete recovered from a slow start Thursday night, but it wasn’t enough to beat Robson Conceicao on the scorecards.
The aggressive, awkward Mexican champion dropped Conceicao twice, yet he settled for a majority draw in their 12-round, 130-pound championship bout on the Shakur Stevenson-Edwin De Los Santos undercard at T-Mobile Arena. Judges Max De Luca and Chris Flores both scored the fight a draw, 113-113 apiece, and they both credited Conceicao for winning seven rounds.
Judge Don Trella scored it 114-112 for Navarrete, but it wasn’t enough for him to win the bout. Navarrete nevertheless retained his WBO junior lightweight title.
Navarrete (38-1-1, 31 KOs) appeared on the verge of finishing off a battered, fatigued Conceicao (17-2-1, 8 KOs, 1 NC) at times, but Brazil’s Conceicao courageously withstood Navarrete’s power after going down in the fourth and seventh rounds and commendably made it to the final bell.
Navarrete, 28, still left the ring with the WBO 130-pound championship he won when he stopped Australian underdog Liam Wilson in the ninth round of their February 3 fight at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. The three-weight world champion was a 10-1 favorite according to BetMGM sportsbook, but Conceicao boxed well at times and troubled the unconventional Navarrete.
Conceicao, 35, slipped to 0-2-1 in junior lightweight world title fights. Former WBO champ Oscar Valdez (31-2, 23 KOs) and Stevenson (20-0, 10 KOs) beat the 2016 Olympic gold medalist unanimously in 12-rounders that took place in September 2021 and September 2022, respectively.
All three judges scored the action-packed 12th round for Conceicao, which secured the majority draw for the challenger. He was losing on all three scorecards entering the final round.
Navarrete and Conceicao traded hard punches during the second half of the 11th round. Conceicao seemed to be fading, but Navarrete couldn’t put him down for what would’ve been the third time in their fight.
A right hand by Conceicao knocked Navarrete off balance 20 seconds into the 10th round. Navarrete hit him with various power punches in the final minute of the 10th round, though, which left Conceicao told hold at times.
Conceicao’s left hook knocked Navarrete backward barely 30 seconds into the ninth round. Navarrete never stopped coming forward during that round, though, and Conceicao appeared to be wearing down by that point in their fight.
A hard right to the body by Navarrete, which snuck around Conceicao’s elbow, knocked Conceicao to the canvas for the second time in their fight with 1:50 to go in the seventh round. Conceicao went down awkwardly and seemed to indicate to Taylor when he got up that it shouldn’t have counted as a knockdown.
A left hook by Conceicao knocked Navarrete backward with 20 seconds remaining in the sixth round.
Conceicao connected with a left hook that made Navarrete come firing back with a right hand with just under 40 seconds to go in the sixth round. A right hand by Navarrete made Conceicao attempt to hold him just before the midway mark of the sixth round.
Conceicao caught Navarrete with a left hook, a right hand and then a right-left combination during an impressive 10-second sequence during the middle minute of the fifth round. Conceicao’s comeback in the fifth round enabled him to regain control of the action after he went down during the fourth round.
A left uppercut by Navarrete caused a delayed reaction from Conceicao, who took a knee with 57 seconds to go in the fourth round. Conceicao answered Taylor’s count quickly and withstood Navarrete’s power for the remainder of the fourth round.
Navarrete caught Conceicao with a thudding right to his body with about 1:50 remaining in the fourth round. A left hook by Navarrete landed flush a little less than 40 seconds into the fourth round.
A left hook by Conceicao made Navarrete reset his feet a few seconds after the midway mark of the third round. Navarrete nailed Conceicao with a right hand as the third round drew to a close, but an elusive Conceicao otherwise Navarrete missed with his punches throughout that round.
Conceicao connected with a right hand that backed up Navarrete with just under 20 seconds on the clock in the second round. Conceicao landed a right with about 1:10 to go in the second round, but Taylor warned him for hitting Navarrete on the back of his head.
Conceicao moved well during the first round, when he landed a hard right to Navarrete’s body with just under 30 seconds left in it.
By Keith Idec