Navarrete Defends WBO Title Against Suarez in ESPN’s Top Rank Boxing Showdown at Pechanga Arena
San Diego, CA – This Saturday, May 10, 2025, Pechanga Arena San Diego will host a thrilling night of boxing as Mexican star Emanuel Navarrete defends his WBO junior lightweight world championship against unbeaten Filipino contender Charly Suarez. The event, presented by Top Rank Boxing, will air live at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN+.
Navarrete (39-2-1, 32 KOs), a three-division world champion, returns to the site of his May 2024 loss to Denys Berinchyk, which halted his quest for a fourth-division title. The 30-year-old bounced back emphatically in December, stopping Oscar Valdez in six rounds to solidify his reign at 130 pounds. This marks Navarrete’s 16th world title fight, a journey that began with his 2018 upset of Isaac Dogboe. “I’m ready to show San Diego why I’m still the king of this division,” Navarrete said.
Suarez (18-0, 10 KOs), a 2016 Olympian, is riding a wave of momentum. The 36-year-old Filipino burst onto the global stage with a 12th-round stoppage of Paul Fleming in Australia in 2023 and has since gone 3-0 in the U.S., including a third-round knockout of Jorge Castañeda last September. A victory would make Suarez the Philippines’ third reigning world champion, joining Melvin Jerusalem and Pedro Taduran. “This is my moment to bring another title home,” Suarez declared.
The co-feature pits Southern California’s Raymond Muratalla (22-0, 17 KOs) against Russia’s Zaur Abdullaev (20-1, 12 KOs) for the vacant interim IBF lightweight world title. Muratalla, a Fontana native, returns to California for the first time in over two years. The 28-year-old has risen through the ranks with wins over Jeremia Nakathila, Tevin Farmer, and Jesus Perez, overcoming a 2023 first-round knockdown to stop Humberto Galindo. Abdullaev, 31, brings a nine-fight win streak, including stoppages of Jorge Linares and Roman Andreev, and victories over former champions Dejan Zlatičanin and Roger Gutierrez. His latest triumph was a 12th-round TKO of Juan Javier Carrasco in October 2024.
The undercard, streaming on ESPN+ at 5:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. PT, features San Diego’s own Giovani Santillan (33-1, 18 KOs), a welterweight contender, taking on Angel Beltran (18-2-1, 11 KOs) in a 10-round bout. Santillan aims to keep his momentum after a strong 2024 campaign.
Calling the action will be Timothy Bradley, Jr., Mark Kriegel, and Bernardo Osuna, bringing every punch to life for viewers worldwide.
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