Emmanuel Navarrete vs Charly Suarez Will Headline In San Diego On May 10th

Press Release:

The next chapter in the storied Mexico vs. Philippines boxing rivalry is about to be written.

Mexican three-division king Emanuel “Vaquero” Navarrete will defend his WBO junior lightweight world championship against undefeated Filipino contender Charly Suarez on Saturday, May 10, at Pechanga Arena San Diego.

In the co-feature for the vacant interim IBF lightweight world title, SoCal native Raymond Muratalla will fight Russia’s Zaur Abdullaev.

Navarrete-Suarez and Muratalla-Abdullaev will be broadcast LIVE on ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.

Suarez (18-0, 10 KOs) had several hundred fights as an amateur, representing his homeland at the 2016 Olympics and several World Championships. A six-year pro, he won a pair of regional titles in March 2023 when he scored a come-from-behind 12th-round stoppage over Paul Fleming on hostile turf in Sydney, Australia. The Fleming triumph paved the way for a deal with Top Rank, and Suarez has won three straight fights in America. He knocked out Jorge Castañeda in three rounds last September, which came five months removed from a hard-fought eight-round decision over Louie Coria. The Philippines has two reigning world champions — 105-pound standouts Melvin Jerusalem and Pedro Taduran — and Suarez looks to become lucky number three.

Muratalla (22-0, 17 KOs), from Fontana, California, returns to his home state for the first time in over two years. On that March 2023 evening in Fresno, he rose from a first-round knockdown to knock out Humberto Galindo in nine. Since that brief hiccup, Muratalla has steadily climbed the ranks, including knocking out the big-punching Jeremia Nakathila in two and outlasting former world champion Tevin Farmer over 10 rounds en route to a unanimous decision. Last November, he iced Jesus Perez in two rounds to earn this shot at the interim world title.

Abdullaev (20-1, 12 KOs) hasn't lost in more than five years, having won nine straight fights since falling via fourth-round TKO to Devin Haney in September 2019. His string of victories includes a 12th-round stoppage of three-weight world champion Jorge Linares, a convincing 12-round decision over one-time WBC lightweight world champion Dejan Zlatičanin, a third-round stoppage of then-unbeaten contender Roman Andreev, and a 10-round decision over Venezuelan former junior lightweight world champion Roger Gutierrez. Last October, Abdullaev battered Argentina’s Juan Javier Carrasco en route to a 12th-round TKO.