On Saturday, May 18, 2024, Denys Berinchyk beat Emanuel Navarrete to become the WBO Lightweight Champion. Judge Benoit Roussel scored the bout 112-116 in favor of Navarrete. Meanwhile, judges Zoltan Enyedi and Pat Russell delivered the following scores in Berinchyk’s favor: 115-113 and 116-112.
“This is great, my friend. This is great. Great boxing,” Berinchyk said after the fight.
“Great fight. Navarrete, muchas gracias.”
With the win, Berinchyk improves his professional record to 19-0 with nine knockouts while setting himself for fights with fellow champions in the division, including Shakur Stevenson, Gervonta “Tank” Davis and Vasyl Lomachenko. More importantly, he completes the best run in Ukrainian boxing history. Last week, Vasyl Lomachenko beat George Kambosos in Australia to become the IBF Lightweight Champion. This week, Oleksandr Usyk beat Tyson Fury to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion since 1999.
Elsewhere, Navarrete will look to rebound after suffering the second professional loss of his career. Despite falling short of his goal becoming the sixth Mexican-born fighter to win world titles in four divisions, he is confident that he will find success at the 135-pound division.
“It was something new for me. Like I always said, it would be difficult. Denys is a great fighter. He made me struggle a lot. And you saw what happened. But I’m happy with how I fought. I know that I need to improve,” Navarrete said after the fight.
“I’m not sad. I know it was a test. I needed to do more, but I know that I can do more. So, I congratulate him on his win. I’m happy because I tried things out at 135 pounds, and I know I will be strong at this division.”
