Fight fans don’t typically pile into T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on a Thursday night, but Top Rank offered an early holiday gift in the form of two championship fights. Opening up the televised event, former Olympic gold medalist Robson Conceição challenged Emanuel Navarrete for the WBO Super Featherweight Championship.
Moments after fans expressed their disapproval of Brian Norman Jr.’s performance against previously unbeaten Quinton Randall, Navarrete and Conceição delivered nothing but action through twelve rounds. The Brazilian Olympian got things going in the early rounds as he seemingly outboxed Navrrete to take an early lead. The rhythm of the championship fight shifted tremendously in the fourth round when the defending champion used his signature power and awkward style to hurt the challenger twice and send him to the canvas once.
The action continued to heat up in the later rounds as Navarrete dropped the Brazilian challenger with a body shot in the seventh round. Despite Navarrete’s thudding shots, Conceição continue to walk through fire and continue to pressure the champion with high activity and toughness. Still, the Mexican fighter worked to land power shots that stunned Conceição at several points throughout the fight. In the end, one judge scored the fight 114-112 in favor of Navarrete while two other judges scored the fight 113-113.
