9. Emanuel Navarrete (40-2-1, 32 KOs)
Emanuel Navarrete Martínez was born in San Juan Zitlaltepec, Mexico on January 17th 1995. His pro debut was on February 18th 2012 against Misael Ramirez, a month after his 17th birthday. Navarrete scored a first round knockout in that bout which started a five fight knockout streak until he faced Daniel Argueta five months later. In the fight against Argueta he suffered the first loss of his pro career by unanimous decision. After that loss Navarrete won 20 consecutive fights before he got his first world title opportunity against Isaac Dogboe in 2018. He beat Dogboe by unanimous decision to become the WBO super bantamweight champion, and five months later he stopped Dogboe in the rematch.
Navarrete defended the WBO super bantamweight title four more times before competing in the featherweight division, and he was able to fight for the WBO featherweight title in his 2nd bout in the division against Ruben Villa on October 9th, 2020. He captured the title with a unanimous decision win, then defended the title against Christopher Diaz, Joet Gonzalez, and Eduardo Baez in a span of two years.
In February of 2023, Navarrete became the WBO super featherweight champion with a TKO win over Liam Wilson despite being knocked down in the fight. Six months later he beat former champion Oscar Valdez by unanimous decision then fought Robson Conceicao to a draw in November of that year. He challenged Denys Berinchyk for the WBO lightweight title in May 2024 but fell short by split decision. As a result, Navarrete went back to super featherweight to defend the title against Valdez in a rematch and won by sixth round knockout.
This year, Navarrete had a title defense against Charly Suarez that ended early due to a cut that he suffered during the fight. Initially it was ruled that the cut was by accident and the scorecards for the fight had Navarrete as the winner. However, video review showed that it was from a punch, and the result was changed to a no contest. It is unknown when Navarrete and Suarez will have a rematch.
