Berchelt, Navarrete retain in Tuscon

Miguel Berchelt defended his WBC Super Featherweight World Title Saturday night over Francisco Vargas after Vargas retired on his stool following the sixth round of an all-out brawl in front of 4,424 fans at Tucson Arena.

It was the fifth successful title defense for Berchelt (36-1, 32 KOs), who defeated Vargas (25-2-2, 18 KOs) via 11th-round knockout in January 2017 to the win the belt.

“I did what I said I was going to do in the ring,” Berchelt said after the fight. “More importantly, I want to thank Francisco ‘Bandito’ Vargas. He’s a true Mexican warrior, and more than anything, let me tell you, he gave me my first opportunity at a world title. So, it was only fair that I would give him a shot to win his world title back. But his corner did the right thing in saving him from more punishment.”

“I want to prove that I’m the best 130-pounder in the world. In {two weeks}, it will be Jamel Herring taking on {WBO champion Masayuki} Ito. I want the winner of that fight because I don’t want to leave any doubt as to who the best super featherweight in the world is.”

“I am going to speak with my team, and we’ll see what happens in the future.”

Herring himself mentioned to me that he wants Berchelt, awhile back. We’ll see what happens after Herring’s fight on the 25th for a possible unification bout.

Berchelt and Vargas fighting in a phone booth. GET TO @ESPN ?#BercheltVargas2 pic.twitter.com/FztYgxnFRm

— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) May 12, 2019

In the co-main event of the “Twice As Nice” card, Emanuel Navarrete kept his title, as he stopped Issac Dogboe in another rematch.

Navarrete, the WBO Junior Bantamweight World Champion, had the first defense of his title against the man he won it from easily from five months prior, scoring a 12th-round TKO.

Navarrete had won a lopsided unanimous decision versus Dogboe (20-2, 14 KOs) in their first meeting last Dec. 8 at Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, and the rematch resembled more of the same.

At the time of the Saturday night stoppage, two of the judges had Navarrete ahead on points 109-99, with the third judge scoring it 109-98.

Navarrete (27-1, 23 KOs) scored knockdowns in the sixth and 12th rounds. Following the knockdown in the 12th, Dogboe’s father and trainer, Paul Dogboe, threw in the towel stopping the punishment Dogboe was taking.

“It really surprised me that he took so many hard shots, but at the same time, he continued to throw strong punches,” Navarrete said. “I want to thank Dogboe because he gave me the opportunity to become a world champion, and now in this second fight, he gave me the opportunity to demonstrate that my first triumph wasn’t by accident and that there is a reason why I have the title.

And to all the fighters at122 pounds, I tell them that if they want my title, then they can come and try and take it. ‘El Vaquero’ is here!”

“It’s not over until the final bell. Hats off to Navarrete. He did a great job,” Dogboe said. “Making super bantamweight is getting too difficult. My next fight, I will be moving up to {featherweight}. I will be much more comfortable there.”

Dogboe moving up a weight class may help him with a clean slate as these last two fights against Navarette proved to be a rough go for him.

The final CompuBox stats told the story of the bout. Navarrete landed 314 punches, 215 of which were power shots. Meanwhile, Dogboe landed only 121 of 523 punches.

Statement made. Navarrete seemingly hurts his right hand, knocks down Dogboe and Dogboe's corner throws in the towel. #NavarreteDogboe2 pic.twitter.com/9IAxvwRa8Z

— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) May 12, 2019