Later on tonight Emanuel Navarrete (32-1) will attempt to become a two-division champion when he takes on Ruben Villa (18-0) for the vacant WBO featherweight title. The showdown takes place inside of "The Bubble" at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino and will be televised by ESPN.

The unbeaten Villa trains in his hometown of Salinas, California under the guidance of veteran trainer Max Garcia and his son Sam Garcia. The younger Garcia said that despite strict COVID-19 restrictions, they had an excellent camp.

“He is always focused. He is always focused for every fight and that is why he has only lost a handful of rounds in his entire career. He is totally focused on every single fight and we train like it’s a world title for every single fight,” Garcia recently told BoxingScene.com.

Navarrete enters the fight a considerable favorite which is a head scratcher for Garcia.  Even though Navarrete is a former champion, Garcia believes that his fighter has most of the advantages in the fight.

“If I told you that this tough Mexican kid who is coming up from 122 pounds, who has slow feet but punches hard and is tough is going to beat an elite, slick southpaw who is a true featherweight with over 160 something wins as an amateur and only a handful of losses. A southpaw who was a two-time national Golden Gloves champion and an Olympic alternate - you would think I was crazy. You would think this slick southpaw is going to school him probably. That would be the stereotype. It’s crazy to me how many people are picking Navarrete to even TKO him. It is bizarre to me. It is what it is,” revealed Garcia.

The WBO featherweight title was previously held by Shakur Stevenson who recently relinquished the belt and moved up to the super featherweight division.

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