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Speaker 1: Well, it's my great pleasure to welcome to the podcast today.

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It is none other than the WBO Junior Lightweight World Champion,

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Emmanuel and that arete Manuel. You're going to defend your

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title against the interim title holder Oscar Valdez in a

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rematch of what was a terrific fight the first time around.

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You guys will square off on December seventh and Phoenix, Arizona.

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It is the main event of the Top Rank on

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ESPN card. I'm going to tell the folks here. Also,

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we have the outstanding Top Rank publicist Gabe Reeves will

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do the translation. Emmanuel, thank you very much for joining

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me today. So I'd like to start off Emmanuel, you

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defended the title against Oscar back in August twenty twenty three.

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It was a terrific fight. As I mentioned, you won

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a clear decision in the fight, and I wonder when

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you think about the rematch, how do you see it

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being any different than the first one, if at all?

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Speaker 2: Almost something will change, especially because of the fact that

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we both crossed paths or fist before in this first fight,

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and because of the experience of that first fight. It

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will change. We both know each other more. But I

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think that's going to help us in the strategies in

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our in our fight, and hopefully things go in the

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best way possibly.

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Speaker 1: Now Manuel, when you faced him the first time, a

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lot of the fans, the media, even top rank, they

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were comparing it to what people were thinking about before

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the fights between Eric Morales and Marco Antonio Brera. You know,

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your your great countryman, hall of Fame fighters. They even

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brought those guys in to help promote the fight. They

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were ringside, and I wonder for you, as the fighter,

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what was it like for you to have, you know,

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your biggest fight at that point, uh being discussed in

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the in the in the in the same sort of

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conversation as these great fights between Hall of famers like

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Morales and Marera. How to feel good? Okay some.

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Speaker 2: Completely Yes, As a fighter, you don't really even dream

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of something like that happened. And to be able to

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have done that in my career is something that has

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satisfied me. It's an achievement that has satisfied me so much.

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And if it hadn't been for that, then at this

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moment it would still be a kind of goal that

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I would want to complete.

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Speaker 1: When you had after that, you had the terrific fight

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with Robson Concassow. You defended the title. You score two

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knockdowns in the fight. They called it a majority draw.

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I wonder how did you feel about your performance in

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that fight and were you okay with the draw.

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Speaker 2: It was a close fight, you know, and by a

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little I think it could have been in my favor

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the decision, but it was a draw. And here's a

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good fighter, and I'm not going to complain about the decision.

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I think it could have been a better fight because

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there were some issues in preparation, things that complicated my performance.

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But I think that he could have gone in my favor.

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Speaker 1: So you had to you retain the title even though

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it was a draw, and then you went up in

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May to challenge the undefeated Denny's Brentchik for the vacant

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w BO lightweight title. He ended up winning the split decision. Emmanuel,

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And I wonder do you feel like something went wrong

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for you in that fight? Was it that he was

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too big, he seemed a little be a little more

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technical maybe in the way he boxed thing you did.

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When you look back at that fight, what was your

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sort of takeaway from it?

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Speaker 2: Well, the style. His style was ended complicating, ended up

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complicating the fight for me. It was a difficult fight

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in his baron shack. You know, he really didn't come

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to fight. He came more to score points. So until

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Matt respected it wasn't a fight. But this is Boxing's

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no problem, and I'm okay with it, and I just

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keep learning and getting better.

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Speaker 1: Now, a lot of people thought, Emmanuel, that win or lose,

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that you were going to stay a lightweight. Maybe it

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was too hard to keep making one hundred and thirty pounds,

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so obviously you still had the title at one hundred

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and thirty. So I wonder what was the reason you

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decided to return to the one thirty division, where Valdez

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had ended up winning the interim title. Was that you

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felt more comfort in that division, you wanted the rematch

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with Oscar who was obviously going to be your mandatory

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or did you just feel like I'm still champed, so

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I might as well defend my title, you know.

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Speaker 2: It was it's easy to go from one thirty five

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and then go back to one thirty and to fight

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against Valdez, who earned his opportunity for the World of

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the title by becoming a mandatory challenger of the title

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of which I'm still a champion, And so I also

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think people see an attractive fight because I call because

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it's for a rematch. It's a rematch for this fight,

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and I think that would have been a more attractive

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fight then, for example, staying at one thirty five fighting

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against someone who's ranked at number five or ten or eight.

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I think because of that initial fight with Valdez and

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the attraction has it makes the more feasible. So it

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helped make that decision for me. And I think, you know,

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I think it's going to be a good fight. I

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think we figured out a little bit a lot in

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the first fight, and there's going to be a new

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strategy in the second fight.

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Speaker 1: When you did fight against Brentchick, you are attempting to

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win a world title in the fourth way class. I wonder,

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is that still a goal of yours to event actually

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go back to lightweight and try to win yet another

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world championship.

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Speaker 2: Yes, of course that is still a goal, a firm

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goal for me given what happened, and sure, you know,

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when we go back, we can do something at one

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hundred and thirty five in the future. But I have

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to take my time, and I had to do things

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calmly and work better. And when that opportunity comes, we're

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gonna come with everything for that title in a fourth

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weight class.

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Speaker 1: So in the co feature, when you and Oscar have

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the rematch, Top rank has an excellent undercard fight the

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co feature. It's Raffie Espinoza. He's defending the WBO featherweight

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title against the former title theer Robsi Ramirez. It's a

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rematch between those two guys also, and I've heard some

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conversations that maybe the winners of the two fights could

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fight each other, especially if it was Espinoza, who would

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maybe look to move up to challenge the winner of

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the fight between yourself and Oscar. I wonder is that

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a fight that you would like to have against another

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great Mexican warrior.

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Speaker 2: Yes, it would be interesting. I think the most important

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factor in that fight would be his height, Divin, because

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he's very tall, and he also a difficult He's also

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a difficult boxer, and so it would be an important

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challenge that I would love to see it and I

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would see it that way as an obstacle to overcome,

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and so I think that people would like that as well,

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because if you know, it's a warrior, so it would

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be an entertaining and an excellent fight.

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Speaker 1: I agree with that for sure, Oscar Valdez. He just

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has two losses. One was a decision in your fight

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the first time around. The other was against ra Course Stevenson,

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who was an outstanding boxer. He's always had a great chin.

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I wonder do you think that in the rematch that

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you have a real chance to become the first ever

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man to knock him out? And are you expecting another

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great all out battle like you guys had the first time.

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Speaker 2: Well, I'm working really hard to go after him and

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look for that knockout. And this is a good fighter

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and he has a good chin. He can take a

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lot and punishment like everyone knows, and so it be

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difficult to be taking on an important challenge, but we're

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working hard up for that. We're also we're working that

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hopefully principally it's a good fight and that we can

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also deliver a great show off for the public and

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they would all walk away through this fight.

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Speaker 1: Who will well, Emmanuel and Gabe, I have no doubt

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that it's in another terrific fight. Thank you guys very much.

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For your time, Gabe, thank you for your assistance and

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translating Emmanuel gust Of. Luck to you in the fight.

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I appreciate it.

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Speaker 2: Thank you very much. Thank you. Have a good day.

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Speaker 1: You bet. Guys,