It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know that this one was a sure fire hit, it didn’t disappoint. WBO junior lightweight world champion Emanuel “Vaquero” Navarrete (38-1, 31 KOs) was the man with his hand raised following the twelve round war with former two-weight champion Oscar Valdez (31-2, 23 KOs) on Saturday night at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona.

Navarrete’s high output gave Valdez nightmares as he instead choose to pick the more economical shots. Navarrete hurt his hand in the ninth which Valdez tried capitalise on but when it mattered most, Navarrete closed out the bout strongly to win by scores 116-112, 118-110, 119-109.

Two-time former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (26-3, 23 KOs) made hard work of late sub Robert “The Nordic Nightmare” Helenius (32-5, 21 KOs) before landing a big right hand that ended the fight in the seventh. Time was 1:27.

Helenius stepped in on late notice after the positive drug test of Dillian Whyte. All talk afterwards were speculated around a January encounter between Joshua and former Heavyweight ruler Deontay Wilder.

“We hope it’s imminent. That’s why he wanted the Dillian Whyte fight, it’s hard for him to get up to fights like this. If he hits Wilder on the chin then it’s over. This is about Anthony Joshua now, it’s not about pleasing others. He’s given everything to British boxing.” Stated Matchroom Promoter Eddie Hearn

Undefeated IBF #1, WBA #8, WBO #13, WBC #15 heavyweight Filip “El Animal” Hrgovic (16-0, 13 KOs) scored a twelfth round TKO over IBF #13, WBO #14 Demsey McKean (22-1, 14 KOs). The victory puts him into pole position for a shot at unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk. The bout was a difficult watch for the fight fan with a lot of holding from both men, Hrgovic pressed and looked to be on route to a decision win until a right hand staggered McKean. Time was 1:01.

Heavyweight Derek Chisora (34-12, 23 KOs) scored a ten round unanimous decision over Gerald Washington (20-6-1, 13 KOs). Chisora was cut early in the bout but he pressured Washington throughout to gain a unanimous verdict by scores of 98-93, 97-94, 96-94.