Despite setbacks in his last two fights, Jonathan “Thunder” Navarro says he’s still got “it” and plans on proving it against WBC #12-ranked Bryan “Nino Maravilla” Flores on Saturday, July 18.
Navarro, 18-2 (9 KOs), of East Los Angeles and Flores, 28-1-1 (16 KOs), of Las Vegas via Juarez, Mexico, will meet in the 10-round super lightweight main event, live on ProBoxTV (7:00 pm EST/4:00 pm PST), from the NOS Events Center in San Bernardino, California.
“Training is going really good,” said Navarro during a break. “I’m sparring a lot. Obviously at RGB (Robert Garcia Boxing), you’re sparring top-level fighters. So, even though I might spar the same guys, it’s always totally different every time.”
In 2019, Navarro was a world-ranked contender with an undefeated 17-0 record. And then, the pandemic hit, followed by a serious bicep injury, that kept him out of action for a total of three months shy of five years.
Upon his return, Navarro beat journeyman Clarence Booth by eight-round decision on ProBoxTV before hitting the road in 2024 to lose consecutive fights, a 10-round decision to Jair Valtierra and then a fifth-round TKO to former IBF World Super Lightweight champ Liam Paro six months later.
“My two losses were something that just happened,” Navarro explained. “Against Valtierra, I wasn’t in the right state of mind when the fight happened. I was having some issues, but obviously there’s no excuses. He was the best man that day, so my hat is off to him. And then the last one with Paro, he’s a great champion. I didn’t want to stop it, but my corner ended up stopping the fight due to a cut. I thought I could have kept going.
A year later and fully healed, Navarro is back to face Flores and trying to get his once-promising career back on track with a victory.
“He’s a well-rounded fighter,” Navarro said of Flores. “I would say he’s pretty good. I know he’s a pressure fighter. He comes forward. I know he’s been dropped a couple times, so that’s another thing I see that could be to my advantage. I know I have power, even to this day. Everybody at the gym always tells me I’m very strong. I think I can take him. I’m not taking anything away from him, but I know I’ll be able to do a lot of damage to him because I just want it more.”
Even with a loss to Flores, Navarro says he still has a lot left to give in the ring once he’s consistently active and sharpened to his pre-pandemic shape.
Still, he admits he often wonders what could have been had he not been forced to take five years off at the height of his career.
“It eats me alive. Every day I think about it. It was just wasted time. The pandemic and then the bicep injury held me back a lot. I was ranked in a couple of sanctioning organizations. It makes me think, you know, what if? But I can’t stay stuck in the past. I have to move on and let it go. Life happens, you know? Sometimes you have some issues that distract you.”
In the night’s 10-round super welterweight co-feature, southpaws Joshua Kevin Anton, 13-0 (12 KOs), of Palmdale, California, and Vladimir Hernandez, 17-7 (7 KOs), of Stockton, California via Durango, Mexico, will collide.
And in a special added attraction, current champion Adelaida “La Cobra” Ruiz, 18-1-1 (8 KOs), of Los Angeles, will face interim champion Ginny Fuchs, 4-0 (1 KO), of Houston in a 10-round battle for the WBC Women’s World Super Flyweight Championship.
In the 10-round welterweight chief supporting bout, Ruben “El Pollito” Aguillar, 24-0-1 (21 KOs), of Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, takes on Tre’Sean “Trigger” Wiggins, 17-5-4 (10 KOs), of Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
Future Stars action to begin the evening features, Anthony “2 Quick” Cuba, 12-1-2 (5 KOs), of Los Angeles battling Misael ‘Pichon’ Cabrera, 18-3-1 (12 KOs), of Sonora, Mexico, in a super lightweight eight-rounder; and Charles “LOLO” Harris, 12-1 (7 KOs), of Rialto, California, returning to action in another eight-round super lightweight bout against Jason “El Gallo” Limon, 11-2-1 (2 KOs), of San Antonio.
More exciting fights will be announced shortly. Tickets for this event are available through thundertix.com. The event is presented by Garry Jonas (Pro Box Promotions) and Robert Garcia.
