Bob Arum Claims Navarrete Was Ahead Before Foster's Brutal Finish
Bob Arum says Emanuel Navarrete was winning the fight before O'Shaquie Foster dropped him twice in a devastating 12th round.
Bob Arum has a version of the Emanuel Navarrete vs. O'Shaquie Foster fight that does not match the scorecards, the broadcast, or pretty much anything anyone with functioning eyes saw in San Antonio on Saturday night.
Speaking to Fight Hub TV after the bout, Arum claimed Navarrete was "slightly ahead" heading into the final round. He offered no round-by-round breakdown to support the claim, only saying that "Navarrete is not the easiest guy to fight because he comes from so many different angles."
The scorecards told a very different story. Two of the three judges had it 118-108 for O'Shaquie Foster, and the closest card was 115-111. That means even the friendliest judge had Foster up by four points before the 12th round, per Boxing News 24.
Then the 12th happened. Foster dropped Navarrete twice in the final three minutes and the round was scored 10-7. It turned a comfortable decision into a statement win as Foster unified three super featherweight titles, adding Navarrete's IBF and WBO belts to his existing WBC strap.
Foster (26-3, 12 KOs) controlled the fight from the opening bell, outboxing Navarrete (40-3-1, 33 KOs) at range and refusing to get drawn into the kind of brawl that favors the Mexican puncher. It was a masterclass in distance management from one of the division's most underrated champions.
Arum's post-fight spin is nothing new. Promoters protect their fighters' value, and admitting your guy got outclassed for 12 rounds does not help the next negotiation. But even by the loose standards of promotional math, claiming Navarrete was ahead on a card where he lost by ten points on two scorecards is a stretch.
I have nothing against Bob Arum. The man built boxing. But this is the kind of thing that makes fans roll their eyes at the sport. You just watched 12 rounds where Foster boxed circles around Navarrete, dropped him twice, and won on every scorecard by a wide margin. And the promoter's takeaway is that his guy was ahead?
This is why boxing has a credibility problem. When the people running the sport refuse to acknowledge what everyone just saw, it feeds the narrative that the fix is always in. Arum is not fixing anything here, he is just doing the promoter thing. But it is still exhausting.
Foster earned that win clean. Three belts, a dominant performance, and a finish. Give the man his credit without the asterisk.
https://www.boxingnews24.com/2026/10/bob-arum-had-emanuel-navarrete-ahead-against-oshaquie-foster/
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