O'Shaquie Foster says Emanuel Navarrete has been 'weight bullying' ahead of Navarrete vs Foster

WBC super featherweight champion O'Shaquie Foster says Emanuel Navarrete has built his run at 130 pounds by "weight bullying" smaller opponents, and promises the Mexican star a different kind of night when they meet in a three-belt unification on Saturday, October 24, 2026, at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas. Foster made the comments in a fight-week video interview with The Ring, excerpted by Bad Left Hook on Wednesday, October 21.

Navarrete (40-2-1, 33 KOs) puts his WBO and IBF titles on the line against Foster (25-3, 12 KOs), who holds the WBC belt, in a 12-round Top Rank main event streamed live on DAZN.

"I'm not the guys he's been weight bullying"

Foster, from Orange, Texas, said he is not worried about the long, awkward punches that have made Navarrete so hard to deal with.

"I don't see none of that giving me problems. I've seen that style, I've seen the awkward punches. The rangy awkward punches, I'm rangy myself," Foster said.

He pointed to the fights in which Navarrete faced men he considers naturally bigger, citing Suarez, Robson Conceicao and Denys Berinchyk. "Suarez was a natural 130 pounder... Conceicao was another natural 130 pounder. Berinchyk was 135, and all three of these guys gave him the most problems," Foster said. He added that Nunez, another Navarrete opponent, "fought at 122 or weighed in at 121" in 2022 and is "a naturally small guy."

"I think Navarrete has done a great job of weight bullying these guys and once he steps up to people his size, we've seen a difference," Foster said.

Game plan

Foster said he has heard Navarrete talk about attacking his body early, but he is not changing who he is.

"If you look at any of my fights, I don't run from nobody. I control the distance, I control the fight and I put punishment to them," he said. "I'm not the guys he's been weight bullying. He has not seen the power or the speed that I possess and he gonna realize that, fight night."

Shakur Stevenson still on the list

Asked about the biggest fight he would want next, Foster again named Shakur Stevenson, while insisting he is not chasing him.

"I'm tired of mentioning his name, but Shakur. Everybody know that if I can fight anybody, that's who I would put my hands on," Foster said. "I don't really care, like I'm not chasing dude or none of that, but he a big opp on my hit list and that ain't going to change."

Stevenson became a free agent this month after leaving Zuffa Boxing.

The card

When the fight was announced on September 2, Top Rank billed it as two champions in their primes meeting to decide the No. 1 fighter at 130 pounds. The DAZN main card starts at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday (03:00 Moscow time on Sunday, October 25). It also features:

• Albert Gonzalez vs Edward Vazquez, 10 rounds, featherweight (co-feature)
• Frank Martin vs Tarik Zaina, 10 rounds, super lightweight
• Steven Navarro vs Emanuel Moreno, 10 rounds, bantamweight

Fight week continues with the final press conference on Thursday, October 22, at 3 p.m. ET and the ceremonial weigh-in on Friday, October 23, at 2 p.m. ET, both streamed on Top Rank's YouTube, X and Facebook pages.