It's often said that fighters in the smaller divisions age significantly quicker than their heavier counterparts. If that's true Argentinian veteran Omar Andres Narvaez (39-1-2, 20) must be boxing's version of a octogenarian holding the WBO Super Flyweight title despite being 38.
Narvaez, who was the first of the 2000 Olympians to claim a world title, is a fighter who widely splits the opinion of the boxing world depending on whether or not you've actually followed him or not. If you've not followed him you've probably only seen his bout with Nonito Donaire, a bout that he was out-gunned in from the off and a fight that he stood no chance in. Rather than giving Donaire a chance to behead him Narvaez covered up and actually showed how poor Donaire was when he was forced to make the action, something we saw again when Donaire fought Guillermo Rigondeaux.
If you've instead followed Narvaez's career you'll be fully aware of what a talented fighter he is. He's quick, skilled, slippery and a nightmare to fight. He's not strong or hard hitting but he's slippery, intelligent and knows how to get in and out whilst landing his own flurry of shots. From the outside he can be neutralised but he's got unbelievable quickness for such an "old man" that he tends to find his way inside whenever he wants.
Although it's fair to say that Narvaez is slipping as a fighter and I certainly wouldn't fancy his chances against Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, he's still a more than capable fighter. Despite still be good we did see him showing cracks in his armour last time out as Mexican Felipe Orucuta almost dethroned him and he looks like he's certainly becoming more beatable fight after fight.
Narvaez looks for the 8th defense of his WBO Super Flyweight title this coming weekend when he takes on Japanese fighter Hiroyuki Hisataka (22-10-1, 10) a fighter who's record makes him look like an easy mark for Narvaez.
Surprisingly Hisataka has one of those misleading records. His record really looks much worse than it should simply because he's been matched so very hard and it's left his record looking like a who's who which includes Tomonobu Shimizu, Panomroonglek Kaiyanghadaogym, Takefumi Sakata, Denkaosan Kaovichit, Hugo Fidel Cazares and Oleydong Sithsamerchai.
At 28 years old Hisataka is notably younger than the champion and is probably just coming into his boxing prime. He's no longer a child but he's a fully grown man who is tough, hard working and has given good fighters, Kaovichit for example, a very good run for their money.
Although Hisataka isn't near the skill level of Narvaez, very few are, the intangibles do oddly favour Hisataka to really give Narvaez a very tough night. I'm not saying Hisataka will win but he will certainly give a very good account of himself and maybe help open doors to another world title fight.
This it a bout that the under-dog has been written off before he's stepped foot in the ring though is a surprisingly live under-dog.
Prediction-UD12 Narvaez
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