Navarrete and Foster will clash in a three-belt, 130-pound title unification bout Saturday night at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio. Foster-Navarrete headlines a Top Rank card that’ll stream on DAZN (8 p.m. ET).

The winner will become The Ring junior lightweight champion. Navarrete (40-2-1, 33 KOs), The Ring’s No. 1 contender for a vacant title, holds the IBF and WBO belts. Foster (25-3, 12 KOs), ranked No. 2 by The Ring, is the WBC champion.

Navarrete became a unified champion with an 11th-round stoppage of Eduardo “Sugar” Nunez on February 28. Foster retained his title thanks to a majority decision over Ray Ford in his last fight May 30.

The keys to victory ...

This will play a pivotal role in determining who has the upper hand.

While Foster, of Orange, Texas, is the more proficient boxer and much better defensively, that doesn’t necessarily mean he needs the fight to be at a slow pace. If the pace is slow, Navarrete’s pressure and volume could sway close rounds in his favor with the judges. If the fight is fought at a blistering pace and they exchange to the point where a brawl breaks out, that plays into Navarrete’s hands.

Foster’s best chance is if the fight maintains a steady pace, allowing him to control the punch volume both ways.

The difference in success from previous opponents isn’t difficult to connect. Denys Berinchyk averaged 61 punches per round to Navarrete’s 51, according to CompuBox, and won by split decision to become the WBO lightweight champion in May 2024. Charly Suarez, who fought to a no-contest against Navarrete after eight rounds in May 2025, averaged 58.86 punches per round to Navarrete’s 52.28.

In his last two fights, Foster averaged 50 punches per round in a dominant unanimous decision over Stephen Fulton on December 6 and 44 punches per round on his way to winning a majority decision over Ford. If Foster can maintain a similar punch output to Navarrete or throw more punches per round while not letting the pace get out of hand, he’ll be well positioned to control the fight.

Along with their output, Berinchyk (19-2, 9 KOs) and Suarez (19-0, 11 KOs) gave Navarrete his biggest problems when they fought out of southpaw stances.

Berinchyk, 38, constantly exited to his right, which made it difficult for Navarrete to sustain any offense. Suarez, 38, cut Navarrete over his left eye with a looping left hand as he dipped to his right in the early seconds of the sixth round. That cut led to the fight being stopped at the beginning of the eighth.

Had referee Edward Collantes correctly ruled it to be from a punch and not a head-butt, Suarez would have won by stoppage. Navarrete originally won the fight by technical unanimous decision, until the California State Athletic Commission later changed it to a no-contest.

Foster, 33, primarily fights out of an orthodox stance, but he has spent stretches of fights as a southpaw. The more difficult it is for Navarrete to find his range and get into the flow, the better for Foster. Fighting lefty for portions of the fight is a great way for Foster to do that.

As awkward as Navarrete is, he needs to have their feet planted before he throws.

He was much more calculated and didn’t throw as many wild shots from awkward angles as he normally does against Nunez. The caveat to that is Nunez is much easier to hit than Foster.

If he can keep Navarrete from setting his feet, it’ll be difficult for him to land anything of consequence and help Foster avoid the awkward exchanges in which the Mexican pressure fighter thrives. It could also just lower Navarrete’s output if Foster isn’t there to be hit.

By keeping Navarrete turning and chasing him, it could also lead to Foster catching him with stiff jabs and straight right and left hands out of the southpaw stance. Navarrete has a tendency to throw leaping hooks and uppercuts from the outside, and Foster’s ability to stay at the edge of range and make his opponents reach before countering them is one of the best parts of his offense.

Forcing Navarrete to reach with those leaping shots could allow him to land blistering counters that will likely swing the fight in his favor.

He's at his best when he’s overwhelming opponents with volume and how he throws punches from awkward angles.

The correlation between his punch output and the success he has is evident. Berinchyk and Suarez threw more punches. In Navarrete’s win over Nunez and sixth-round knockout of Oscar Valdez in their rematch in December 2024, he was the far busier fighter.

Navarrete averaged 63.3 punches per round versus Valdez and 59.4 against Nunez. Nunez averaged 44.5 punches thrown per round, compared to 38.67 for Valdez. Navarrete landed 182 power shots against Nunez, and he dropped Valdez three times in their rematch.

Navarrete is a different fighter when he’s throwing more punches than his opponent. Against someone as slick as Foster, letting his hands go is going to be vital to his success.

Navarrete hasn’t been bashful about his concerns over Foster running.

Going to Foster’s body and making it a point of emphasis from the opening bell is the best way to quell those concerns. Navarrete, 31, is a very good body puncher, and it is typically an important part of his offense. He ripped Nunez to the body throughout their fight and stopped Valdez with a left hook to the liver.

Against someone with a clear speed advantage, going to the body to slow him down will also be important.

Navarrete will be in a difficult spot if he’s behind and has to chase a knockout late.

He must find his rhythm early. He’ll be in trouble if Foster can land his jab and straight right hand and find his range in the opening rounds. If Navarrete can connect with big shots and overwhelm Foster with his offense early on, he could be in the driver’s seat in the second half.

Foster will be in a much tougher position compared to Navarrete if he’s the one needing a KO late. If that’s the situation Navarrete can put Foster in after getting off to a strong start and carrying it into the second half, the stage could be set for a dramatic finish, befitting a fight of this magnitude.