Steven Navarro gained valuable experience fighting through a cut to defeat Christopher Rios. 

Navarro bested Rios via a unanimous decision on July 26 at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. 

Navarro improved to 7-0 (5 KOs), but the team believes that this victory gives him the experience he needs to take on championship fights. Navarro was cut early in the first round by a headbutt as Rios came forward. Cutman Mike Bazzel recalls seeing the cut happen in real-time. His first reaction was simple. 

“It is not going to be a problem,” Bazzel told BoxingScene. “I am going to fix it.”

Refugio Navarro, Steven’s father, serves as a co-trainer of his son, along with Marvin Somodio. He recalled his first reaction to the cut.

“We were not expecting the cut in the first round in the first minute or minute and a half,” Refugio said. “My worry was the referee might stop it, but luckily they knew it was a head butt and not a punch.”

“I saw the worry in his eyes,” Refugio said. “He is new to the profession, we are learning as we go, but luckily, we have Marvin Somodio, and he has a lot of experience. He kept everything calm.”

Navarro, a 21-year-old boxing prodigy from Los Angeles, faced professional adversity from the physical fighter, Rios. Despite a deep amateur pedigree and numerous national titles, Navarro faced something new in this fight: a cut. 

“That fight was a good experience for him,” Somodio told BoxingScene. “He is young. He always dominates sparring and his fights. I knew sooner or later we’d fight someone like Rios who doesn’t give up.”

Bazzel recalls memories from the fight as Rios, a 22-year-old veteran from Los Angeles, had double the professional experience of Navarro. 

“Steven said, the guy was going for my cut, I said, ‘That is what they are supposed to do,” Bazzel said. “He also didn’t do himself any favors by rubbing his head against Rios’ head and rubbing the cut with his glove in high guard.”

Bazzel stopped the cut, and even though it bled in the sixth, he was able to stop it in the seventh and eighth rounds. Somodio was impressed by Navarro’s ability to respond to pressure in that moment. 

“When I told him things, he listened, he was alert,” Somodio said. “Me and his dad tried to keep him calm and focus on what we needed to do in the ring.”