On The Watch “It’s All About Miguel Berchelt vs Jeremiah Nakathila”

Lightweight Showdown

Last night’s Top Rank/ESPN Main Event at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas was supposed to be somewhat of a comeback bout for Miguel Berchelt (38-3, 34 Kos) since his demoralizing knockout defeat to WBO Super Featherweight Champion Oscar Valdez 13 Months ago. To avoid the same outcome Miguel decided to move up in weight from the Super Featherweight Division to the Lightweight Division and selected Jeremiah Nakathila (23-2, 19 Kos). Wrong move!

Although Berchelt looked the part physically, he definitely did not act accordingly inside that squared circle. From round one on Nakathila showed Miguel absolutely no respect by moving forward and jabbing him at will all over his face and eventually sitting Berchelt down for a quick 8 count that visibly hurt him until the end of the third round.

Having been dropped from the third round it was quite noticeable that Miguel’s legs were gone. His defence was non-existent leaving himself uncharacteristically open to some heavy uncontested shots. Miguel looked a shell of himself and continued to take unnecessary punishment round after round.

This was a one-sided beating that did not need to go any further. By the end of the sixth round the referee on hand called an end to the bout. Definitely the right call. Miguel will need to re-evaluate his performance tonight and contemplate the inevitable outcome.

That said, Nakathila came in this bout with the right “game plan” and executed it to a “T” and for that, recorded his best win of his career to date.

Congratulations Jeremiah – you earned this convincing win hands down.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Miguel Berchelt vs Oscar Valdez”

WBC Super Featherweight Challenge

Last night’s Top Rank Main Event bout between WBC Super Featherweight Champion Miguel Berchelt (37-2, 34 Kos) and Oscar Valdez (29-0, 23 Kos) at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, did not disappoint.

Oscar, the underdog of the night executed their “game plan” to a “T” from start to finish. Oscar boxed and moved beautifully with a steady and accurate jab that prevented Miguel from effectively settling into his own offence.

Miguel who was visibly the bigger guy inside that squared circle, was unable to assert himself physically to use his well-known power. The “game plan” that Oscar was displaying all night was clearly keeping Miguel overthinking his options inside that squared circle which cost him dearly in the fourth round when Oscar connected with a vicious left hook that sent Miguel staggering off the ropes. This prompted the referee to give Miguel a standing 8 count since the ropes saved him from falling out of the ring.

It was a technical matchup where the more elusive fighter in Valdez, was gaining more confidence as the rounds wore on. Although Miguel did have some moments inside that squared circle, it was clear that Oscar’s power shots were breaking Miguel down round by round.

In the 9th round Oscar connected with a nasty three-punch combination that sent Miguel straight down for his second knockdown of the night but Miguel’s resilience beat the 8 count to see the next round.

Miguel was clearly taking too much punishment and his corner contemplated stopping the bout but still sent him out there in the 10th round. Oscar saw a wounded combatant ready to be dispatched and Oscar did just that when he landed a devastating left hook that closed the show indefinitely. Miguel dropped flat on his face knocked out cold as the referee waved it off.

With this emphatic win, Oscar now becomes the new WBC Super Featherweight Champion of the world.

Job well done Oscar. You defied all odds and proved the naysayers wrong while putting the 130-pound Division on notice. There’s a New Champion on deck and he goes by the name of
Oscar Valdez.

Blaze