WBC super featherweight world champion Miguel ‘El Alacrán” Berchelt and Miguel “Mickey” Roman went face-to-face … read more
As expected, WBC super featherweight champion Miguel Berchelt (33-1, 29 KOs) made easy work of replacement opponent Maxwell Awuku (44-4-1, 30 KOs) in stopping him in the 3rd round on Saturday night at the Oasis Arena in Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico.
Sean Gibbons, manager of teak tough Mexican warrior Orlando Salido, has spoken to The Los Angeles Times about his fighter going up against countryman and reigning WBC super-featherweight champion Miguel Berchelt on December 9 – yes, the exact same night pound-for-pound stars Vasyl Lomachenko and Guillermo Rigondeaux fight.
And Gibbons got off a good line when speaking about the two fights and how they will compare: “It’ll come down to, ‘Do you want to see real boxing or ballerina boxing, two guys playing chess?” Gibbons asked in promoting his fighter’s fight. It may or my not be a good question. In terms of blood and guts action, then yes, the battle of Mexicans with the crowd-pleasing styles will be your pick of the two fights. The again, if you like pure boxing, the clash of southpaws, the pair of them being dual Olympic gold medal winners, will be more your bag.
Making the first defense of his WBC Super Featherweight Championship, Miguel “El Alacran” Berchelt (32-1, 28 KOs) knocked down Takashi Miura (31-4-2, 24 KOs) in the first round before rolling to a clear-cut unanimous decision victory in the 12-round main event of HBO Boxing After Dark live from Los Angeles’ “Fabulous” Forum.
VIPs for the night included Chairman and CEO Oscar De La Hoya, World Champion and Future Boxing Hall of Famer Bernard Hopkins, Boxing Hall of Famer Roberto Duran, Real Madrid and Spanish National Team soccer player Sergio Ramos, Tampa Bay Rays baseball player JP Arencibia, Former three division world champion Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez, NABA super featherweight champion Carlos “The Solution” Morales, NABO Super Featherweight Champion Alberto Machado, 2008 & 2012 Brazilian Olympian Everton Lopes, Jesus Soto Karass, 2016 Mexican Olympian Raul Curiel, Ronny Rios, Rene Alvarado, Charles Huerta, Azat Hovanissyan, Cesar Diaz, and Roger Gutierrez.
Both HBO and the PBC on Fox have dueling tripleheaders this Saturday night featuring quality matchmaking from top to bottom whether you’re looking for pure entertainment or an evenly matched 50-50. For this boxing scribe (hack) the most intriguing one of all is Joe Smith Jr. vs. Sullivan Barrera and the can’t-miss action fights include Berchelt vs. Miura and Figueroa vs. Guerrero.
Here’s the rundown on how these fights will play out starting with a true pick’em, Joe Smith Jr. vs. Sullivan Barrera. Just a few days short of 13 months ago the boxing public especially the media, destroyed a PBC on NBC main event that matched Joe Smith Jr. against Andrzej Fonfara. That fight was chastised as yet another (perceived) mismatch from the Al Haymon stable pushed aside as a worthless waste of space for a prime time slot. Then the first round happened and the rest is music to Joe’s ears. Once again Joe was seen as a sizable underdog facing The Legend of Longevity Bernard Hopkins late last year. Joe knocked Bhop out of the ring ending his storied career abruptly.
Miguel Berchelt 129.2 vs. Takashi Miura 129.2
Jezreel Corrales 129.6 vs. Robinson Castellanos 129.4
Joe Smith 174.6 vs. Sullivan Barrera 173.4
Mercito Gesta 134.2 vs. Martin Honorio 134.6
Ryan Garcia 131.6 vs. Mario Macias 132
Horacio Garcia 122.8 vs. Diuhl Olguin 123.4
In a heart and soul performance before a sold-out crowd at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, Miguel “El Alacran” Berchelt (31-1, 28 KOs) pulled the upset of a lifetime and was crowned the new after an 11th round stoppage of former two-time world champion Francisco “El Bandido” Vargas (23-1-2, 17 KOs). The fight featured moments of heavy exchanges, which resulted in the reopening of a former cut above one of Vargas’s eyes during the ninth round.
WBC Super Featherweight Champion Francisco “El Bandido” Vargas (23-0-2, 17 KOs) and Mexican brawler and WBO Interim Super Featherweight champion Miguel “El Alacran” Berchelt (30-1, 27 KOs) today hosted the final press conference ahead of their 12-round sure-fire all-action fight set for Saturday, January 28 at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California and televised live on the season premiere of HBO Boxing After Dark® beginning at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.