Junior Lightweight Kingpin Continues Roll
When two prideful Mexican warriors collide, fireworks are anticipated. Both Miguel Berchelt and Miguel Roman ahead of their bout promised to continue on that proud tradition.
Miguel Berchelt (35-1, 31 KOs) defeated Miguel Roman (60-13, 47 KOs) by 9th-Round TKO on Saturday night at the Don Haskins Convention Center in El Paso to retain his WBC junior lightweight title.
It wasn’t easy by any stretch, and bumpy for quite a while, but Miguel Berchelt proved to be too much for his fellow Mexican adversary in a blood and guts battle in El Paso.
The earlier rounds saw the 32-year-old Miguel Roman put the pressure on against the 26-year-old world champion, who countered by throwing haymakers that would find Roman’s chin as it did in round three.
There were blistering combinations exchanged by the two at times, but far more work was done by Roman in close quarters, who eliminated Berchelt’s reach and size advantage by fighting on the inside when he could.
It was a pro crowd for Roman, who arguably built a lead on the scorecards against a fighter who was facing true adversity versus a crafty and relentless slugger.
Berchelt turned the tide in the middle rounds, with rounds six and seven being particularly dominant as he brutalized and dropped the long-time veteran in the sixth before breaking him down with hard combinations in the seventh, forcing Roman for the first time in the fight to take a back foot.
Durable and tough, Roman got back to his feet after another knockdown in round nine and would fight on, but it would only be a matter of time before Berchelt ended the war.
A ferocious volley of punches by Berchelt vs a wounded and battered Roman against the ropes to force referee Jon Schorle to stop the fight with less than 10 seconds remaining in the ninth round.
Berchelt, thought to be a young and raw prospect with much to improve on, stunned a national audience when he dominated fellow Mexican warrior Francisco Vargas in a 11th-Round KO victory back on January 28th, 2017 to win the WBC junior lightweight title.
Since then, all the Cancun, Quintana Roo born boxer-puncher has done is punch his way to an impressive title reign to this point.
With notable victories over Francisco Vargas, Takashi Miura, Maxwell Awuku, Jonathan Victor Berrios and now Miguel Roman, Berchelt has solidified himself as one of the sport’s top pound-for-pound fighters in the world.
He only continues to get better, and he only continues to get stronger with each appearance.
No one is knocking down Miguel Berchelt’s door to fight him, and while that may be disappointing in the immediate future of his career, title holders in his weight class won’t be able to run forever.
That is the reality of the matter.
What are your thoughts on Miguel Berchelt as a top pound-for-pound fighter? Leave your comments below!