By Ian S Palmer
Jeremia Nakathila of Namibia will be taking on unbeaten Ernesto ‘Tito’ Mercado of Upland, California in a 10-round junior welterweight tilt this Saturday, November 11th. The bout from Ontario, California can be seen live in America on You Tube courtesy of Fight City Promotions. Nakathila was stopped in the second round by Raymond Muratalla in his last outing in May while Mercado halted Carlos Manuel Portillo in just 96 seconds in August. Muratalla was dropped in the first round while Galindo went down in the fourth. This will be Nakathila’s first bout as a 140 lb junior welterweight.
Nakathila is a 33-year-old who has a mark of 22-3 with 19 Ko’s and has fought 116 rounds since turning pro in 2013. His first loss came at the hands of Evgeny Chuprakov by 12-round majority decision in 2016 for the vacant WBO Inter-Continental Super Featherweight Title and he was beaten in June, 2021 via unanimous decision by Shakur Stevenson in a shot at the WBO interim Super Featherweight Belt. His third defeat was in his last outing when Raymond Muratalla stopped him in the second round.
This will be Nakathila’s fifth fight outside of Africa with all three of his losses coming on the road. The lone win outside of his homeland was an impressive one though as he stopped former world champion Miguel Berchelt in the sixth round in March, 2022. But before meeting Stevenson and Berchelt it would be hard for the average boxing fan to recognize any of his other opponents. Since turning pro he’s won the WBO African Super Featherweight Title though and defended it several times and captured the vacant WBO Global Super Featherweight Crown which he’s also defended a few times.
Unfortunately, Nakathila has an unlisted height and reach but we do know he also possesses pretty good power in his fists as 82.6 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage. He was completely outclassed by Stevenson and lost every round on all three scorecards, but bounced back with a second-round stoppage of Ndodana Ncube and then looked terrific when he dismantled former world champion Berchelt. The momentum was lost though when Muratalla derailed him in May. Nakathila will be stepping up in weight this weekend as well.
As for Mercado, he’s just 22 years old and fights out of Pomona, California. He makes the ring walk with a perfect mark of 12-0 with 11 Ko’s and has boxed just 35 rounds since making his pro debut in 2021. He enjoyed an extensive amateur career which saw him win the USA Youth National Championships, the USA Eastern Regional Youth Open, the USA Youth Golden Gloves and the USA Youth Open Tournament all in 2018. He also took the 2016 USA Junior Open Final.
Mercado is a fine prospect who stopped Jayson Velez in the sixth round for the vacant NABA Super Lightweight Title in October, 2022 and defended it by halting Jose Angulo in the seventh round four months later and Hank Lundy in the first round just two months after that. Mercado likes to keep himself busy in the ring as this will be his fifth fight of the year. He stands 5-feet-10-inches tall with an unlisted reach and has an abundance of power with a current knockout ratio of 91.7 per cent. The only man to go the distance with him as a pro was Xolisani Ndongeni who went 10 rounds in July of this year.
Prediction…
Both boxers have plenty of power but Mercado may have the better chin. Nakathila has more experience as a pro but is 11 years older, is moving up in weight, is coming off of a knockout loss and has lost three of his four fights outside of Africa. Everything points to a Mercado win here but I wouldn’t totally count out Nakathila as he stopped Miguel Berchelt last year. This is a good test for Mercado and he’ll have to withstand Nakathila’s power to pass it and I’m expecting him to do so come Saturday night.
