By Ian S Palmer
WBC Super Featherweight Champion Miguel Berchelt will be taking on fellow Mexican Eleazar Valenzuela in a 10-round non-tile lightweight bout in Mexico City this Saturday, June 27th. Berchelt last fought in November when he stopped Jason Sosa in the fourth round. Valenzuela last saw action in December when he was stopped in the second round by Miguel angel Parra. Saturday’s bout can be seen on ESPN and ESPN Deportes in America while TV Azteca will have it in Mexico and TSN 1 and 4 will show it in Canada.
Berchelt is 28 years old and has an excellent record of 37-1 with 33 Kos. He turned pro back in 2010 and has 147 rounds under his belt since. He stands 5-feet-7-inches tall with a reach of 71.5 inches. Berchelt’s record shows he has quite a bit of power and his current knockout ratio is a very impressive 86.8 per cent. His lone loss was a first-round TKO at the hands of Luis Florez in 2014. Berchelt’s best wins have been against Francisco Vargas (twice), Miguel Roman, Jonathan Barros, Takashi Miura, George Jupp, Rene Gonzalez, Antonio Escalante, Carlos Reyes and Cristobal Cruz.
Berchelt had a fine amateur career and was a three-time national champion. He’s a fan-friendly boxer with an exciting style who gave fans a couple of classics against very tough customers in Vargas and Miura. This is a tuneup bout before his next fight which will see him defending his title for the seventh time. Berchelt can be hit, as Vargas, Miura and others have shown and despite being stopped once he’s displayed a solid chin which should be able to handle Valenzuela’s best shots on Saturday night.
This will be Valenzuela’s 39th pro fight already and he’s just 25 years old. He turned pro in 2012 when he was 17 and has 170 rounds under his belt. Valenzuela enters the ring with a record of 21-13-4 with 16 Kos. He’s also 5-feet-7-inches in height with a 68-inch reach so gives up 3.5-inches in reach to Berchelt.
Valenzuela has fought as low as 112 lbs in his debut and as high 143 lbs in May of last year. He appears to be a stepping stone for good boxers as he’s been beaten by the likes of Zou Shiming, Eduardo Ramirez, David Sanchez, Emanuel Navarrete, Jesus Acosta (twice), Thomas Valdez, Isaac Gonzalez and Jono Carroll. He also fought to a three-round no-contest with Jose Zepeda last year. He fought to a four-round draw in his pro debut and has three more since then.
This is a guy who’s lost 13 fights and draws four and is basically a professional opponent. He’s been stopped three times but has lost just three times in his last 11 outings. He’s got 16 stoppages in his 21 wins so has decent power but overall his knockout ratio stands at just 41 per cent due to all his losses and draws. Valenzuela’s got some boxing skills and power and has taken on some pretty good opposition so far but this is nothing more than a tune-up for Berchelt.
Prediction…
Berchelt’s the real deal with power and speed and is one of the best pound-for-pound boxers on the planet at the moment. I understand he’d like to get some work in and remain in the public eye, but he’s either going to carry Valenzuela for a few rounds or take him out before you can open your beer. Nobody really wants to see either because if he is going to go all out from the opening bell somebody such as Valenzuela could get hurt. This is a mismatch if it’s a real fight and if it isn’t it’s basically a televised sparring session. Still, all it takes is one punch on the button from Valenzuela to make me eat my words but it’s not likely to happen Saturday night.
