It was recently announced that WBC super featherweight champion Oscar Valde and WBO super featherweight champion Shakur Stevenson will meet in a unification showdown. The fight will take place April 30 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on the Las Vegas strip and will be televised by ESPN.
The 24-year-old Stevenson captured a silver medal at the 2016 Olympic Games and is already a two-division champion just 17 fights into his pro career.
Valdez (30-0, 23KOs) became a two-division champion when he stopped long time champion Miguel Berchelt last February. He successfully defended his title with a unanimous decision victory over Robson Conceicao in September in a fight that many observers felt should have been awarded to the Brazilian.
Even though he lost to Valdez, Berchelt is rooting for him to pull off the upset against Stevenson (17-0, 9KOs). Many sportsbooks have listed Stevenson as a close to 4-1 favorite.
“I am going for my fellow Mexican,” Berchelt told BoxingScene.com. “I hope he can win but Stevenson is a very tough fight for him. Stevenson has a lot of abilities and is very fast and had a great amateur career. It is going to be a very a complicated fight.”
BoxingScene.com senior writer Jake Donovan recently reported that Berchelt will return to the ring on March 26th against Jeremiah Nakathila (22-2) at a venue to be determined.
Berchelt said that he still couldn’t confirm his opponent but said that his next fight announcement will be officially announced in the very near future.
“I am going to be back in the ring in March. That much I can say. The date and opponent will be announced very soon,” Berchelt stated.
The Quintana Roo, Mexico native had won 17 fights in a row prior to his loss against Valdez.