“El Alacran” is back after a year away. Mike Coppinger, confirming an earlier report from Salvador Rodriguez, brings word that Miguel Berchelt has “agreed” to face Jeremiah Nakathila in March 26th ESPN main event.
Berchelt (38-2, 34 KO) enjoyed a four-year reign as WBC super featherweight champion, ultimately establishing himself as the division’s clear number one. That all came to a crashing halt last February when Oscar Valdez demolished him with what would have been 2021’s Knockout of the Year were it not for Fury-Wilder 3.
The 30-year-old claimed afterwards that he’d suffered from a bad weight cut and could no longer make the 130-pound limit. Bob Arum floated the idea of pitting him against Shakur Stevenson, but instead cut out the middleman and just threw Stevenson at Valdez.
Cue Nakathila (22-2, 18 KO). “Low Key” was an unfortunate casualty of the WBO’s policies, as rising featherweight champs Valdez and Stevenson stole his place as mandatory challenger. Valdez wound up challenging Berchelt instead, while Nakathila lost a wide and unpleasant decision to Stevenson in an interim title bout.
Him against Berchelt figures to be a lot more fun, and if Berchelt’s durability is genuinely shot, Nakathila hits hard enough to exploit it. Not main event-worthy, of course, but should be worth a watch.