Posted on 03/28/2022
By: Hans Themistode
After watching his world title dreams fade into the shadows following his one-sided unanimous decision defeat at the hands of Shakur Stevenson in 2021, Jeremia Nakathila was in search of a career jumpstart.
In an effort to prove that he is, in fact, a top contender and true title threat, Nakathila ditched the super featherweight division and found a new home five pounds north. In his first fight as a full-fledged lightweight, Nakathila took on Miguel Berchelt, a former titleholder at 130 pounds in desperate need of his own career rival, this past weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Heading into their ESPN headliner, Nakathila, while respected, was viewed as a considerable underdog. But while the 32-year-old was given little to no chance at pulling off the victory, he shrugged his naysayers off and went on to hand Berchelt one of the most violent beatings of the calendar year.
At no point did Berchelt seem to be in control as Nakathila pressured his man all night long. With the former 130-pound titlist hitting the deck on two separate occasions, Nakathila refused to take his foot off the gas, finishing him off in the sixth round. With the win now safely in his possession, Nakathila believes his name should be mentioned amongst the best 135 pounders in the world.
“It was a good fight,” said Nakathila during an interview with Fight Hub TV. “Berchelt is not a walk in the park but I make it look easy. It’s a signal to the lightweight division that Jeremia Nakathila belongs to the A level in the lightweight division.”
Having loudly stomped his way onto the 135-pound scene, Nakathila is in no mood to stop his momentum now. With his dreams of becoming a world champion still at the forefront of his mind, Nakathila has become enthralled by the endless possibilities that now await him.
In terms of whom he would like to face next, while he admits that the lightweight division is stacked with talent and intriguing matchups, he has his eyes set on one fighter in particular.
“I know there are great champions in the lightweight division but I’m not fearing none of them. I would like to fight Devin Haney, I want him. I use to look at Devin Haney videos, I can see his weakness. He’s very beatable.”
Regardless of whether Haney is “beatable” or not, Nakathila will have to wait his turn before facing him in the ring. Recently, the 23-year-old WBC titlist agreed to terms to take on current unified champion, George Kambosos Jr. on June 5th. Should Haney emerge victoriously, he’ll be forced to face Kambosos Jr. again.
If Haney proves that his victory against Kambosos Jr. was no fluke, he find himself facing off against pound-for-pound star, Vasiliy Lomachenko.