Junior lightweight titleholder Miguel Berchelt was as hot as any fighter when the coronavirus pandemic took hold.
The 28-year-old Mexican won his 130-pound title by stopping Francisco Vargas in the 11th round of an entertaining brawl in 2017 and he has successfully defended six times against solid opposition, five times by knockout.
Berchelt (37-1, 33 KOs) will have many options when the sport is up and running again. He is focused on the No. 1 contender for his belt – Oscar Valdez – but a number of other fighters are possible opponents. Among them: Shakur Stevenson, Joseph Diaz Jr., Rene Alvarado, Jamel Herring, Vasiliy Lomachenko and Gervonta Davis.
Here are Berchelt’s thoughts on facing some of these rivals, courtesy of Top Rank:
Valdez, the No. 1 contender for his belt and a protégé of trainer Eddy Reynoso
“Yes, of course I believe Oscar is a great fighter. I respect him a lot, but now we must face each other. I think Eddy Reynoso has come to add a lot of good things to his corner. He has also done a good job with Canelo Alvarez and Ryan Garcia. Now he is doing it with Oscar Valdez. It’s an excellent team, but on my side, I’m the champion and I also have a great trainer in Alfredo Caballero. It will be a great fight between Mexican fighters and Mexican trainers.”
Could Valdez’s aggressive style work against him?
“No, I think they will have to come up with a good strategy. It’s worth noting that Oscar has already suffered an injury on his jaw. If I’m not mistaken, it happened in his fight against Scott Quigg. He broke his jaw. That’s why I believe they are going to try to fight a smart fight. He is also moving up in weight, and I don’t think he should be trading punches with me.”
Stevenson, a 126-pound titleholder
“He is also a great fighter. Shakur Stevenson is a former Olympian and trains alongside Terence Crawford. I believe he is a fighter with a lot of ability and is one of the best fighters that Top Rank has right now, but like I mentioned, we are waiting for the fight with Oscar. I think [Stevenson] is still campaigning at 126. But when he gets to 130, I would like to face him. I think he is a great fighter, and I believe the fans want to see ‘El Alacrán’ Berchelt against the best.”
Diaz, a 130-pound titleholder
“I would love to [fight him]. JoJo Diaz was recently crowned as IBF champion. Also, Jamel Herring and Rene Alvarado. There are some great champions in the division, but right now, all I have on my mind is to face Oscar, be victorious on this seventh title defense, and after that, whoever comes, comes for Miguel Berchelt.”
Lomachenko, 135-pound titleholder
“Right now, he is one of the top three pound-for-pound fighters in the world. I think he is only behind Canelo Alvarez. I would like to [fight him]. Right now, my focus is getting through this situation of the pandemic. Then I will begin training and returning to all activities so I can face Oscar Valdez. After that, we can talk moving up to 135 to face someone like Vasiliy Lomachenko. He is a fighter that I have always wanted to face, or Teofimo Lopez.”
Davis, 135-pound contender
“There are a lot of good fights to be made, but without a doubt, I would love to face Gervonta Davis. He is a very dangerous fighter and a lot of people would like to face him, but his promoter, Floyd Mayweather, protects him too much.”