Jezreel Corrales is Ready For Miguel Berchelt Unification

By Elisinio Castillo

WBA super featherweight champion Jezreel "El Invisible" Corrales (22-1, 8 KOs) has arrived back home to Panama, to a hero's welcome, and told the local press that he's ready for a unification showdown with WBC super featherweight champion Miguel "El Alacran" Berchelt (32-1, 28 KOs).

This past Saturday night in Los Angeles, both champions were in action on the same card and both bouts were televised by HBO.

In the main event, Berchelt dropped Takashi Miura (31-4-2, 24 KOs) in the first round before rolling to a clear-cut unanimous decision victory over twelve rounds.

In the co-main event, Corrales (22-1, 8 KOs) survived two knockdowns to maintain his WBA belt with a majority decision win over Robinson Castellanos (22-12, 14 KOs).

Castellanos dropped Corrales twice in a wild fourth round, with Corrales visibly shaken up after the second knockdown. But the Panamanian champion regained his footing in the fifth and sixth and sent Castellanos down with a left hook in the seventh.

After a nasty clash of heads in the 10th that busted Castellanos' left cheek wide open, the fight was stopped and went to the scorecards. The judges awarded scores of 94-94, 94-93, 96-92, giving Corrales the majority win.

It was the United States debut for Corrales, who would like to come back to HBO to face Berchelt in a unification.

"If you saw the fight with Berchelt, there is now talk of a fight with him. Just tell me when, I'm ready," Corrales said.

Miura was the mandatory defense for Berchelt, which means he is free and clear to do what he wants in the immediate future. Corrales may have to do a rematch with Castellanos, depending on what the World Boxing Association plans to do. Castellanos claims Corrales used his head intentionally and was looking for a way out. His team will petition to the WBA to order an immediate rematch.