Miguel Berchelt isn’t a braggart.
The WBC super featherweight champion prefers to let his performances speak for him. Berchelt isn’t overlooking Oscar Valdez, either, even though many boxing experts expect the bigger, stronger Berchelt to beat the undefeated former WBO featherweight champion February 20 in Las Vegas.
Berchelt believes, though, that he is the best fighter in the 130-pound division. The Mexican veteran intends to prove that by beating Valdez convincingly in a 12-round main event ESPN will televise next month.
“I leave that up to the fans,” Berchelt told BoxingScene.com in reference to whether he is the most formidable fighter in his division. “They can decide who is the best. I don’t like to say it, but that’s what I work for, to be the best. But in this fight, I’m gonna show that I’m the best 130-pounder in the world.”
In order, the 29-year-old Berchelt ranked Gervonta Davis, Jamel Herring and JoJo Diaz behind him among competitors in the 130-pound division.
Baltimore’s Davis (24-0, 23 KOs) owns the WBA super featherweight title. The powerful southpaw viciously knocked out Leo Santa Cruz (37-2-1, 19 KOs) in the sixth round of his last fight, October 31 at Alamodome in San Antonio.
Cincinnati’s Herring holds the WBO junior lightweight championship. Herring (22-2, 10 KOs) is tentatively scheduled to defend his WBO belt against Northern Ireland’s Carl Frampton (28-2, 16 KOs) on February 27 at an undetermined venue in the United Kingdom.
Diaz (31-1, 15 KOs), of Downey, California, is set to make a mandatory defense of his IBF junior lightweight crown against Tajikistan’s Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov (15-0, 12 KOs) on February 13 at The Avalon in Hollywood, California.
Berchelt (38-1, 34 KOs) thinks Herring will defeat Frampton on points the week after he defends his title versus Valdez (28-0, 22 KOs). If those bouts unfold the way Berchelt expects, he’d like to face Herring next in a 130-pound title unification fight.
Berchelt is co-promoted by Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc., the company that promotes Herring.
“That’s a fight that I would like to have,” Berchelt said. “But obviously, right now I’m thinking just about what’s in front of me, and that’s February 20th against Oscar Valdez.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
