Berchelt vs Jupp is Saturday in Mexico

Berchelt vs Jupp – This Saturday, March 12^th the Polyforum Zam Na in Merida, Mexico hosts a 12 round Super Featherweight encounter with an interim WBO World title on the line between Miguel Berchelt and George Jupp.

Berchelt was originally scheduled to face WBO titleholder Roman Martinez of Puerto Rico in a high profile bout wrought in the traditions of the Puerto Rico vs Mexico rivalry, but hand troubles led Martinez to pull out of the fight.

Berchelt is from Mexico, and the chance to fight Martinez was a major opportunity for the 28-1 fighter.  To his credit, he wanted an opponent and was asking for a new fight to be made. The show is co-promoted by Max Boxing and Promociones Zanfer and is set to air on Azteca television in Mexico, and all parties stayed aboard with the re-made fight.

The opponent will now be 25 year old Englishman George Jupp (13-2). The WBO agreed to create an ‘interim” title to give the new match added relevance.

Jupp and his coach Del Grainger were offered the fight with roughly 10 days notice, and considering Jupp was already training for a fight in early April, the pair could not pass up the opportunity.

Jupp is a five year professional who is on a solid nine fight winning streak. One of his losses came under the unique 3 round format of a “Prizefighter” tournament, and the other came in a 4 round bout back in March of 2011. In his last outing this past December, he outboxed well regarded Mitchell Smith for the WBO’s Inter-Continental belt, and that win is creditted with getting Jupp on the list for the call to fight Berchelt.

Jupp was working his way up the British ranks, and this is his first taste of fighting on the road in a world title-level event. Though you cannot blame him for taking the opportunity, a win on Saturday would leave him with an interim version of a WBO belt where the proper champion is Roman Martinez and fighters such as Takashi Uchiyama, Javier Fortuna, Takashi Miura and Orlando Salido reside.

Put in perspective, the 24 year old Berchelt has a fine record and has 25 KO wins, but his resume doesn’t include any real top shelf competition either, so a win means heady new territory on the world-level for either fighter. Jupp will be a major underdog, as it is clear that the WBO would prefer to set up a Berchelt versus Martinez bout again down the line, with former titleholder Salido also in the mix. Jupp could spoil a lot of plans in Mexico this Saturday night.

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