Berchelt vs. Roman Preview

Saturday’s fight in El Paso between WBC 130-pound title holder Miguel Berchelt and countryman Miguel “Mickey” Roman is being ballyhooed as a potential Fight of the Year candidate. Based on the well-earned reputations of both fighters — and notwithstanding the fact that Berchelt is heavily favored — that’s a reasonable supposition.

Berchelt (34-1, 30 KOs) will be making the fourth defense of the title he won with an 11^th round stoppage of Francisco Vargas. Entering that fight, Berchelt had never gone beyond six rounds, but he showed great stamina in wearing down and ultimately stopping his previously undefeated foe.

At age 32, Mickey Roman (60-12, 47 KOs) is six years older than Berchelt, but he’s been aging like fine wine. He’s 23-1 with 21 knockouts since losing a 12-round decision to Dante Jardan in 2012. He’s won his last four inside the distance, most notably a ninth round stoppage of warhorse Orlando Salido.

Roman, who resides across the river from El Paso in Juarez, figures to have the crowd in his corner. He is bidding to become the second fighter from Juarez to win a world title, following in the footsteps of his former intra-city rival Cesar Soto who unseated WBC featherweight champion Luisito Espinosa at El Paso in 1999.

The show will air live in the United States on ESPN+ with the main card, which includes the Marriaga-Estrella tilt, slated to go at 9:30 pm ET. In Great Britain, the fights will air on Box Nation.

UNDERCARD

Two 10-round fights brace the ho-hum undercard. In a featherweight contest, Colombia’s Miguel Marriaga 26-3 (22) opposes Tijuana’s Jose Estrella 20-14-1. Marriaga is making his second start since suffering back-to-back defeats to title-holders Oscar Valdez and Vasiliy Lomachenko. In a lightweight bout, Saul “Neno” Rodriguez 21-0-1 (15) returns to action after a 21-month hiatus to oppose Claudio Tapia 28-18-4. It’s a shed-the-ring-rust fight for Rodriguez against a 38-year-old Argentine who has been stopped seven times.

Rodriguez vs. Tapia won’t be on the Box Nation telecast, yielding its spot to an 8-round affair between super lightweights Robson Canceicao and Joey Laviolette. The undefeated Canceicao (9-0) won gold at the Rio Olympics, becoming the first Brazilian to win an Olympic gold medal in boxing. Laviolette (9-1) is a mystery fighter from Nova Scotia, Canada.

The most interesting of the undercard matches is the 8-round contest between super middleweights Janibek Alimkhanuly (3-0) and Vaughn Alexander (12-1). On paper, Kazakhstan’s Alimkhanuly, who had a decorated amateur career, is taking a big jump up in class in only his fourth pro fight. Alexander, the 32-year-old brother of former world two-division world titlist Devon Alexander, was upset in his last start, losing a wide 10-round decision to journeyman Denis Douglin, but prior to that he had won seven straight since resuming his career after an 11-year stint in prison on an armed robbery conviction.

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