Berchelt vs Miura Promises All-Action This Saturday

Berchelt vs Miura Promises All-Action This Saturday – As a boxing fan, you hear that fighters from Japan have a reputation for aggressive fighting and for “going out on their shields” in losing efforts. The rivalry between Mexico and Japan has grown over the years to the point where every bout involving fighters from those countries seems to turn into a war.

Well, this Saturday night at the Forum in Inglewood, California, Oscar De La Hoya and his Golden Boy Promotions are rolling out Takashi Miura (31-3-2), the Japanese super featherweight who is the poster boy for the style of fighting described. He is fighting WBC world titleholder Miguel Berchelt (31-1) as he looks to regain the world title he once held. Miura is going to enter the fight an underdog as Berchelt is seen as a hard-punching (28 KOs in 32 pro fights) fighter with a lot less mileage on his body than Miura. Part of what makes Miura a crowd-pleaser is his willingness to take a shot or two or three in order to give one, but against Berchelt that may be a formula for disaster.

The winner of the headline fight could get a title unification bout with the winner of Jezreel Corrales (21-1) and Robinson Castellanos (24-12). The bout is for Corrales WBA world title at 130 pounds and it is clear here that GBP is working towards a champion vs champion match later this year. Castellanos is a solid veteran who took many of the losses on his record early in his career, but Corrales is coming off winning the WBA belt from Takashi Uchiyama, a long-time and very respected champion. Corrales versus Miura or Berchelt is the fight that GBP is looking to make before the end of the year here.

High-level light heavyweight action of the ten-round variety serves as the opener for the HBO broadcast as Joe Smith Jr takes on Sullivan Barrera. Smith Jr is coming off a banner 2016 that saw him defeat both Andrzej Fonfara and Bernard Hopkins, while capturing the WBC’s International belt at 175 pounds. Smith Jr and his supporters had hoped to parlay that into a big money fight, but that has not materialized. The Cuban Barrera is a tough customer with very little name recognition. Barrera’s lone career loss came at the hands of Andre Ward and his amateur background with the Cuban national team gives him pedigree. Smith Jr will enter his third fight in a row a an underdog as a result, which has to have Smith Jr and his camp wondering what a fighter has to do to get a little respect. A knock out over Barrera th9s Saturday night would bolster Smith Jr’s argument.