One of the most anticipated fights of 2021 finally comes to life when Mexicans Miguel Berchelt and Óscar Valdez enter the balloon ring at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas to clarify which of the two can be called the king of super featherweight. The fight will headline a Top Rank book that begins with the preliminaries at 18:30 ET in Spanish on ESPN +. The main card can be seen starting at 22 pm ET on ESPN and ESPN +.
Berchelt (38-1, 34 KOs) won the title by defeating Francisco Vargas with a thrilling 11th round tie in 2017. At the time of the stop, two judges had Berchelt ahead 96-94 and the other 95-95 .
Berchelt defended the belt six times, including a TKO in the sixth round against Vargas in a rematch two years later. Berchelt fought once in 2020, a TKO victory over Eleazar Valenzuela in an untitled fight in Mexico in August.
Valdez (28-0, 22 KOs) is a former world featherweight champion. He defeated Matías Carlos Adrián Rueda in 2016 to win the WBO belt and made six defenses in a row, including an epic fight with Scott Quigg in which Valdez suffered a broken jaw in the fifth round but ended the fight to win. by decision. . Valdez gained weight in 2019 and has TKO victories over Adam Lopez and Jayson Velez at 130 pounds.
Both Berchelt and Valdez are undefeated in the championship fights. The fight was originally scheduled for December 12, but Berchelt gave positive results for COVID-19 in November and the fight was postponed. In the style of the fighters, this could be another mandatory fight between Mexican colleagues, a list that includes formidable battles between Israel Vázquez and Rafael Márquez in their first fight in 2007 and Erik Morales-Marco Antonio Barrera 1 in 2000.
The rest of the card features several Latino potentials, such as Elvis “The Dominican Kid” Rodríguez and Puerto Rican Xander Zayas; The co-feature of the day features junior lightweight competitor Gabriel Flores Jr. against former Puerto Rican world title challenger Jayson Velez.
Check all the results here Berchelt-Valdez billboard (in the US you can watch the fights here on ESPN +):
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In the program To the blows, analyze the fight between Miguel Berchelt and Óscar Valdez, who will meet for the 130-pound WBC title.
Falcao remains undefeated to the detriment of Akavov
Brazilian Esquiva Falcao kept his record immaculate with a tie in the fourth round of Russian midfielder Artur Akavov.
Akavov’s corner stopped the fight at the end of the fourth round, after he reported to the officers the loss of sight in his left eye and an apparently broken nose. It was an expected result, as Akavov (20-4, 9 KOs) had become an easy target for Falcao’s second-round shots.
Falcao (28-0, 20 KOs) calmly dominated the ring, put his rival on the ropes and soaked him with stinging combinations. Apart from an aggressive first round, Akavov’s crime practically ceased to exist, he did not seem comfortable responding to Falcao’s blows against the ropes and rarely threw several blows at a time.
Falcao mixed his body and his blows well. Akavov shook his head normally, as if to suggest that the blows would not come, but it was obvious that Falcao was wearing him effectively.
A 2012 Olympic silver medalist, Falcao won 2-0 in 2020, fighting exclusively in Brazil.
Rodríguez completes the route for the first time against Verón
Junior welterweight player Elvis Rodriguez was forced to claim his first card victory on Saturday, although it may not have been the worst for his development.
The 25-year-old boxer got a decision in eight rounds over Luis Albert Veron, with scores of 79-73, 79-73 and 78-74. This is the first time Rodriguez has completed the agreed-upon assaults in his two-year career. Rodriguez (11-0-1, 10 KOs), who trains with Hall of Fame Freddie Roach, was patient at first against his more experienced opponent and began to make a difference in the fifth and sixth rounds as he which landed blows to the body and a clean straight hook. He managed to hurt Veron (18-3-2, 9 KOs) late in the sixth.
The difference in power was visible early on and became more pronounced as the struggle progressed. For the past two rounds, Veron’s face showed bruises and swelling under his left eye. It was not the most brilliant performance of Rodríguez’s career, but it gave him a valuable lesson and kept his record intact.
Veron has suffered three losses in his last four professional fights.
Zayas dominates Martin
Xander Zayas, one of the most appreciated potentials of the Top Rank, continues to progress and now completely dominated James Martin for six rounds in their welterweight clash.
Zayas (7-0, 5 KOs), from San Juan, Puerto Rico, set the tone for the fight with strong left hooks on his body, followed by combinations on his head. Martin (6-2, 1 KO), a 23-year-old from Philadelphia, showed his heart and responded intentionally, but Zayas’ defensive skills proved to be as impressive as his offense. Every day, he got out of the way of evil and responded with his fists to Martin’s abdomen.
The 18-year-old welterweight failed to record a knockout for the first time in four appearances, but that doesn’t slow him down, as he had a large number of unanswered shots against the ropes near the end of lap four and Martin wounded his right bite in the fifth, though he was never in serious danger of being shot down.
Zayas, who signed with Top Rank at the age of 16, earned his second career victory in Las Vegas. This was his first appearance in the Top Rank balloon, after he fought in Florida in the second half of 2020.
Martinez dispatches Wagner in the first round
The middleweight prospect, Javier Martinez, quickly worked on Billy Wagner of Montana, getting a TKO at 1:15 of the first round.
Martinez (3-0, 1 KO), 25, staggered Wagner (3-2, 1 KO), 28, with a right back kick, which was declared eliminated after Wagner was on the ropes. Moments later, Martinez landed another monster right and left right in the middle, then Wagner’s corner threw in the towel just as the judge stopped the fight.
Martinez’s victory was the third in nine months.
The first knockout for Rosario
Omar Rosario managed the first knockout of his professional career when he dropped Uriel Villanueva with a left hook on his body at 2:38 minutes of the second round, of a junior welterweight in four rounds.
Rosario, (3-0, 1 KO), originally from Puerto Rico and wearing the number 21 of the late Roberto Clemente in shorts, landed right in Villanueva’s head in the first round which was the best shot of the season. , but defined it with constant work on the body, which paid off in the second round, when he forced Villanueva (1-1) to kneel twice before the fight was stopped.
Rosario, 23, became a professional in August 2020.
The rest of the billboard
Director (ESPN / ESPN +)
• Championship fight: Miguel Berchelt vs. Oscar Valdez, 12 rounds, for Berchelt’s WBC super featherweight title
• Gabriel Flores Jr. vs. Jayson Velez, 10 rounds, light junior weight