Home Boxing News Miguel Berchelt scores ninth round knockout of Miguel Roman in fight of...

Miguel Berchelt scores ninth round knockout of Miguel Roman in fight of the year contender

Miguel Berchelt and Miguel Roman trade blows. Photo credit: Top Rank

WBC super featherweight champion Miguel ‘El Alacran’ Berchelt 35-1 (31) successfully defended his world title for the fourth time with an impressive ninth round TKO of veteran Miguel ‘Mickey’ Roman 60-13 (47) at the Don Haskins Convention Center in El Paso, Texas on Saturday night.

Roman survived two knockdowns in the sixth but couldn’t keep the hard-charging Berchelt off him, with referee Jon Schorle stepping in to stop the contest at 2:58 of the ninth round.

“This was the toughest of my four world title defences,” said Berchelt, who boxed in front of a crowd of 5,420 people.

“I give my respect to Mickey as an opponent. The key was my body work. He kept getting up and fighting with all of his heart. He’s a valiant Mexican warrior.”

The fight was close fought contest for the first five rounds with both Berchelt and Roman displaying quality inside work. The champion broke open the fight in the sixth round when Roman, 32, was clipped by a well-timed right hand that sent him heavily to the canvas.

Berchelt continued to apply the pressure and had Roman on the canvas again before the round ended.

The 26-year-old Mexican took over the fight from there, breaking the challenger down for three more rounds before the fight was called.

“I feel fine. I gave it 100 percent. I’ll be back,” said Roman.

On the undercard perennial contender Miguel ‘The Scorpion’ Marriaga 27-3 (23) knocked out Jose Estrella 20-15-1 (14) in the fourth round with a body shot to keep himself in the mix for another world title shot.

“He was a very tough and strong opponent,” said the 32-year-old Colombian featherweight. “I know he trained hard for this fight, but I trained harder.

“In the end, my experience was key in getting the victory. The plan was to attack the body and that’s exactly what I did. I knocked him out with a huge left hook to the body.

“I know that I have what it takes to become a world champion. I want to challenge for another world title!”