By Rich Lopez
Who is the best junior lightweight today? Many considered Vasyl Lomachenko the best junior lightweight at one time but he has now settled in the lightweight division. Right now the division is up for grabs and there are many good fighters in the division. Today, the man considered the number one junior lightweight is Miguel Berchelt, and yes I do have to agree with this.
Miguel “El Alacran” Berchelt from Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico has a record of 37-1, 33 KO’s and he is the current WBC Junior Lightweight Champion. He is considered a boxer puncher that throws good combinations with power. Berchelt only has one blemish on his record, which was a technical knockout to Luis Eduardo Florez in the 1st round back in 2014. Berchelt was caught cold with a left hook and went down but got up, prompting the referee to stop the fight. Many thought the fight was stopped too quickly. Ever since then, Berchelt has been on a roll. He has had 16 straight victories with only one of those victories going to distance.
Berchelt was introduced to American audiences in 2017 on HBO and he made a huge statement. He won the WBC World Junior Lightweight title against the durable Francisco Vargas from Mexico. The fight took place in early of 2017. Berchelt beat and cut up Vargas, which prompted the referee to stop the fight in the 11th round in an entertaining bout. He made his first defense of the title when he faced off with Japan’s Takashi Mirura in the summer of 2017. Berchelt dominated the rugged Japanese to earn a unanimous decision in 12 rounds. In 2018, Berchelt scored stoppages against Maxwell Awuku, Jonathan Barros, and Miguel Roman. So far in 2019, Berchelt has continued to stay busy as an active champion. Berchelt stopped Francisco Vargas again in a rematch in May of 2019. About two weeks ago, Berchelt scored another stoppage over Jason Sosa in an exciting matchup.
Right now, Berchelt has the chance to unify titles with the other belt holders such as: Jamel Herring, Andrew Cancio, and Tevin Farmer. To make things more interesting, featherweights Leo Santa Cruz and Oscar Diaz will be moving up to junior lightweight division as well. Berchelt has also gone on record and stated he will fight anyone including moving up in weight to fight Vasyl Lomachenko. Even though the Lineal championship is up for grabs in the junior lightweight division, Berchelt is the number one guy in the division. There is no question about it. Berchelt is an active champion and has already made six title defenses of his title. This is far more than what any other champion has done in the division. On top of that, Berchelt is a must see TV fighter. All of his fights are action packed and he always goes for the knockout.
Berchelt is close to reaching the top of the pound for pound rankings. Another win against one of the current champions at junior lightweight could land him there. Also like Canelo Alvarez, Berchelt would like to be recognized as one of the best fighters from Mexico today.