By: Sean Crose
The Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas hosted an evening of Top Rank Promotion’s boxing on Saturday, featuring WBC superfeatherweight champ Miguel Berchelt. The 34-1 titlist put his strap on the line against the popular and hardened vet Miguel Roman, 60-13, in a scheduled twelve round affair. In a fight that was expected to excite audiences, the main even certainly lived up to it’s billing. Although one sided, Berchelt-Roman certainly had its’ share of notable moments. Berchelt may have emerged victorious, but his grizzled opponent showed a ton of heart and refused to go out without battling until the final second of the match.
Photo Credit: Top Rank Boxing Twitter Account
Things began with Berchelt being the more active of the two in round one, peppering his man with straight one-two combinations. Roman came on in the second, rocking the champion and perhaps setting the high intensity tone of the rest of the matchup. Berchelt’s power, it the moment at least, didn’t seem up to par with Roman’s. If things were entertaining in the second, they became absolutely explosive in the third, as Berchelt’s power rose to the occasion and Roman found himself wobbling about the ring. Amazingly, the challenger ended the round on his feet.
Berchelt went on to dominate rounds four and five, yet Roman continued to show great heart. In the sixth, Berchelt sent his man to the canvas. Roman got up, then got sent down again before the bell. Once more, however, Roman survived the round. The seventh through ninth rounds saw Roman continue to be dominated. Yet even in the ninth, the challenger was still coming forward. He wouldn’t make it to the tenth. For Berchelt put Roman back on the mat again before sealing the deal with a blistering combination. At that point, the referee wisely stepped in and halted the proceedings.
Earlier in the night, the 26-3 Miguel Marriaga faced the 20-14-1 Jose Estrella in a scheduled ten round featherweight affair. Marriaga showed a sharp jab in the first. The second round was close, with Estrella controlling the speed and tempo. Things quickly took a turn, though. In the third, Marriaga sent his man down. Estrella got up, but in the fourth he was sent down and out with a piercing body shot. It was Marriaga’s second win in a row since losing to Vasyl Lomachenko via stoppage in 2017. The entire card was aired live on ESPN+, ESPNs streaming service.