Jeremia Nakathila batters Miguel Berchelt

Former world champion Miguel Berchelt was brutally knocked out by Oscar Valdez 13 months ago. 

One of the questions going into his fight with Jeremia Nakathila was, could he come back.? 

Nakathila said he could not. 

“He’s not the same guy,” said the contender from Namibia. 

Nakathila backed up his words by punishing and stopping former world champion Berchelt at Resorts World in Las Vegas, NV. 

In round one, Nakathila established the jab. He fired rights. Was he trying to check the chin of Berchelt? An up hook landed. Berchelt attempted to be busier in round two. He fired a few rights.  Nakathila connected to the body. He clipped Berchelt with rights. The first two rounds were his. 

Berchelt looked unsure of himself. He moved away. Sluggers don’t usually move away, especially ones with 34 knockouts in 38 wins. 

Nakathila was fighting with confidence. A stiff jab floored Berchelt. He got up. Nakathila went for broke. He fired several rights. A few landed. Berchelt remained standing. Nakathila tried to end things in round four. It was bombs away. Berchelt wasn’t punching much. Nakathila landed a hard right. Berchelt finally connected with a hard left. 

In round five, Nakathila landed but ate a sweeping left from Berchelt. Nakathila connected with two strong right hands. Berchelt stepped forward and scored with an uppercut. He was trying to make something happen. Guts. Both fighters landed power shots. Neither went down. Berchelt was fighting for his career. 

Berchelt tried to build off his success in round six. Nakathila landed a three-punch combination. Seconds later he landed another one. A follow-up right knocked Berchelt’s mouthpiece out. His nose was bleeding. He wobbled back to his corner. His corner told him the fight was over. Berchelt said nothing.  

“From the first round, my corner told me to take my time,” said Nakathila. “I know what I have. I knew it would be difficult for him to reach the 10th round. It wasn’t so easy, but I made it look easy. 
 
 “Luckily, {he couldn’t continue}. I was going to knock him out or put him to sleep in a bad way. Luckily, he saw it coming and decided he couldn’t come back.”
 
Said Berchelt, “I’m going to get up. I’m going to rise from this. The great champions are not the ones who fall. The great champions are those who rise.”

Doubtful. Berchelt’s punch resiliency looks shot. He was off balance - and his defense, always spotty, was full of holes. He can still beat some fighters, but based on what happened Saturday night in Sin City, not the top ones.