Miguel Berchelt ready to make a splash at lightweight – Ring News 24 | Boxing News

Former WBC super featherweight champion Miguel ‘El Alacran’ Berchelt 38-2 (34) will step up to lightweight to take on Namibia’s Jeremiah ‘Low Key’ Nakathila 22-2 (18) over 10-rounds at Resorts World Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday night.

The Nakathila bout will be the 30-year-old Mexican’s first outing since losing his 130-pound title to countryman Oscar Valdez 30-0 (23) by 10th round knockout in February last year.

The move up in weight appears to be long overdue for the five-foot-seven Berchelt who has a big frame for the super featherweight division.

The lightweight division is steeped in history and is currently going through something of a renaissance. Australia’s George Kambosos Jr 20-0 (10) currently holds the the WBA, WBO and IBF titles, while Devin Haney 27-0 (15) is the WBC titleholder.

Waiting in the wings are former three-weight world champion Vasiliy Lomachenko 16-2 (11) and rising star Ryan Garcia 21-0 (18).

Berchelt says he is ready for all of them.

“This will be a great comeback,” said Berchelt, who made six successful defences of his 130-pound bel. “I am very happy and excited to be the first athlete to bring a sporting event to Resorts World Las Vegas.

“I am ready to make my debut at 135 pounds against a great opponent like Jeremiah Nakathila. I’m going to put on a spectacular show for my people and I’m sending a message to the lightweight division. They must contend with me!

“My goal is to become world champion at lightweight. It will not be easy because I know that at 135 pounds there are a lot of great fighters. Most importantly, I have the desire and the potential to be crowned once again as world champion.”

Berchelt spent camp training alongside UFC star Brandon Moreno, the first Mexican-born champion in the organisation’s history.

“It motivated me to train with Brandon Moreno,” Berchelt said. “The truth is that he is a great person and he has done amazing things to raise the Mexican flag very high.

“Right now we are training together and I feel very happy to be his training partner. We are both working hard to continue representing Mexico with great pride.”

Berchelt has moved his training camp to Las Vegas where he is working under Jorge Capetillo.

“The experience of changing my training camp to Las Vegas with coach Jorge Capetillo has been very good,” Berchelt said.

“In this city there are many champions and I think that God brought me here for a reason.

“There are many styles of sparring partners, which I was not able to find in Mexico. It has also been a great experience to run up Mount Charleston. I think all these changes are for the best and we are ready to return to the ring with a big win!”