Targeted for September 29th for the super featherweight green belt, assuming WBC titlist Berchelt & his mandatory challenger Román are each victorious in their respective June 23rd bouts. Berchelt is making his final permitted voluntary defense against former WBA featherweight titlist Jonathan Victor Barros of Argentina, while Mickey Román is expected to face Barros' countryman Fernando David Saucedo in a non-eliminator tuneup, having already secured his berth at the #1 contender with consecutive knockout victories over ranked opponents Nery Saguilán, Orlando Salido, and then Aristides Pérez. Román is giving up 2" in height and 4" in reach, and is six years Berchelt's elder.
Love Roman, an underrated little operator all things considered, in my opinion. Glad he's getting a shot.
IB Funfact: this will make three consecutive opponents in a row for Berchelt with 40 pro victories or more, with Maxwell Awuku (44-3-1, 30 kayos), Jonathan Victor Barros (41-5-1, 22 kayos) and Mickey Román (59-12, 46 kayos) boasting a combined record of 144-20-2 (98). If you swapped out Berchelt's originally scheduled February opponent, Cristian Mijares, for whom Awuku served as late substitute, it would be 158-25-3 (94).
I've seen a lot of people bemoaning the career trajectory of Berchelt since lifting the WBC title, and while he indeed hasn't been anything but a comfortable betting favorite since he fought Vargas (or even before; -8500 vs. Awuku, slotted at -2100 vs. Mijares before that one got scuppered, -325 vs. Miura, -990 vs. Tatakhun/Piriyapinyo, and -1200 vs. Jupp ...and only a +200 underdog against Bandido) these are still IMO pretty solid 130lbers for the most part, aside from the last minute replacement Awuku. Omitting the hapless Ghanaian with his woefully padded record; Miura, Barros and Román is by no means a bad start to a reign.
I'm not writing Roman off here, this is a potentially dangerous match for El Alacran, if Mickey can weather the early power shots, he may be able to get on the inside and drag Berchelt into a war that he's not ready fior.
I think Berchelt will be the sort of champ that always carries the air of vulnerability with him (because of the Luis Eduardo Florez match, rightly or wrongly) - same as Wladimir Klitschko, Adonis Stevenson, and many others. A question of "if you're tough enough to absorb the champ's stuff, and pretty heavy-handed yourself...there might be a path to victory for ya.."
