Jeremiah Nakathila journeyed nearly 10,000 miles from Namibia to Las Vegas, and he didn’t travel all that way to play second fiddle.
Nakathila knocked out former world champion Miguel Berchelt in a stunning upset Saturday evening at Resorts World Las Vegas. The fight was stopped after six one-sided rounds. Berchelt was knocked down in the third with a jab and behind on the scorecards at the time of the stoppage (60-53 3x).
Berchelt (38-3, 34 KOs) had not fought since his February 2021 knockout loss to Oscar Valdez, and Nakathila (23-2, 19 KOs) provided anything but a soft landing spot. Nakathila had fought once since a wide points loss to Shakur Stevenson, but his second American fight went far better than the first. He found a home for the right hand and wobbled Berchelt on multiple occasions.
Berchelt showed signs of a comeback in the fifth, but Nakathila immediately took the play away in the sixth. Right hands and left hooks found their mark, and referee Russell Mora, on advice of the ringside physicians, would not permit Berchelt to come out for the seventh round.
Nakathila said, “From the first round, my corner told me to take my time. 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.
“He didn’t really bother me, the way he swung. I just got back to my game plan, and I capitalized.
“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.”
Added 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, and I will go home, spend time with my family, visit with them, get some rest, and I am going to come back stronger than ever.”
Featherweight: Eduardo Baez (21-2-2, 7 KOs) MD 10 Jose Enrique Vivas (21-2, 11 KOs). Scores: 95-95, 96-94 and 98-92. In the co-feature, Baez announced his presence as a title contender with a closely contested victory over his Mexican countryman. It was expected to be a toe-to-toe barnburner, but Baez played the role of boxer, using an educated jab to blunt Vivas’ attack. Vivas found pockets of success in the 10th, backing Baez to the ropes and unloading. Baez was never in serious trouble and prevailed by a slim margin on the cards. He outlanded Vivas 304-215.
Junior Featherweight: Carlos Caraballo (15-1, 14 KOs) MD 8 Luis Fernando Saavedra (9-7, 3 KOs). Scores: 76-76, 77-75 and 79-73. Caraballo rebounded from last October’s decision loss to Jonas Sultan with a closer-than-expected challenge from the rugged Mexican. It was a battle of Caraballo’s pure boxing against the come-forward body attack of Saavedra, who found occasional, if not consistent, success. Saavedra won the eighth round on all three judges’ cards, but Caraballo’s early lead held up.
Welterweight: Tiger Johnson (3-0, 2 KOs) TKO 4 Sebastian Gabriel Chaves (5-4, 2 KOs), 1:42. Johnson, who represented the U.S. last summer at the Tokyo Olympics, kept the momentum going with a one-sided beatdown over Chaves. Johnson knocked down Chaves with a straight right hand early in the fourth and ended it later in the round with a left hook that prompted referee Kenny Bayless to wave off the contest.
Junior Welterweight: Josue Vargas (20-2, 9 KOs) UD 8 Nicolas Pablo Demario (15-6-3, 9 KOs) Scores: 76-74 2x and 76-73. Vargas returned from his first-round knockout defeat to Jose Zepeda, but it was not without controversy. The most eventful thing to happen was not Vargas getting dropped with a left hand in the fifth round. It happened later in the fifth, when Demario bit Vargas on the right shoulder. Demario was deducted one point for the infraction, and Vargas outboxed him the rest of the way.
Featherweight: Haven Brady Jr. (6-0, 3 KOs) TKO 4 Jose Argel (8-3, 2 KOs), 2:05. “The Hitman” found his target early and often, battering Argel to the body in the first three rounds. Brady scored his first knockdown with a right hand, then ended the bout with an uppercut on the inside. Argel, from Chile, had never been knocked out entering the fight.
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Light Heavyweight: Dante Benjamin Jr. (2-0, 1 KO) UD 4 Kevin Johnson (2-1, 1 KO). Scores: 40-36 3x. Benjamin, a native of Cleveland went the distance for the first time in his young career and cruised past the durable Johnson.
Junior Featherweight: Arturo Cardenas (2-0-1, 2 KOs) DRAW 4 Juan Hernandez Martinez (2-0-1). In a phone booth affair, the judges’ cards reflected the back-and-forth nature of the four-rounder. Martinez swept the fourth to earn the draw.
Lightweight: Adrian Serrano (0-0-1) DRAW 4 Estevan Partida (0-1-1). Scores: 38-38, 39-37 Serrano, 39-37 Partida. The 17-year-old Serrano, from Salinas, California, went for broke in the opening round but ran into a rough customer in Partida. Serrano won the fourth round on two of the three scorecards to salvage the draw in his pro debut.
