-
Mike CoppingerESPN
Miguel Berchelt and Jeremiah Nakathila have agreed to a deal for a March 26 lightweight fight, sources told ESPN.
The bout will headline Top Rank Boxing on ESPN at a location to be determined, the sources said.
Berchelt (38-2, 34 KOs) will now campaign at 135 pounds after he lost his 130-pound title to Oscar Valdez through a brutal KO in February 2021. The 30-year-old Mexican hasn’t competed since.
His return bout comes against an unheralded fighter from Namibia who dropped a unanimous decision to Shakur Stevenson in June. Nakathila (22-2, 18 KOs) was floored in Round 4 of his U.S. debut and lost every round on all three judges’ scorecards.
The 32-year-old returned to the ring with an October victory in Namibia, the site of all but one of his fights.
Berchelt made eight successful defenses of his junior lightweight title before the 10th-round KO by Valdez.