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Miguel Berchelt vs Jason Sosa preview, prediction, and odds

Miguel Berchelt vs Jason Sosa
Miguel Berchelt vs Jason Sosa
Posted: 31-10-2019
Author: Andy Farr

 Miguel Berchelt vs Jason Sosa
 WBC World Super Featherweight Title
 Saturday 2nd November 2019
 Dignity Health Sports Park, Carson, California
 Top Rank
 ESPN

In a year that has seen so many great fights take place, you wonder how we can keep getting more. Berchelt vs Sosa maybe another one of those fights.

Top Rank stage the fight at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson California. The fight will be shown live on ESPN in The United States.

This is what many people call a trade fight. Both are well-respected operators and accomplished at world level but not on that 'household name' top tier.

Miguel Berchelt (36-1-0, 32 Ko's) should be seen as an elite level boxer after five successful defences of his WBC super-featherweight crown, but his resume lacks any marquee names. In Sosa, he meets a former world champion who has mixed it with the very, very best, even if he did lose his WBA title to Vasiliy Lomachenko.

Miguel Berchelt vs  Takashi Miura
Miguel Berchelt made the first defence of his WBC title against former champion Takashi Miura in July 2017.

The 27-year-old Berchelt first won world honours in March 2016 when he stopped British super-featherweight George Jupp for the WBO Interim title in his hometown Merida, Mexico, defending it 4 months later against Thailand's Suriya Tatakhun. But it was in January 2017 when Berchelt stopped fellow countryman Francisco Vargas on cuts in 11 rounds to take his WBC title that he came to prominence.

Perhaps the best win of his career came when Berchelt outpointed former champion, Takashi Miura, in his first defence. Miura had made four defences of the title during his reign and was seen as a real threat. However, Berchelt dropped the Japanese fighter in the 1st round and went on to win by wide deficits on the judges scorecards. 

Jason Sosa svs Jorge Pazos
Jason Sosa stops Jorge Pazos back in 2015 in Philadelphia.

Jason Sosa is the first opponent that Berchelt will gain real kudos from if he wins. But winning this fight is not a foregone conclusion by any means. Sosa was the unfortunate loser in a 10 rounder against former 3-weight world champion Yuriorkis Gamboa in November 2017, but very few observers thought the decision was a good one. Not only was Gamboa down in the 7th round but he was docked a point for holding in the 10th and final round, so other than an early career stoppage defeat, Sosa's only real loss was to Lomachenko.

Berchelt's record speaks for itself, he has stopped all but four of the opponents he has beaten. His only loss came by 1st round Tko against Colombian Luis Eduardo Florez in Berchelt's 22nd outing back in 2014. The loss can be looked at in hindsight as a slip up seeing as his following 15 wins include 2 world titles and some very solid opponents such as Vargas, Miura, Jonathan Victor Barros, and Miguel Roman.

If Berchelt can keep the fight at distance he could make it a lot easier on himself, but Sosa is not only an excellent inside fighter, he is also a great boxer. He won't lunge in, but work his way inside and probably back Berchelt up. This is where Berchelt can be hit and hurt. We saw it in the Miguel Roman fight, as soon as Berchelt is backed up, he makes mistakes, he gets his weight way too past his front foot, he loses his height and makes himself vulnerable to over-hand shots. He cannot afford to take clean shots from Sosa for too long.

The smart money says Berchelt will be too fast, too tall, and too fresh for the 31-year-old Sosa who hails from Camden New Jersey, but if Sosa is as up for this fight as he says he is, then the upset win is very possible. This is the best opponent the Mexican will have faced to date.

Prediction: Sosa to stop Berchelt within 6 rounds.