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Miguel Berchelt stops George Jupp in six

Fighters Network
14
Mar
Photo courtesy of Zanfer Promotions

Photo courtesy of Zanfer Promotions

It may not have been against Roman “Rocky” Martinez but Miguel Berchelt still secured an impressive win on Saturday night.
Berchelt stopped George Jupp in the sixth round before a raucous hometown crowd at the Polyforum Zam Na in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico.
Berchelt scores his eighth consecutive knockout win and improves to 29-1 (26 knockouts). Jupp drops to 13-3 (4 KOs).
Martinez was scheduled to defend his WBO junior lightweight title against Berchelt, his mandatory challenger. Martinez withdrew from the fight on March 4 after suffering an injury to his left hand during training camp.
A physician in Puerto Rico, where Martinez is from, reportedly diagnosed Martinez’s left hand with tendonitis and recommended at least a month’s rest.
Jupp, ranked No. 6 by the WBO, took the fight with one week’s notice. He entered Saturday’s bout having won nine bouts straight.
Jupp attempted to work Berchelt’s body with jabs to set up straight right hands to the head. By the third round, Berchelt began to walk Jupp down, hammering the British fighter with left and right hands to the head.
A barrage of punches from Berchelt, which culminated with a left hand to the head, dropped Jupp near the end of the fourth round. The bell saved Jupp from further punishment.
Berchelt continued to apply pressure in the fifth round, letting his hands go as Jupp was against the ropes. Berchelt continued to hammer Jupp until a left hook to the body followed by a left to the head dropped Jupp to one knee with 30 seconds left in the round. Again, Jupp was able to escape the round.
The end came at 1:55 of the sixth round when Berchelt dropped Jupp with a vicious left uppercut to the head. Referee Mark Nelson immediately waved the fight off, sparring Jupp from more punishment.
When Martinez is cleared to fight, he must defend his WBO junior lightweight title against Berchelt. If he does not, Martinez would be stripped by the sanctioning body and Berchelt will be elevated to full champion.
In other bouts:
– Junior bantamweight Junior Granados (15-4-1, 8 KOs) of Mexico won a 10-round split decision over Aston Palicte (20-2, 17 KOs). One judge scored the bout 97-94 for the Filipino fighter, while the other two judges scored the bout 97-93 and 97-94 for Granados.
– Lightweight Carlos Jimenez (10-5-1, 6 KOs) scored a minor upset on paper, knocking out previously unbeaten Eduardo Torres (19-1, 11 KOs) in the fifth round.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for RingTV since Oct. of 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper, Boxingscene.com, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing.

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