Los Angeles: Miguel Berchelt (pictured) retained his WBC world title Saturday with a unanimous decision over former champion Takashi Miura in the first defence of his super featherweight belt.
Mexico’s Berchelt won almost every round and it showed on the lopsided scorecards but the unflinching Miura fought on pride and looked like he could have knocked the champion out at any moment.
The judges scored the fight 116-111, 120-109 and 119-108 for the 33-year-old Berchelt who won the title with an 11th round upset victory over Francisco Vargas in January.
Japan’s Miura (31-4-2, 24 KOs) was hoping to reclaim the WBC title which he held for more than two years before losing to Vargas in 2015.
Berchelt set the tone early in the 12-round clash as he rocked Miura with a hard punch in the fifth round that snapped the challenger’s head back at the Forum arena in south central Los Angeles.
Miura took the fight to Berchelt (32-1, 28 KOs) in the seventh round as the Mexican appeared to tire, pawing at him instead of landing solid blows like earlier in the bout.
Berchelt also had to deal the non-stop attack of Miura, who despite taking a massive amount of punishment to the head and body, wouldn’t yield an inch.
Berchelt wobbled Miura in the eighth with a left hook but he couldn’t finish him off.
Miura showed he has a steel chin and still had an opportunity to win the fight heading into the 11th round but only if he could score a knockout against Berchelt, who was in excellent condition.
