Advertisement

Miguel Berchelt to defend WBC 130-pound belt against Oscar Valdez; Crawford-Brook fight close

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO - JUNE 27: Miguel 'Alacran' Berchelt celebrates defeating Eleazar 'Tronco' Valenzuela during an unofficial fight At TV Azteca on June 27, 2020 in Mexico City, Mexico. The event is organized and broadcasted by TV Azteca as part of a TV Show. Sporting events are not permitted in Mexico as a preventive measure to halt spread of COVID-19. (Photo by Jaime Lopez/Jam Media for Zanfer/Getty Images)
Miguel Berchelt will defend his WBC super featherweight title on Dec. 12 in Las Vegas against Oscar Valdez. (Photo by Jaime Lopez/Getty Images)

Top Rank is finishing the year strong with high-end bouts on ESPN. It had previously announced that the lightweight title unification bout between WBA-WBO lightweight champion Vasiliy Lomachenko and IBF champion Teofimo Lopez would be Oct. 17 in Las Vegas on ESPN.

On Thursday, a source with knowledge of the matter confirmed to Yahoo Sports that WBC super featherweight champion Miguel Berchelt will defend his belt on ESPN against Oscar Valdez. The site is not finalized for that one, but it is targeted for Las Vegas.

Also, a source confirmed that a welterweight title bout between WBO champion Terence Crawford and challenger Kell Brook is in the home stretch, though it is not finalized. It is being targeted for Nov. 14.

The possibility of that bout was first reported by The Athletic. It is either going to be in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand conference center or in the United Kingdom, where Brook is from. If it goes to the UK, there would be limited fans at the event, the source told Yahoo Sports.

The Crawford-Brook fight would also wind up on ESPN, if it is finalized.

The Berchelt-Valdez fight, though, figures to be a contender for Fight of the Year. Berchelt has gone 16-0 with a no contest in his last 17 fights and has finished 15 of them. He’s 37-1 with 33 knockouts. In Valdez, he’ll be facing a high-energy former featherweight champion who is 28-0 with 22 KOs.

More from Yahoo Sports: