WBC super featherweight champion Miguel "Alacrán" Berchelt was not concerned with money when he was presented with the opportunity to fight again.
In his first bout since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Berchelt will return to the ring on Saturday night, in a stay-busy fight taking place at the TV Azteca studios in Mexico, behind closed doors.
But, Berchelt will be making well below his usual purse.
The upcoming fight will serve as a springboard to a future showdown with mandatory challenger Oscar Valdez, in what the champion estimates could be the start of a great trilogy between Mexican fighters.
“I'm accustomed to fighting in the United States arenas, for good money, but when my promoters told me that there was a possibility of returning to Mexico City... they asked me that if I wanted to fight and I did not ask about the purse or say anything. At the end of the day, they told me 'you are not going to earn like you did in the United States', I replied 'that does not matter to me',” said Berchelt.
"In the end, I wanted to give back a little bit of something that belongs to the people, the sport of fists has always been one of the sports of the working class. We are tired of hearing a lot of bad news, we have to give a lot of good news. And, well, one of the best pieces of news is that boxing is back. The 'Vaquero' (Navarrete) has already returned and this Saturday the 'Alacrán' will return."
Guillermo Brito, operational director of Zanfer Promotions, confirmed that the world champions who occupy the main events of these closed door cards have agreed to considerably reduce their income.
“That was definitive, we had to adjust wages. The star fighters did have to collaborate, it is their way of contributing. Berchelt, 'Vaquero' and Jackie Nava , their costs are very high, but this time they were considerably accessible. Many of us invested in procedures to ensure the health of everyone involved, something that had never been budgeted for in the past," Brito said.