Berto suffers biceps tear in Quintana fight

By Sean McDaniel: World Boxing Council welterweight champion Andre Berto (26-0, 20 KO’s) was diagnosed by doctors for a tear of his left biceps from Berto’s fight with Carlos Quintana last Saturday night at the BankAtlantic Center, in Sunrise, Florida. Berto, 26, apparently tore his left biceps in the 2nd round and had to fight with the condition until stopping Quintana in the 8th round with a flurry of hard shots using both hands. Dan Rafael of ESPN reports that Berto was seen by a doctor on Tuesday at which time the biceps tear was diagnosed.

The condition will take six to eight weeks to heal. After the injury occurred, there were fears that had torn one of his tendons in his left arm. However, the doctor didn’t see any sign that Berto’s tendons were affected. This is good because it would take a lot longer for a tendon injury to heal. To ensure that he was properly diagnosed, Berto will be seeking a second opinion by another doctor, Rafael reports.

The injury to Berto’s left arm would help explain why Berto looked so bad against Quintana. Berto looked slow on his feet for much of the fight, moving poorly, rarely jabbing and getting nailed repeatedly by Quintana. Berto looked barely better than Quintana for most of the fight until Berto opened up with a flurry of shots against the tiring Quintana in the 8th round. Berto’s defense was missing in the fight and he slapped a lot with his punches. In comparisons to other top welterweights in the division like Manny Pacquiao, Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather, Berto didn’t look anywhere near the same class. But at 26, Berto has the advantage of being able to improve- hopefully – and stick around the division long after Mayweather, Pacquiao and Mosley hang up the gloves.

Berto is one of the potential opponent for Pacquiao in his next fight in September or November. With the huge money that Berto can potentially make in a fight against Pacquiao, it’s very important that Berto’s left arm is properly diagnosed and healed so he doesn’t end up blowing a huge payday with Pacquiao.

A fight between Berto and Pacquiao would be especially appealing because of the blazing hand speed of Berto. He would likely be the fastest opponent that Pacquiao has fought in his career and with his bigger size, Berto would possibly be able to give Pacquiao a strong test. Berto will have to improve on his movements around the ring, though, because he’ll be picked apart by Pacquiao if he looks as sluggish as he did against Quintana last Saturday.

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