Berto still blaming his loss to Ortiz on being anemic

By Boxing News - 01/28/2012 - Comments

Image: Berto still blaming his loss to Ortiz on being anemicBy Eric Thomas: Former IBF/WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto (28-1, 22 KO’s) feels that his loss to Victor Ortiz (29-3-2, 22 KO’s) last April was due to him being supposedly anemic. Berto found out afterwards about his anemia problem and has fixed the issue with the help of nutritionist Victor Conte.

However, Berto looked to be gassing out in the 5th round of his last fight against Jan Zaveck last September, which kind of destroys completely Berto’s excuse for the loss to Ortiz. I don’t for a second think Berto can out of gas because of him being anemic.

I think he’s just not able to fight hard for 12 rounds like Ortiz. I’ve seen plenty of fighters that were in perfect shape and not anemic and they still would run out gas when pushed hard.

It’s a physical thing and not something you can blame on anemia. I think Berto does have a good chance of beating Ortiz because the fight was incredibly close last time around, but I don’t buy into his excuse for his previous loss.

I think Berto will do well early like he did last time, but if Ortiz is still standing in the second half of the fight, then Berto will fade big time if Ortiz is putting the kind of pressure on Berto like he did last time. Berto hit the deck twice in that fight, as did Ortiz, but Berto couldn’t maintain the pace.

He’s a lot like Jean Pascal with his ability fight hard for short periods and then he needs to rest for prolonged periods. The lactic acid must build up in his muscles and he can’t push through it. Berto needs to recognize that he’s not a very good inside fighter and that’s where Ortiz had a BIG advantage last time they fought.

All Ortiz had to do was watch how poorly Berto fought in his questionable 12 round decision win over Luis Collazo in January 2009 and do basically the same thing. That’s what Ortiz did by staying close to Berto and really giving him a beating. I see the same thing happening in the rematch unless Berto can get him out of there early.



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