By Dan Ambrose: With two losses in his last three fights, former IBF/WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto’s career as a upper level fighter is on the ropes as he approaches his July 27th fight against Jesus Soto Karass (27-8-3, 17 KO’s) at the AT&T Center, in San Antonio, Texas, USA.
Despite how bleak things are looking for the 29-year-old Berto, he thinks he has a good chance of getting a fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. next year if he can somehow get past Soto Karass. However, it’s incredibly difficult to imagine Mayweather turning his sights towards Berto, even if he gets past Soto Karass in July.
Mayweather would take too much heavy criticism if he chose to fight a guy that was thrashed by Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero last year. Boxing fans haven’t forgotten how badly Berto was beaten by Guerrero in their fight last November, and a win over Soto Karass isn’t going to be big enough to erase that defeat in the minds of fans.
Berto said to ESPN “I may be seeing Floyd next year…I’m the next thing to Floyd, so if they beat me, they can face the best.”
I think Berto is more of a stepping stone type of fighter at this stage in his career rather than a potential Mayweather opponent.
Berto’s losses to Guerrero and Victor Ortiz have shown pretty clearly that he doesn’t have what it takes to function at the upper level of the welterweight division. I don’t see that changing.
Berto was arguably a better fighter five or six years ago when he was able to fight hard in the center of the ring without needing to rest with his back against the ropes. Berto now fights like a fighter at least 10 years older than his chronological age, and I think he’s not get any better.
What’s surprising is that Showtime will be televising Berto’s fight with Soto-Karass. Usually when a fighter has lost two out of his last three fights like Berto has, you don’t see them fighting on the premium channels like Showtime or HBO unless they’re buried on the undercard.
If Berto loses this fight then I can’t see Showtime wanting to continue to televise his fights because it’s not interesting for boxing fans to see guys who have lost three out of their last four fights.
I expect Soto-Karass to beat Berto on July 27th and knock him out of the 1st tier of the welterweight division. At that point Berto’s career will be in a death spiral that I doubt he’ll be able to ever escape.
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