Berto faces Soto Karass and Thurman battles Chaves tonight on Showtime

By Boxing News - 07/27/2013 - Comments

003 Berto and Soto Karass IMG_7474(Photo credit: Tom Casino/Showtime) By Allan Fox: Tonight is the make or break fight for former IBF/WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto (28-2, 22 KO’s) against Jesus Soto Karass (27-8-3, 17 KO’s) at the AT&T Center, in San Antonio, Texas, USA. The title that will be on the line tonight, the vacant NABF welterweight strap, tells you how far the 29-year-old Berto has slipped from the big time.

No longer fighting for major titles after losing two out of his last three fights, he’s now content with fighting over an obscure strap. If Berto loses tonight to Soto Karass, he might as well pack it in and retire from boxing because there’s very little chance he’ll have anywhere to go from here.

Showtime will be televising this fight, but it’s difficult to imagine them continuing to televise his fights if he loses to Soto Karass. This is a fight where if Berto loses, he’s not going to be considered a relevant fighter in the welterweight division. He’ll have been weeded out by Victor Ortiz, Robert Guerrero and Soto Karass.

You do have to give Berto a lot of credit for taking on a tough fighter like Soto Karass, as because most fighters likely wouldn’t do that after the way that Berto was soundly beaten by Guerrero last November.

I could see a lot of promoters putting Berto on a soft diet of weak opposition until he got another title shot against one of the champions for a nice payday. But Berto didn’t do that here. He chose Soto Karass and he might end up sorry he took this fight if things turn out badly for him.

Undefeated welterweight Keith Thurman (20-0, 18 KO’s) has been his own biggest promoter of his skills in the past year, calling out top fighters and bragging about his own skills. Tonight against Diego Chaves (22-0, 18 KO’s), Thurman will get his first real opportunity to show whether he’s for real or not.

If Thurman easily beats Chaves, he’s going to win a lot of fans while at the same time capturing the vacant WBA welterweight title. Having the fans will be a big plus for Thurman, but getting the interim WBA title will be just as important because it’ll put him in line to get a shot against WBA welterweight champion Adrien Broner- or at least a shot at his title if Broner decides he’s not up to fighting Thurman.



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