By Allan Fox: Andre Berto (30-3, 23 KOs) isn’t being given much of a chance of beating Floyd Mayweather Jr. (48-0, 26 KOs) by the boxing fans and the oddmakers. Many fans see the Mayweather-Berto fight as a poor mismatch, and they don’t appear to be too excited at the thought of watching it on September 12th.
One betting site has Mayweather a monstrous 80:1 favorite, according to Fight news. One good thing that could make the Mayweather vs. Berto fight worthwhile to fans is if it winds up being televised on free TV on CBS.
That would make it worth watching for a lot of fans. Now Mayweather has to make it worthwhile for him to use that mode to show the fight rather than having it televised on Showtime pay-per-view.
Bet365.com has Mayweather as an 80:1 favorite. A win for Mayweather will bring him to one of beating Rocky Marciano’s record of 49-0. It’s unknown if Mayweather will stick around for his 50th fight, but with the money he can make in a rematch against Manny Pacquiao, it wouldn’t be surprising if Mayweather does decide to fight him next May in 2016.
Mayweather would get partial cover for choosing Berto to fight next because the World Boxing Association has him ranked No.1 with their organization. Berto is even the WBA’s interim welterweight champion after beating high level journeyman Josesito Lopez last March. The problem is that many of the knowledgeable boxing fans don’t rate Berto as a fighter who rates a No.1 ranking by any organization. They don’t see Berto as being good enough for him to be ranked above Shawn Porter, Marcos Maidana, Errol Spence Jr, or Robert Guerrero.
The WBA feels Berto is good enough to rank him above those fighters, but the hardcore boxing fans don’t buy it. Luckily for Mayweather the people would be tuning in to see his potential fight against Berto are casual boxing fans, who would have no clue how poor Berto has looked in the last four years of his career. If they’ve never heard of him, it would work out even better, and there’s probably a lot of casual fans who don’t know who Berto is. But the casual fans who remember Berto from before 2011, will be impressed with Mayweather’s choice of picking Berto as his opponent for September because Berto used to be a good fighter before he attempted to face the better welterweights in the division.
Berto didn’t really face anyone good until he fought Collazo in 2009. Berto won the fight by a controversial decision. After that fight, Berto continued to do well against mediocre opposition until he stepped it up a level and was beaten by Victor Ortiz. Berto’s career since that loss has been pretty dreadful with him losing to Jesus Soto Karass and Robert Guerrero. Berto’s only wins since 2011 have come against Freddy Hernandez, Steve Upsher Chambers and Josesito Lopez.
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