By Chris Williams: TMZ is reporting that the Floyd Mayweather Jr. (48-0, 26 KOs) vs. Andre Berto (30-3, 23 KOs) is now official for September 12th. The two fighters have been in negotiations to try and iron out a fight for the last couple of weeks and supposedly the negotiations are done.

Let’s hope this is reality. Until it’s been officially confirmed by the man himself, Floyd Mayweather Jr., you have to take this news with a grain of salt.

“It’s a pleasure and honor to be in this position and I’m looking forward to capitalizing on every moment of it,” Bero said to TMZ.com.

There’s a little over seven weeks to go before the Mayweather-Berto fight on September 12th, so you can understand why it was important to get the fight done right now because it were to have dragged out closer to the fight, it would have hampered the promotion of the fight and obviously the training for Mayweather’s opponent. This way, there’s still plenty of time to market the fight on Showtime/CBS and enough time for the two stars to put together a small media tour around the United States. Unlike the Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao fight, Mayweather-Berto does need a tour if they want to boxing fans interested in it.

There’s been talk that the Mayweather-Berto fight will be shown on CBS on free TV as part of a give back to the fans for the less the crowd-pleasing fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao last May. That still hasn’t been confirmed as of yet, so it’s still possible that we could see Mayweather-Berto on Showtime PPV. If the fight is going to be shown on PPV, then they’re really going to need to do a promotional tour because Berto has been out of the loop as far as important fights go for the last four years, and Mayweather will need to help attract interest in the fight somehow.

Lance Pugmire of the LA Times is saying that the Mayweather-Berto fight still isn’t official yet.

Told by official charged with finalizing deal that @FloydMayweather @AndreBerto not yet set. Berto still not finalized as opponent.

— Lance Pugmire (@latimespugmire) July 20, 2015

This is a fine choice of an opponent for Mayweather. Berto brings excitement 24/7, still packs a punch at 31, and has hand speed comparable to Amir Khan. Berto is an excellent choice for this fight because he’s not the fighter that was beaten in the past due to injuries and technical flaws in his fights against Robert Guerrero, Victor Ortiz and Jesus Soto Karass.

Berto is a much better fighter now that he’s gotten his injuries and flaws fixed from his game. With the help of trainer Virgil Hunter, Berto is one of the best welterweights in the sport right now. I would favor him over guys like Khan. I’d give Berto a great chance of beating the likes of Marcos Maidana and Shawn Porter. He’s a much improved fighter with Hunter’s assistance.