(Photo credit: Esther Lin/SHOWTIME) By Chris Williams: The criticism that has been leveled down on the head of Floyd Mayweather Jr. since he announced his fight against Andre Berto has been nothing short of fierce from the boxing community. This hasn’t been lost on Mayweather, who took a moment to respond on it during yesterday’s kickoff press conference in Los Angeles, California.
Mayweather simply pointed out the obvious in saying that if fans don’t want to see the fight then they shouldn’t buy it. But as far as he’s concerned, he sees Berto as a tough opponent, and a fighter that will bring excitement in every moment of the fight. If boxing fans don’t agree with him, then they’re welcome not to buy the fight.
“He’s been getting a tremendous backlash. I’ve been getting a tremendous backlash. Nobody has to buy the fight. But Andre Berto is going to push Floyd Mayweather to the limit. That’s something I do know,” Mayweather said.
It’s true. If the boxing fans don’t like the Mayweather-Berto fight, then they don’t have to buy it. No one is forcing them to buy the fight. But we all know that a massive amount of boxing fans will gladly pay the $65-$75 to see the Mayweather-Berto fight on Showtime pay-per-view come September 12th, and they’ll be glad they did so because it’s a very good fight, and the undercard is top notch, even better than the Mayweather vs. Manny Paccquiao undercard from last May.
For the hardcore boxing fans that choose to stubbornly choose not to purchase the Mayweather-Berto fight on PPV, there will be countless casual fans that will happily purchase it because they know that Mayweather always brings a good product. Berto is a good fighter, and he’s young and hungry and will be testing Mayweather every minute of this fight.
The only fans that won’t likely buy the Mayweather-Berto fight are the hardcore boxing fans. The casual fans will buy it, especially with Mayweather coming off the biggest fight of his career last May with him bringing in 4.4 million pay-per-view buys for his fight against Manny Pacquiao.
A lot of those casual boxing fans will be back to see Mayweather fight Berto, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this fight brings in anywhere from 1.6 to 2 million pay-per-view buys. That’s obviously very good numbers for a fight of this magnitude. But like I said, it’s Mayweather’s first fight coming off of his big fight against Pacquiao, so there are going to be a lot of fans scooping the Mayweather vs. Berto fight off and feeling glad they did so.
“Berto is a tough competitor, a former world champion and every time he goes out there, he gives it 100 percent,” Mayweather said. “Berto is a very tough guy, he’s hungry and he’s not going to lie down. I chose Berto because he’s very exciting. Andre Berto is going to push Floyd Mayweather to the limit. That’s one thing I do know. This fight is a very intriguing matchup, very intriguing.”
Mayweather is right. Berto won’t lie down in this fight. He’s going to be testing Mayweather the entire fight, and I expect him to give Mayweather more problems than Pacquiao did. Berto has a huge heart and he won’t back off simply because he’s hit by a few hard right hands early in the fight.
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