Berto-Ortiz, Montiel-Lara make weight

By Boxing News - 04/29/2016 - Comments

Image: Berto-Ortiz, Montiel-Lara make weight(Photo Credit: Suzanne Teresa/Premier Boxing Champions) By Dan Ambrose: Andre Berto (30-4, 23 KOs) and Victor Ortiz (31-5-2, 24 KOs) made weight on Friday for their non-title fight on Saturday night at the StubHub Center in Carson, California. Berto weighed in at 146.8lbs and Ortiz also weighed in at 146.8lbs. Ortiz looked very drained at the weigh-in.

That makes you wonder how much weight he’ll be putting back on overnight. Berto could be dealing with a super middleweight by the time he gets in the ring tomorrow night. Ortiz looks like he’s going to rehydrate well into the 160s. He’s been training hard obviously, but it’s possible that Ortiz has grown out of the welterweight division at the age of 29.

That could help Berto if he’s able to take the fight into the deeper rounds. Ortiz might wear down with all the weight he’s taken off and put back on in 24 hours.

The fight will be televised on Premier Boxing Champions on Fox. The idea behind the rematch is good in theory. It was an exciting fight when the two of them fought five years ago, but that was too long ago for the newer fans of the sport to have seen the contest. It’s now kind of late in the game to be having Berto and Ortiz fight each. It’s too bad they waited this long for them to put the fight together because neither of these guys are going anywhere in the welterweight division. The fight is more like an old timers affair than a meaningful fight.

The winner of the Berto vs. Ortiz fight will likely be getting a world title shot against WBC champion Danny Garcia before too long. They’re managed by Al Haymon and the fight should be an easy one to put together. However, Berto and Ortiz don’t seem to have enough left to beat even a mediocre champion like Danny Garcia, who a lot of fans see as a paper champion rather than the real thing. The fact that Danny Garcia struggled to beat Robert Guerrero in his last fight kind of tells you all you need to know about Garcia’s talent and standings in the 147lb division. However, Garcia probably has more than enough to beat the winner of the Berto vs. Ortiz fight.

I just think it’s a bad product for the boxing fans at home to see lesser fighters competing for world titles. It would be better off if the winner of the Berto-Ortiz fight had to face someone actually good like Errol Spence before they were given the green light to fight for a world title. At least the fans would see one good fighter facing Danny Garcia so that we would see a quality fight rather than some no longer relevant fighter getting an undeserved title shot against what is arguably a paper champion rather than the real thing.

YouTube video

Berto looked terrible losing to Ortiz five years ago. Ortiz has done nothing in all those years, and the same with Berto. It’s a 50-50 fight between two bottom feeders in the division.

Former four division world champion Fernando Montiel (54-5-2, 39 KOs) weighed in at 125.6lbs for his fight against unbeaten 25-year-old Jorge Lara (27-0-2, 19 KOs) for their 10 round fight. Lara weighed in at 124.4lbs. Montiel, 37, lost his last fight against IBF featherweight champion Lee Selby last October. Montiel was just too small to do much with Selby. It was a case of too much size going against him. Montiel started his career out as a flyweight, and he’s moved up all the way to featherweight. He does not look like he belongs in the division. Lara is nothing special compared to the better fighters in this weight class, but he might have too much size, strength and youth for Montiel. Hopefully, Montiel gets clue if he loses this fight that he either needs to move back down to at least the bantamweight division or he should retire.

Light heavyweight contender Edwin Rodriguez (28-1, 19 KOs) weighed in at 177lbs for his fight against Thomas Williams Jr. (19-1, 13 KOs). Williams weighed in at 176.8. Rodriguez has won his last four fights since losing to Andre Ward a couple of years ago. Williams Jr. has won his last two fights since being sparked out by Gabriel Campillo.

Unbeaten heavyweight Gerald Washington (16-0-1, 11 KOs) weighed in at 239.8lbs for his fight against 34-year-old Eddie Chambers (42-4, 23 KOs) in their 10 round fight. Chambers weighed in at 216.2lbs. The 34-year-old Washington is coming off of a controversial 10 round draw against Amir Mansour last October in a fight that many boxing fans saw Mansour winning.

Chambers has won his last six fights since losing to Thomas Adamek and Thabiso Mchunu in back to back fights in 2012 and 2013. Chambers fought for a world title six years ago against Wladimir Klitschko and was stopped in the 12th round.

Other weights on the card:

Terrell Gausha 154.8 vs. Orlando Lora 154.4
David Benavidez 167.8 vs. Phillip Jackson 169.2