Purses: Berto $750K, Ortiz $750K

By Boxing News - 04/30/2016 - Comments

1-Ortiz vs Berto 2 Press Conference - PBC on Fox - 4.28.16 _Presser_Ryan Hafey _ Premier Boxing ChampionsBy Dan Ambrose: Victor Ortiz (31-5-2, 24 KOs) and Andre Berto (30-4, 23 KOs) will both be getting well paid for their fight this Saturday night on Premier Boxing Champions on Fox. Ortiz and Berto will both be receiving purses of $750,000 despite neither of them being world champions.

The winner of the Berto vs. Ortiz fight could see a big jump up in pay if their manager sets them up for a title shot against WBC welterweight champion Danny Garcia. That’s where it seems to be heading. Berto is ranked #3 with the World Boxing Council despite the fact that he was totally schooled by former WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. last September.

The loss didn’t drop Berto in the rankings very far, and now he’s poised to get another world title shot if he can get past Ortiz. Neither of these guys rate a world title shot right now. The winner of Berto-Ortiz should be forced to fight Errol Spence Jr. at least before they’ve given a title shot against Garcia.

Surprisingly, the WBC has Berto ranked above #6 WBC Spence. Garcia will likely face the winner of the Berto-Ortiz fight as a voluntary defense rather than waiting for the WBC to place them at #1. Amir Khan is ranked #1 at the moment, and he plans on fighting Garcia after he gets done with his May 7 fight against WBC middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.

It’s not likely that Berto and Ortiz are going to be able to sustain getting purses like this once they continue taking losses. Ortiz hasn’t lost in a while because he hasn’t faced any decent competition in years. Berto was already beaten by Mayweather recently. I can’t see Berto beating anyone good at this point in his career.

Other fighter’s purses for the card are as follows:

Light heavyweight Edwin Rodriguez (28-1, 19 KOs) $100,000. His opponent Thomas Williams Jr. (19-1, 13 KOs) will be receiving $50,000.

Former four-division world champion Fernando Montiel (54-5-2, 39 KOs) will be receiving a purse of $30,000 for his fight against featherweight Jorge Lara (27-0-2, 19 KOs). He’ll be getting a purse of $30,000 as well.

Other purses:

Gerald Washington $50,000 and Eddie Chambers $50,000.

“Purses for #PBConFox on Saturday night: Ortiz $755k, Berto 755k, Rodriguez 100k, Williams 50k, Montiel 30k, Lara 30k #boxing #OrtizBerto,” said Dan Rafael on his Twitter. “Here are some notable purses for the #PBConFox non-TV bouts Saturday night: Chambers 50k, Washington 50k, Gausha 70k, Lora 15k. #boxing. Purses for #PBConFox on Saturday night: Ortiz $755k, Berto 755k, Rodriguez 100k, Williams 50k, Montiel 30k, Lara 30k #boxing #OrtizBerto.”