By Allan Fox: Former IBF/WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto (31-4, 24 KOs) is one of the potential opponents for WBC welterweight champion Danny Garcia for his next fight. Berto, Adrien Broner and Amir Khan are considered three strong potential opponents for the 27-year-old Garcia.
Berto says he sees flaws in Garcia’s game that he would look to take advantage of it he winds up facing him. Ultimately, whether Berto faces Garcia or now will depend on their mutual adviser Al Haymon, and of course it’ll depend on Garcia and his father Angel Garcia.
If they don’t want the fight with Berto, then they likely will veto it. Berto is ranked #3 with the World Boxing Council, so he’s not yet the mandatory challenger for Garcia.
“We’ll see what happens…setting some big things up,” said Berto to Fighthype. “Right now, I feel like the old me…I’m healthy…it doesn’t matter who they put in front of me…I’m feeling strong, I’m feeling explosive…everybody wants to fight him because they see a lot of chinks in his armor…if I get an opportunity, I’m definitely going to capitalize on it. I feel like he’s not too polished, He’s winning through. If I’m given the opportunity, I’m going to take full advantage of it. If I don’t, then we’ll see who’s next,” said Berto.
Berto had a big 4th round knockout win over Victor Ortiz in his last fight in April of this year. It was a good win for Berto, but it wasn’t against a relevant fighter. Ortiz’s career has been in free fall since 2011 when he was beaten by Mayweather.
Speaking of Mayweather, Berto was soundly beaten by him in September of last year in losing a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision. Berto did next to nothing in that fight. However, just by being the B-side opponent for Mayweather, it revived Berto’s career.
It didn’t matter that he looked terrible in getting easily beaten by Mayweathr. The fight still brought Berto back in a way. It made boxing fans aware of who Berto is.
Berto still has Robert Guerrero and Jesus Soto Karass problems. Both of those fighters beat him, and he never avenged either of those defeats.
Garcia would likely be heavily favored over Berto if that fight was to happen. Garcia has a lot of punching power in his left hook, and he seems to be able to take a good shot. If came down to which of the fighters has the better chin, the younger Garcia would likely be the winner. Berto was knocked out by Soto-Karass, and knocked down by Guerrero and Ortiz.
If Berto doesn’t get the fight against Garcia, then it’ll be interesting to see who Haymon elects to put him in with. It’s doubtful that Haymon would take a risk of putting Berto back inside the ring with Guerrero because he was totally dominated by him in a way that suggests that he would always be dominated. Berto needs another fighter that is on the downside of his career for him to shine. Paulie Malignaggi would be perfect if Haymon can get him to agree to the fight.