By Eric Thomas: Former WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto (27-1, 21 KO’s) wants a second crack at the newly crowned WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz (29-2-2, 22 KO’s) after losing to Ortiz last Saturday night by a closely contested 12 round unanimous decision at the Foxwoods Resort and Casino in Masintucket, Connecticut.
Berto said “I want a rematch” following the announcement of the decision. Whether he gets one or not might be up to HBO. If they want to put this fight on bad enough, Ortiz will likely take it unless there is a better option there for Ortiz. Given how empty the welterweight division is in terms of notable fighters, Ortiz’s best shot at a good fight might be a rematch with Berto rather than taking on one of his lesser known contenders.
Berto was knocked down two times in the fight, as was Ortiz. However, Berto looked gassed out for much of the second half of the bout and only rarely was he able to throw more than one punch at a time. Berto’s entire game seemed to consist of hanging on the ropes and looking for one big shot to try and knock Ortiz out with.
It was the wrong approach, because Ortiz wasn’t going to be taken out with one big shot. Berto needed to follow Marcos Maidana’s path in trying to beat Ortiz by beating him with a combination of pressure and nonstop power shots. Berto didn’t look capable of throwing a lot of punches in this fight, because he simply looked spent after the first round of action. After the fight, Berto reportedly said that he had hurt his right hand in the 2nd round. If so, it didn’t keep him from throwing it because his right hand continued to be Berto’s main weapon for the remainder of the fight.
Berto had his chances to win this fight. He had Ortiz on the canvas in the 2nd and the 6th. The second time Ortiz was down, he was clearly hurt. However, Berto couldn’t finish him off and ended up getting knocked down himself at the end of the round when Ortiz clobbered him with two left hands. Berto tried to lure Ortiz into traps for the remainder of the fight, loading up with an occasional big right hand shot. Sometimes Berto would land big shots, but a lot of times he’d miss. But the ones that he was landing didn’t slow Ortiz down or hurt him from that point on.
If Berto does get a rematch with Ortiz, Berto needs to change his tactics. He can’t go into the fight thinking he’s going to beat Ortiz by loading up with single shots. Berto has got to work his poor conditioning and up his work rate a couple of notches. If he can throw a lot of shots rather than just a few big ones, he might be able to beat Ortiz if he can stay on his feet.
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