By Daniel R: On the 16th of April, WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto (27-0, 21 KO’s) will face his toughest test in Victor Ortiz (28-2-2, 22 KO’s) at the Foxwoods Resort Casino, in Mashantucket, in Connecticut. This fight will without a doubt be explosive from the start with both fighters having very good power, really good hand speed and both fighters wanting to prove themselves.

Firstly, Berto has yet to taste defeat. He has exceptional hand speed, which can match the likes of Floyd Mayweather and Shane Mosley. Looking at his most recent fight with Freddy Hernandez, Berto demonstrated just how fast he is by completely destroying Hernandez with a quick right hand he never saw coming, and Hernandez had an impressive record at the time of 29(20)-1.

Secondly, Berto has good power, with 77% knockout ratio. His power cannot be denied. His electric right hand is deadly which was shown in the battering of Carlos Quintana and the 1st round knockout of Hernandez. And everyone knows one good way to beat a south paw is a good right hand, which Berto definitely has . The level of opposition Berto has faced is also very decent, having faced Quintana, Juan Urango and Luis Collazo in the last 2 years. His level of opposition is without a doubt more impressive than Ortiz’s. However, Berto did struggle in the Collazo fight, who like Ortiz, is a south paw but Berto nevertheless won the fight.

Now on to Victor Ortiz who has a knockout percentage of 68%. Ortiz is moving up from light welterweight to fight Berto at welterweight. However, I don’t think this will be an issue, as Ortiz has the size and build for welterweight and may even benefit him with increased power. In terms of speed, Ortiz can match Berto. He throws very fast straight left hands and good right hooks and Berto has not faced anyone with this level of hand speed and he may be in for a shock.

Secondly power, Ortiz also has very good power knocking Maidana down three times in their fight in 2009 and impressively knocking out Vivian Harris in the 3rd round last year, which saw Harris suffer from a broken jaw. And I don’t think Berto has faced anyone with the amount of power or speed combined that Ortiz will bring to the fight. However, with all his attributes the major question is Ortiz’s heart, he took a beating in the Maidana fight and appeared to quit which has led to a lot of criticisms towards Ortiz. But by Ortiz taking a very dangerous in Berto, this suggests he has the determination and does have the heart to compete at the top level.

Considering all this, I think Berto will win the fight by close UD. I see this as being a very competitive fight from start to finish with both fighters using their great hand speed to catch each other with vicious left and right hands. But looking at Ortiz’s recent fight with Lamont Peterson where Peterson was able to land very good straight rights to the face of Ortiz, I think Berto will come out on top. However, I think he will have trouble with Ortiz’s southpaw stance and will be troubled by Ortiz’s fast straight left hands, making this fight very close. But I think Berto takes the fight by close unanimous decision.