By Dan Ambrose: Andre Berto (28-1, 21 KO’s) needs to thank his lucky stars that the fight last night against IBF welterweight champion Jan Zaveck (31-2, 18 KO’s) was stopped because of cuts, because Zaveck was pounding an exhausted Berto and was looking like he was en route to a stoppage win.

The fight was stopped after the 5th round by advice from the ringside doctor due to a bad cut over the right eye of Zaveck. However, take a way the cut, and things were looking very bleak for Berto in this fight. Berto looked horribly flawed in that fight, and even worse than he did in his loss to Victor Ortiz last April.

HBO needs to find another guy to crawl all over, because I can’t see Berto finding too much more future success unless his handlers are going to go back to matching him against light welterweights over and over again. Berto said after the fight that he could have jabbed Zaveck if he had wanted to in order to avoid getting hit. I don’t buy that. Berto fought like he always does, throwing shots and collapsing on Zaveck to try and hold.

That’s classic Berto. He’s never been much of jabber, and it’s easy to see why. Berto’s arms aren’t very long, and it seems to take energy out of him when he throws jabs for some reason. If he had decided to box Zaveck, he’d have run out of gas even quicker than he did last night because he’d have to move around the ring more. At this point, Berto looks more like a 3-round fighter than a professional.

I don’t know what’s happened to the guy but seems only capable of fighting hard for three rounds before gassing out. This is exactly what happened in his last bout against Victor Ortiz, where Berto tanked after the 2nd round. Berto was only capable of fighting hard in brief spurts following the 2nd.

I think HBO needs to start looking for another fighter to pump up in the welterweight division, because I think Berto isn’t going to be one that will continue to win too much longer. If HBO is okay with putting him on after he starts getting beaten all the time then more power to them, but I think it’s stupid.