By Dan Ambrose: Former IBF/WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto (28-1, 22 KO’s) thinks he should be the next one to face Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Manny Pacquiao if he can get by Victor Ortiz (29-3-2, 22 KO’s) in their rematch next month on February 11th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Berto, 28, sees a win over Ortiz as a sign that he’s made it to the big time and is deserving of a match against the two biggest stars in the sport. However, there are a couple of things working against Berto getting the big fights he wants against those stars. First of all, Berto is likely to lose to Ortiz in February.
We saw in their first fight that Ortiz is only able to fight hard for about three rounds, and after that he’s like an old fighter, forced to lay on the ropes to rest his weary legs. And secondly Berto doesn’t have a huge fan base needed for him to be a desirable opponent for either Mayweather or Pacquiao.
It wouldn’t matter whether he had even one fan if he fought for Top Rank, because Bob Arum would still likely match him against Pacquiao if he fought for him. But he doesn’t, so Arum likely isn’t going to do Berto any favors by helping him out and building his name when it’s no benefit to him.
Pacquiao pretty much fights only Top Rank guys unless there is someone with a huge fan base like Juan Manuel Marquez. Berto doesn’t have a huge following like Marquez, so he’ll be ignored no matter how well he does against Ortiz. Mayweather probably won’t fight him both because he’s going to be serving a 90 day jail sentence starting in January and won’t get out until April.
Mayweather won’t waste time on a non-star like Berto because he’s very selective in the opponents he faces. Mayweather wants a big money fight against Pacquiao, and he’s not going to waste time or energy on a guy that is still struggling to build a fan base like Berto.
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