By Dan Ambrose: Former WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz (29-3-2, 22 KO’s) is really looking forward to his February 11th rematch against Andre Berto (28-1, 22 KO’s) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ortiz, 24, feels he’s in a good position to beat Berto for the second time if everything goes right.

The timing for this rematch is pretty poor given that Ortiz was stopped in the 4th round in his last fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. last September in a fight in which Ortiz dropped his guard after being penalized 1 point for head butting Mayweather in the 4th.

With his guard down, Ortiz was hit with a two punch combination from Mayweather and knocked out. While it clearly a cheap shot from Mayweather to end the fight in this manner the fact of the matter if Ortiz was looking overmatched and not in a good position to win the fight had it gone longer.

Following a horrible fight like that, you’d like to have seen Ortiz pick up a few good wins before putting him in a big fight like the Berto one, if only just to build back up for the fight. The rematch won’t be nearly as interesting as it might have been if they had waited until Ortiz had redeemed himself. However, with Ortiz you just don’t know what you’re going to get with him, so it’s kind of understandable why they wanted to rush the fight. Ortiz was stopped by Marcos Maidana two years ago when he fell apart under the pressure from the Argentinian.

And Ortiz looked uncomfortable with the pressure that Lamont Peterson put on him after he knocked Peterson down twice in the third round. Unfortunately Ortiz is too flawed mentally and physically to count on him beating anyone of quality. That’s why I suppose the rematch is good for now but still not a really big fight.

Berto looked pretty bad in winning his last fight against Jan Zaveck, the IBF welterweight champion. Berto started off well in the first three rounds, but then appeared to have ran out of gas and was taking punishment from Zaveck in the 4th.
Ortiz said “I’m ready for war.”

Ortiz will win if his chin holds up and he doesn’t do something crazy like drop his hands again. Berto has poor stamina and can’t fight hard for more than four rounds. If Ortiz can stay on his feet for that long, he’ll wear Berto down with his pressure.