By Eric Thomas: Earlier tonight, former IBF/WBC welterweight champion suffered a reported ruptured left bicep during a sparring session while getting ready for his February 11th rematch against Victor Ortiz. It sounded serious at the time, and now it’s been confirmed.

Berto will need surgery to repair the ruptured bicep, according to fightnews.com. An MRI was done on Berto’s left biceps, which as turns out, is the same type of injury that Berto suffered in his fight with Carlos Quintana in April 2010. Berto needed surgery on his bicep at that time as well.

Needless to say, the Berto-Ortiz fight will have to be postponed until the injury heals. Last time, Berto was able to get back in the ring in seven months time and looked sharp in his next fight against Freddy Hernandez. However, Ortiz can’t just sit and wait all those months. He’s going to have to stay busy and that could mean that a replacement opponent will be sought to try and save the February 11th fight card.

WBC says no to Rubio’s referee objection for Chavez Jr. fight on Saturday night

The World Boxing Council president Jose Sulaiman has rejected the request from middleweight challenger Marco Antonio Rubio to have referee Guadalupe Garcia replaced by another referee. According to fightnews.com, the WBC has confidence that Garcia will do a good job in working the Chavez-Rubio fight. Rubio wants an International referee to work the fight instead of Garcia, but Sulaiman isn’t in agreement with that.

Rubio has some concerns about Garcia and wants to make sure that he’s got a referee that will be fair and not be on Chavez’s side this Saturday.

Rubio will have more things to worry about on Saturday than the referee. He’s going to be a lot smaller than Chavez Jr. and he’s going to likely have problems unless he can start early. Chavez Jr. will probably be using the ring to try and box him initially but will soon start using his size to wear down the lighter Rubio. Chavez Jr., 6’0″, is only two inches taller than the 5’10” Rubio, but he’s got a much bigger frame and carries a lot more weight.