By Dan Ambrose: Former IBF/WBC light welterweight champion Devon Alexander (23-1, 13 KO’s) is willing to step in and face former WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz (29-3-2, 22 KO’s) in the Summer if Andre Berto’s ruptured left biceps still isn’t healed enough for him to be ready for their planned June 23rd fight in Las Vegas, Nevada.

According to Steve Kim, Alexander will take the fight, but he won’t be able to make the June 23rd date due to a bad cut that Alexander received in his recent lopsided 10 round unanimous decision win over Marcos Maidana last month on February 25th. It’s unclear how much time Alexander will need before he can be ready for him to take the fight. If he needs to heal until July or August, it might not even be worth it, because Berto will probably be ready to go by then and a rematch between hi and Ortiz is a much bigger fight than Ortiz vs. Alexander. It’s unfortunate that Alexander received such a bad cut because he could be very useful for Ortiz if Berto’s left arm prevents him from competing on June 23. It was a risky situation anyway to choose to fight Berto after such a serious injury.

An injury like that is one of those things that could linger on and on, wiping out a lot of time with Ortiz waiting for Berto to finally heal. It’s a great fight no doubt, but it’s a big risk for Ortiz to count on Berto being healed in time for their June 23rd fight without some kind of setback occurring for Berto that will wipe out the fight. As of now, Berto is still expected to be able to make the June 23rd date, but that could change once he starts getting involved with some serious training involving sparring sessions.