Andre Berto in position for world title shot

By Boxing News - 03/24/2015 - Comments

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By Dan Ambrose: With his recent 6th round stoppage win over Josesito Lopez two weeks ago on March 13th, Andre Berto (30-3, 23 KOs) is now surprisingly the interim WBA welterweight champion and in position to get a world title shot against the likes of WBA champion Keith Thurman or WBA/WBC 147lb champ Floyd Mayweather Jr.

It’s hard to believe that Berto now finds himself at No.1 in the World Boxing Association’s rankings for a big fight against either Thurman or Mayweather, because Berto was pretty much seen as a washed up fighter by a lot of fans.

It’s still debatable whether Berto is an over-the-hill fighter, because his win over Josesito Lopez really proved nothing.

Berto was losing that fight at the time of the stoppage in the 6th. Lopez, who seems to have stamina problems, ran out of gas by the 5th round, and this allowed Berto to take over the fight by default rather than him doing it on his own from the start of the fight.

Recently, Berto has said he’s open to facing Marcos Maidana. That’s not a good match-up for Berto, because Maidana is a much bigger puncher than Lopez, and he’s got better stamina and a better chin. He’s also a legitimate top 15 contender. Lopez was more of a C level fighter with a shaky chin and poor stamina.

Berto’s adviser Al Haymon is in the position to put Berto in with Maidana or WBA champion Keith Thurman. It all depends on how long Haymon wants to wait before he matches Berto tough.

I think it’s in Haymon and Berto’s best interest for him to look to put him in a cash out fight as soon as possible, because Berto is one of those guys who is vulnerable to injury, and if he blows another bicep or suffers another shoulder problem, he’ll lose to almost anyone.

We saw Berto suffer an injury early in his fight against Jesus Soto-Karass in their fight in July 2013, and then end up getting stopped in the 12th round. That was Berto’s second straight defeat at the time. He’s since won his last two fights in beating Steve Upsher Chambers and Josesito Lopez. Those aren’t great fighters, and Berto didn’t look great in the Lopez fight until he scored the stoppage in the 6th.

Keith Thurman is probably the best fight that Berto can hope for at this point. I don’t see Mayweather agreeing to fight Berto, because he’s not a big enough name. Berto would likely need years of rebuilding before he would be a big enough name for Mayweather to fight, and Berto would have to beat some legitimately good fighters during that time for the boxing fans to be impressed enough to want to see him against Mayweather.

At this point, I don’t think Berto is good enough to beat anyone that’s any good at 147. I see Berto losing to Thurman, Maidana, Kell Brook, Shawn Porter, Sadam Ali, Diego Chaves, Brandon Rios, Tim Bradley, Robert Guerrero, Devon Alexander, and Amir Khan. Berto would have a puncher’s chance of beating the remaining contenders in the division, as long as he doesn’t suffer another major injury to his bicep or shoulder.



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