(Photo credit: PBC) By Patrick Mchugh: Former IBF/WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto (30-4, 23 KOs) will be fighting a rematch against Victor Ortiz (31-5-2, 24 KOs) this Saturday night on Premier Boxing Champions on Fox from the StubHub Center in Carson, California.
Berto and Ortiz seem to be evenly matched like they were the last time they fought each other in 2011. Both fighters need wins to keep their floundering careers afloat. The winner of this fight could wind up facing WBC welterweight champion Danny Garcia either this year or in 2017.
It’s been a long dry spell for Ortiz, who hasn’t fought for a world title for years. His career looks on the bring on being over.
Berto has a 3-3 record in his last six fights since his 12 round unanimous decision loss to Ortiz in 2011. Despite his poor record, Berto feels that he’s really improved as a fighter. He also believes that he learned a great deal from his last fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. last September. Berto lost that fight by a lopsided 12 round unanimous decision by the scores of 120-108, 117-111 and 118-110.
It’s debatable whether the 32-year-old Berto could have learned anything from his loss to Mayweather because he was so badly outclassed in that fight. It looked to some boxing fans like Mayweather was purposely taking it easy on Berto in toying with him rather than working hard to get him out of there. Mayweather was so dominant in that fight that he likely would have been able to KO Berto if that was something he wanted to do.
“I’ve improved tremendously,” said Berto. “Mentally and all the way around the board. There was so much that went into that fight and that camp the first time. I shouldn’t have fought that fight, but being who I am, I wanted to get in there. I was just a young fighter who didn’t take the fight seriously. I overlooked my opponent. Now I’m a much more mature fighter. I’ve pushed myself for this camp.”
Berto can’t be as good as he was back in 2011, because he’s lost so much hand speed. Berto used to have very good hand speed, but his speed appears a lot slower nowadays. When you take away Berto’s hand speed, he’s not left with a whole lot. He’s easy to hit, and doesn’t have the ability to throw a lot of combinations.
Berto has losses to Mayweather, Jesus Soto Karass and Roberto Guerrero. Berto took a lot of punishment against Guerrero and Soto-Karass. Berto did not look like a world class fighter in either of those fights. The thing of it is those defeats took place 2012 and 2013. That was practically a lifetime ago for Berto, because he’s lost even more from his age. Berto also hasn’t been very busy. He’s only fought twice since 2014. That’s not good if you want to stay sharp in the sport.
Ortiz has a good chance of winning this fight on Saturday. Ortiz is younger at 29, and he’s got the superior punching power of the two. That should be enough for him to get the victory on Saturday.
“I believe that coming back from my shoulder surgery that I’ve been more motivated and improving as a fighter,” said Berto. “Everyone has seen the improvements. We’re definitely ready for anything he wants to bring. If he’s aggressive we’re ready and everyone knows I can stand there and punch”