Berto-Zaveck: Andre fights for IBF welterweight title on 9/3

By Boxing News - 07/31/2011 - Comments

Image: Berto-Zaveck: Andre fights for IBF welterweight title on 9/3By Jason Kim: Former WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto (27-1, 21 KO’s) will be getting a shot at capturing another title on September 3rd against one of the lesser known champions in the welterweight division Jan Zaveck (31-1, 18 KO’s) in a fight at the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Berto, 27, lost his World Boxing Council welterweight title to Victor Ortiz on April 9th, and instead of waiting in line to get another shot at trying to recapture the title, Berto is facing Zaveck for his belt. The beauty in this move is that Berto can get more money in facing the winner of Ortiz vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr if he at least has the IBF title in his possession.

However, Berto has got to look good in beating Zaveck and he’s got to bring in some good ratings. His fights haven’t done well on HBO. If Berto can’t prove that he’s got a following then it probably won’t matter how many paper titles Berto collects against obscure champions. Berto can beat Zaveck and then go after the little known WBA welterweight champion Vyacheslav Senchenko, and it still likely wouldn’t bring Berto a bigger cut of the revenue in a fight against Mayweather unless Berto can prove that boxing fans are interested in seeing him fight.

Berto’s problem has been that he took it easy after capturing the WBC title in 2008, and failed to step it up a notch against quality, big named fighters. Berto was content to defend his title over and over again on HBO against the likes of Freddy Hernandez, Steve Forbes, Juan Urango, Carlos Quintana and Luis Collazo. Berto was able to keep his belt facing these guys, but it hurt him by keeping away from the more popular fighters.

Zaveck, 35, seems to be a decent fighter. However, he’s only two somewhat recognizable fighters during his entire 8-year pro career. He captured the IBF title against Isaac Hlatshwayo in 2009, and has defended the belt three times against mostly obscure opposition.



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