Technically he is a champ, but Lance was right... he is still not one of the "champions" of the division.... that would be Margorito and if PW comes back to 147 and picks up a belt.
Defo -- his inside game has a lot of flaws. He squares up wayyy too much and doesn't position himself well - not a good look.
you guys are losers!! Berto is the ****, the most talented boxer in the WW division!! doesnt mean his the best but he can for damn sure be. anybody would have trouble with Collazo, Cotto would've took it last night too. when you fight southpaws everything changes. Collazo has made Hatton and Mosley look bad, so what if he mad Berto look bad. Berto defense is actually better than Cottos when he came up and right now. so how the hell you gonna say hes never goanna be an eilte fighter. Cotto has got hurt way more than Berto ever has in his career and Cottos the ****. so I guess Pavilk can never be great because Hopkins schooled him?? Hopkins makes everybody look bad. rookies on ESB.....
If Berto can get a new trainer like Floyd Sr., who dosen't take any ****, he can improve his defense a lot and his in-fighting. He already uses the philly shell, so it could be a smooth transition.
I agree that Berto AS well the likes Kelly Pavlik would do better with a new trainer. But to say that Berto lacks heart or would not improve is wrong. There is a plethora of evidence to show the impact of seasoned trainer in improving a fighter. Look at visible impact that Maywheather Sr. had on Hatton in just one fight or the impact of Emanuel Stewart on Wladmir Klitschko.
Berto is going to need a hell of a lot of growth to be an elite fighter. He just doesn't have as much power as he thinks he has. He has speed, the occasional flashy combos, but his defense is garbage and his chin is weak.
Muhammad Ali never improved after he fought Henry Cooper, Roberto Duran never improved after he lost to DeJesus, Bernard Hopkins never improved after he drew with Segundo Mercado, Oh wait. . . .
Cotto, Clottey, Williams, Collazo, and Mosley all have better defense than Berto. Margo is the only one I can think of who is defensively worse, but he has a great chin, Berto doesn't have that luxery.
Berto has the worse chin out of all the top ten welters. He's going to get stopped when he fights the first decent welterweight with power. If light hitting Collazo can rock him, pressure him, and hit him all night imagine what someone with true power will do to Berto's shaky chin. Bad stamina and a bad chin is a guaranteed recipe for disaster against the top welters in a stacked division.
i don't really see his chin as being suspect like a lot of people do. He's been rocked, but never hurt. I've seen a lot of fighters hurt, but he's never been in any real trouble. His chin ain't granite, but he isn't on the deck every other fight like gamboa or khan were.
I hate to say it, but he's going to be a name that's on some future ww greats resume and we're going to debate how much credit should be given for being berto. In the end, he'll be a good beltholder, but he won't be the man or unified champ.
In worse trouble than Hatton was against Collazo. I'm not saying he's not vulnerable, but his chin has held up better than he gets credit for.