I think you might be missing the point here. No one is saying that Berto is without any quality. That's not what the thread says. It says he was overrated -- and he has been, IMO. You can both be a good fighter and be overrated. Berto appears to fit into that category, or he did until last night. Had Berto won this fight, and gotten the match-up with Floyd, he would have been hailed as the greatest fighter who ever lived. I understand that is HBO's job, to hype him, but that doesn't mean reality can't be pointed out by more neutral observers. The writing has been on the wall for some time as regards Berto: Suspect chin, poor defense, great power, great speed. Tough guy. He isn't a bum or a mug, but he ain't exactly the next Pernell Whitaker, either. Some of us have said this for some time now. Last night came as not a huge surprise, then, even if the delivery of the goods was from a supposed "quitter" who was fighting his first-ever match at welterweight.
I always thought Berto was underrated. Not because I think he stood a chance against Pac or Floyd, but because he went to war with Collazo and battered Quintana. The guy is good. He's just not elite.
HBO, and apparently Floyd Mayweather, had Berto rated high. Guess it was the "0." I agree with you -- since the Collazo "win," Berto has been more clearly understood as a flawed fighter.
HBO knew Berto wasn't **** since the lame ass Collazo "win" As for Floyd, I doubt he was gonna fight Berto as a "tuneup" or alternative to Manny. Floyd is only coming back for 1 more fight, and that is with Manny.
Victor looked so much more technically sound. Very good defense for the most part. Relentless attack. Victor is Back.
Berto was xtremelly overrated even tho he had amazing skills. It takes more than that these days, it takes more than having flashy hands, great combo punching ability and athleticism. Cuz you keep on hitting guys like Michel Trabant, Mickey Rodriguez, Steve Forbes, Luis Collazo ( and barely made it), Juan Urango, past-his prime Carlos Quintana and one Freddy Hernandez... You jump around the ring on fast legs and keep on nailing the poor guys with flurries. You barely get hit clean and when you do ( Cosme Rivera) you go down... How do these guys in the WBC, Lou DiBellas and HBOs expected this fella to go into deep waters with an experienced fighter?
I hope this loss acts like a wakeup call for Berto the same way Maidana was for Ortiz. Since Collazo, Berto didn't do a damned thing except for hang onto that belt by fighting smaller men. He didn't improve or show greater maturity. It's the fighters job to beat the man put in front of him, but I'm sick and tired of seeing talented young fighters stagnate because they aren't being challenged. Berto reminded me a whole lot of Jermain Taylor in this regard, with the obvious difference that Jermain was fighting f*cking legends mixed in with his 154 pound gimme defenses. Berto just swooped in like a vulture on that WBC strap, went life and death with Collazo in a fight that obviously needed a rematch, and now loses to Ortiz still trying to play the smaller man game. I don't know if he was overrated, but I am glad he lost. A few years from now, he might be glad he lost also.
Ortiz did his thing. He did get rocked and dropped a few times, but he returned the favor which is always a plus in my book. Mayweather was there to peep who his tune up opponent was going to be. I guess Ortiz is that man. The question now is, if Mayweather is targeting Ortiz, I don't see him holding on to that title to much longer.
Berto really never should have had a title, he never beat a champ for it. I believe they gave him Paul Williams title at WW that was stripped from him when he fought at 154. Berto was always a paper titlist who fought washed up 140 fighters and struggled with legit WW because of his terrible chin, lack of boxing IQ, lack of boxing technique, and terrible gameplanning.
Agreed on HBO and Berto, but that doesn't mean they would not have tried to "sell" him as great in a possible Berto-PBF showdown. The site that Hypes Fights, which is basically (IMO) a Mayweather mouthpiece, said that Floyd was scouting Berto for a possible fight. You can take that to the bank coming from them.
Totally, totally agree. I have nothing at all against Berto, and I hope he comes back strong. Looks like he may need a new trainer.
Ortiz looked great, and props to him. This was basically his "Lennox Lewis" fight after Vitali "quit" against Byrd. But Ortiz actually won, in addition to completely altering his image. Good for him. It was a great fight.
Literally and figuratively. I was looking at the pics from the weigh-in expecting to see Victor Ortiz and saw this cut up, unshaved Mexican badass instead. That should have been a clue for us also.
I think putting Berto in the top 5 at Welterweight rankings as well as his undefeated record gave Berto much higher standing than deserved. Berto actually won the vacant WBC belt (Floyd's old belt) .. it was Cotto who picked up P-Will's WBO belt but either way Berto is still a paper champ and faces soft opposition. Hell going into the Ortiz fight, Andre's best win was over Collazo and as others mentioned even there Berto struggled tons. **I'll make my way to seeing Berto-Ortiz but from what I've read compared to Berto's other fights, it really seems that Victor went right at Berto and maintained a strong effort throughout the fight heck he even scoring two knockdowns, which I'm sure made a big difference on the scorecards. For all the crying I hear about Collazo getting robbed vs Berto ... Luis didn't drop Andre 2x, and actually took rounds off (7, 8) in their fight .. which cost him the decision. so I ask what's next for Ortiz? Rafael mentioned a Maidana rematch, which seems logical unless Morales gets Maidana again of course
I would like to see berto fight mosley after pac gives him a beating, then look for a title vs 1 of the euro guys and look for a rematch or better fight. the guy is young he can definitely rebound from this.