MAYWEATHER TO PICK ANDRE BERTO FOR HIS SEPTEMBER FIGHT?
By Ed de la Vega, DDS
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 21 Jul 2015
Floyd Mayweather is known to do many outrageous things from throwing money around in nightclubs, to getting in trouble for domestic violence and cherry picking his opponents.
And, he did it again - the cherry picking, I mean.
It seems little Floyd has no shame in doing so. It is his proven formula to get to the top and in the process making tons of cash. To him, it?s all about money. Damn what the fans and the haters say.
News reports indicate that for Mayweather?s last fight under his humongous multi million-dollar 6-fight contract with ShowTime the opponent will be Andre Berto of Haiti.
Yes, the same Berto that was defeated by Victor Ortiz and Robert Guerrero. No need to remind you that Guerrero knocked down Berto in the very first two rounds of their fight and went on to win via a UD. Berto is 3-3 in his last six fights. Mayweather in turn easily disposed of Ortiz and Guerrero. A sun-setting fringe contender, Jesus Soto Karass (28-10-3,18KO) took the same Andre Berto to the cleaners.
Although there is no official announcement yet, the rumor may arguably be true because that is how Team Mayweather operates. First they leak fight info to some select media guys to generate interest and then officially announce it giving them a running start in their promotions. Not a bad business practice, to say the least.
I find no logic in the pick except perhaps to (a) assure a victory in his ?last fight? (b) help Berto raise funds for the earthquake victims in Haiti who to these days are still living in squalor. (c) collect 30-35 million dollars for a cherry-picked opponent. (d) assure a win to tie Rocky Marciano?s 49-0 record without so much risk involved.
The first reason seems the most logical as Mayweather 99.9% of the time will pick an opponent that would assure a victory. Just about the only time he didn?t do that was in his last fight, against Manny Pacquiao. But then again, he could have been ?forced? to fight Pacquiao given that ShowTime reportedly was not quite recouping its huge investments and a big fight with the Filipino spitfire was needed to erase the red in their balance sheet.
A fight with Berto has a potential to back fire because Berto is a known puncher. I am sure Team Mayweather took that into consideration and it did not bother them because Berto is now what they call in the business ?damaged goods? and will offer not a bit of danger to little Floyd. At the very least Berto in his present status, is a less dangerous fighter than Amir Khan , Tim Bradley or even the fast surging Keith Thurman.
I refuse to believe that Mayweather?s fight in September will be his last particularly if it?s an easy fight with an opponent like Berto. Little Floyd of course will triumphantly announce that he is done. But the lure of breaking Marciano?s record is just too much to refuse so he is coming back for his 50th fight in 2016. There is no doubt it will be a humongous one and may even break the May-Pac non-event particularly if Mayweather mans up, quit cherry picking and fights GGG even at a catch weight.
The Mayweather-Berto fight they say will shown on CBS Network, the parent company of ShowTimeSports. It may be on September 12th. Of course, it will be free to the public and on prime time I am sure. In all probability, it will be at the MGM in Las Vegas. Little Floyd will never fight outside of sin city. He may not get the breaks that he usually does as a ?favorite son? if it?s done in a neutral place. Besides, MGM will leave no stones unturned to keep their spoiled brat cash cow in their city.
The Mayweather folks and CBS know that a fight with Berto will probably draw only as much as a fight in a California Indian Casino. I am being facetious of course. I am sure it will be a wee bit better. But certainly, not in the numbers they would expect to draw if they did a PPV against Khan or even Thurman because Berto does not have a huge fan base. So CBS\ShowTime are biting the bullet and doing it for free.
However, I am also sure that they will make it appear to the fans it?s a CBS ?pay-back? for the fans who showed discontent on the May-Pac saga . But they may also say ? now you owe us because we are giving you a free Mayweather fight and we expect your support on the next one?.
I have no doubt CBS will hype the fight to high heavens hoping that it will draw decent numbers. Otherwise, the self-described TBE will be the laughing stock of the boxing fans. With that it goes without saying, that the haters will have a feast criticizing them.
Be that as it may, Mayweather will still come up with a triple whammy. A hollow win over Berto to close his contract with ShowTime , the 30-35 million big ones he will carry laughing all the way to the bank minus what IRS will cut at the top and a tie with 49-0-win record of the great Rocky Marciano.
I hope CBS and ShowTime will not take a hit on this one. But I would not shed tears for them if that happens. They sure made a killing on the Mayweather-Pacquiao dance they put up last May at the MGM, enough to offset whatever losses they may incur in a Mayweather fight with Andre Berto or even the fights before that.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.
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