On September 12 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, WBA Super World and WBC World welterweight champion Floyd “Money” Mayweather (48-0, 26 KOs), from Las Vegas by way of Grand Rapids, Michigan, will defend his titles against interim WBA welterweight champion Andre Berto (30-3, 23 KOs), from Winter Haven, Florida.
As he inches his way toward Rocky Marciano’s sacrosanct 49-0 record, Mayweather’s selection of Berto as his next opponent has some observers scratching their heads. IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook might be a sterner test, as might former WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley. But boxing’s pound-for-pound king believes he’s entitled to a victory lap, and he might be right.
Andre Berto, however personable, athletic, and hard hitting, has a porous defense and peaked five years ago. Since that time he has lost three of six fights, to Victor Ortiz in 2011, Robert Guerrero in 2012, and Jesus Soto Karass in 2013. It’s no coincidence that two of those three fighters were beaten by Mayweather, and if Soto Karass had faced Floyd, he would have been beaten as well.
“I’m ready to get back in the ring on September 12 and prove again to the whole world why I’m ‘The Best Ever,’” said Mayweather. “I always bring my A-game and this fight against Andre Berto is no exception. He’s a young, strong fighter who is hungry to take down the best. Forty-eight have tried before and on September 12, I’m going to make it 49.”
“I’m coming to kick Floyd’s ass on September 12,” said Berto. “Best believe that I plan to bring it to Floyd and I’m not concerned about what 48 other fighters have been unable to do. Somebody is getting knocked out and it won’t be me.”
If Berto thinks he’s going to knock Mayweather out, he has another thing coming. And as far as Mayweather being ‘The Best Ever,’ as he insists, history will be the judge and the competition is stiff. Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, and Sugar Ray Robinson, as well of some of their predecessors, might lay claim to that honorific, but the past, while it might be glorious, will never be mistaken for the present.
Mayweather is without question the finest boxer of his generation, but he has also been lightning rod for controversy. That was true of Ali, Jack Dempsey, and Jack Johnson, but the controversy, as in the case of Ali, Dempsey, and Johnson, was of his own creation.
“Some media are going to complain no matter who he fights,” said Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe, “always an excuse. He just beat whom they picked as ‘fighter of decade.’ [It’s impossible to] please everyone…but one thing for sure. It’s going to be a very exciting fight right along with the great undercard! Great fighters make things look easy, that’s what makes them great. Nothing easy about Canelo, Cotto, Pacquiao, to name a few. One punch changes the whole dynamics of everything. Neither guy will take a step back in this fight. Both guys will be looking for a KO!! Most of those who complain are the same ones who also said Cotto was washed up before Floyd fought him.”
What Ellerbe said is true. Mayweather is a great fighter. He’s a first ballot shoe-in for Canastota. He hasn’t been beaten up. Few of the men he faced were even able to land a clean punch. The Berto fight might be competitive, up to a point, but more likely than not, Mayweather, whose ring IQ is off the charts, will win a decision after 12 rounds. He may be light years better than the men he has faced, but he may not, by the same token, be better than Ali, Joe Louis, or Sugar Ray Robinson.
History will have the final word, which is as it should be.
This article was penned by the author who is not related to the WBA and the statements, expressions or opinions referenced herein are that of the author alone and not the WBA.
