By Keith Idec
Andre Berto has a healthy respect for Victor Ortiz now that they’ve engaged in one of the most fascinating fights of 2011.
Berto believes, though, that Floyd Mayweather Jr. will win the WBC welterweight title from Ortiz on Saturday night at MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
“[Mayweather] should be able to out-box him,” Berto told WFAN’s Tony Paige in a radio interview that aired Sunday on 660-AM in New York. “He’ll be smart.”
Ortiz (29-2-2, 22 KOs) dropped Berto twice during their April 16 slugfest in Mashantucket, Conn. Berto, who also floored Ortiz twice, walked away from his first professional loss with an appreciation of Ortiz’s resolve.
“He’s a very tough kid,” Berto said. “He’s going to come strong [against Mayweather]. He’s going to come aggressive. But we’ll have to see how he handles the big stage.”
Berto also said during the interview that he’d like to fight the Mayweather-Ortiz winner. If the 24-year-old Ortiz upsets the 34-year-old Mayweather, however, the powerful southpaw from Oxnard, Calif., would owe Mayweather (41-0, 25 KOs) an immediate rematch, assuming Mayweather would want one.
Regardless, Berto (28-1, 22 KOs), of Winter Haven, Fla., said he expects to fight again by “December or January.” He won the IBF welterweight title from Slovenia’s Jan Zaveck (31-2, 18 KOs, 1 NC), whom Berto beat by technical knockout because Zaveck couldn’t see out his right eye following five rounds Sept. 3 in Biloxi, Miss.
Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, NJ., and BoxingScene.com.