by David P. Greisman

No official announcement has been made for Danny Garcia’s next fight, which will be the first defense of the vacant welterweight title he won in January with a victory over Robert Guerrero.

One of the names mentioned has been Andre Berto in a bout that would take place as soon as early fall. Some may scoff given that Berto hasn’t won a significant fight at welterweight in a long, long time. But Showtime executive Stephen Espinoza says that Garcia’s relatively recent move into the 147-pound division also needs to be taken into consideration.

“People forget that he’s sort of new to 147,” Espinoza told BoxingScene.com. “So if it’s Andre Berto or if it’s somebody else that he takes as the next fight, he’s still acclimating to 147.”

Garcia was last at junior welterweight in March 2014. He was around 142 for victories over Rod Salka and Lamont Peterson in August 2014 and April 2015. Garcia didn’t make his true welterweight debut until a year ago, when he stopped Paulie Malignaggi.

Berto was oft-derided by boxing observers during his title reign, which began with a vacant belt won against an overmatched opponent in 2008, and continued on with victories over Steve Forbes, Luis Collazo, Juan Urango, Carlos Quintana and Freddy Hernandez.

But then came a loss in an absolute war with Victor Ortiz in 2011. A rebound win with Jan Zaveck was followed by another defeat in another battle, this one against Robert Guerrero in 2012. Berto then lost yet again, fighting valiantly through an injury before succumbing to Jesus Soto Karass in 2013. He's flawed, but he's fun.

After more than a year out of the ring, Berto returned in 2014 with a decision over Steve Upsher Chambers and then stopped Josesito Lopez in March 2015. That was enough to make him the designated opponent for Floyd Mayweather’s swan song last September. Berto lost a wide decision. He came back this past April, coming off the canvas to stop Ortiz in a rematch.

“If it turns out to be Berto, it definitely isn’t a gimme. He’s athletic, experienced and he’s been at welterweight virtually his whole career,” Espinoza said. “So at that point, he could be a challenge for Danny.”

Garcia’s next fight is likely to be on the Showtime family of networks, so long as it’s against a certain caliber of opponent, Espinoza said.

“We expect that, unless it’s someone other than a Berto-level fight,” he said. “I expect that will be one of our fall fights.”

Pick up a copy of David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsamazon or internationally at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsworldwide. Send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com