By Cliff Rold

There are a couple of strong schools of thought when it comes to rising Welterweight contender Andre Berto (24-0, 19 KO). 

The first school sees in Berto a combination of speed, power, and personality which spells superstar.  They see a fighter who has exhibited the character to get off the floor and win, to battle through adversity and improve under the spotlight. 

The other school sees him as the latest gilded creation of a perceived but unofficial marriage of interests featuring HBO, advisor Al Haymon, and former HBO executive turned promoter Lou DiBella.  This school sees Berto groomed into the spotlight against a series of less than murderous foes before his test of fire against Luis Collazo this past January.

They see Jermain Taylor redux, a young fighter carefully maneuvered and heading towards a dramatic fall.

Both schools have their points and probably agree strongest on one key question: what about the chin?

As Berto has risen through the ranks, turned pro in 2004 after an appearance at the Athens Games, his chin has been the whisper point.  Even before he had shown vulnerability in the ring the rumors of an Achilles mentum were out there.

Initially, it seemed the typical chatter when a reliable source in the industry sent this columnist a note in 2007 saying, ‘just wait until you see him get hit.’  Later that week, Berto was dropped hard against veteran Cosme Rivera in the sixth round and the issue became more pointed.

Berto has made five starts since Rivera, winning all, staying off the floor in all.  And yet the questions still hover about him.  Does he have the grill to go with the skill?   

It’s kind of an unfair question of course.  Most good fighters, caught flush by another pro, get rocked or go down at some point.  There are very few Marvin Hagler’s out there, men whose ability to take a shot was almost as scary as the rest of their game. 

It’s also a question everyone wants an answer to for a hot young pro. 

In his last bout against Collazo, an early contender for Fight of the Year, Berto was buzzed on more than one occasion.  He won a close fight and earned any accolades he received.  He showed heart, character, and will.  However, with a knockout percentage below fifty percent in his career, the more experienced Collazo’s ability to hurt Berto more than once also furthered skepticism about what fates lie in Berto’s future.  

Before some fans can commit fully to Berto, they’re going to want their skepticism mellowed.  It is often the ability to survive the big fire which separates the good from the very good and beyond.  It is a question which is being asked directly this weekend, if in a somewhat safe scenario.

This Saturday, Berto will attempt the third defense of his WBC belt against Juan Urango (21-1-1, 6 KO).  The skeptic will note this is the second defense Berto has made against a smaller man.  His first, against former Jr. Lightweight titlist and Contender Season Two runner up Steve Forbes, offered a man without power.  No real risk to be found there.

Urango is a different story and skepticism should abate.  While Urango has spent the bulk of his career around 140 lbs., he can crack.  It’s his game, what he comes to do.  He’s got the sort of jaw snapping power than can end a night in an instant to compliment a face forward aggression.

Urango has weaknesses for sure.  He can be outboxed and one dimensional.  Berto’s speed and deep amateur background should carry him to the winner’s circle.  However, it is that one dimension which makes this a fight.  After watching Urango bang out Carlos Vilches in one of 2008’s best knockouts, and then bounce the normally firm chinned Herman Ngoudjo off the floor in January en route to a decision win, the danger of this fight is evident.

There is no reason to think the power doesn’t come a simple seven pounds up the scale and, with Berto only slightly taller, the range for a flush hook will be there.

One could posit that Team Berto sees the reasons they should win, sees the risk, and has made a calculated gamble.  They, as does the boxing audience, know almost everything they need to about Berto except that one little thing.  No can be certain there yet.  Therefore, they are for lack of a better coined phrase checking Berto’s chin.

It’s a wise move before going after the division’s big fish.  Welterweight right now is a landmine.  Aged though he may be, WBA titlist Shane Mosley is still formidable.  The winner of June’s Miguel Cotto-Joshua Clottey will emerge more beastly than they appear going in.  Urango after Collazo in that light isn’t a bad choice.

It also hints that Berto’s handlers, most of the same handlers Taylor had behind him, have learned some lessons.  While fights with the like of Forbes (and before him Miguel Rodriguez and Michael Trabant) didn’t get anyone too hyped up, Collazo was a serious step up and Urango represents at a solid lateral, if not vertical, move.

In comparison, the road Berto is traveling has ceased resembling the road taken by Taylor in his rise through the Middleweights.  Before challenging Bernard Hopkins in 2005, Taylor had never faced anyone who could reasonably defeat him or even test him much.  To the credit of his team, Taylor’s road wasn’t wasted.  He won the title and held on to it for a couple years, making good money along the way.  However, he didn’t seem to handle adversity well in, win, lose or draw, at the next level.

Berto is being given the chance to learn how to handle adversity and it will be a credit when he’s asked to face the elite in his division.  Whether HBO has been the best place for some of his learning wins or not bears scrutiny but it’s hard to fault Berto’s management for getting their man the maximum dollars and exposure to go with his development as a professional.  At only 25, and in his 25th pro fight, he’s right where a blue chip prospect should be. 

And if the question gets asked by way of a big Urango left hook and Berto is still standing with his arms raised at night’s end, he’ll be along even farther.

The Weekly Ledger

But wait, there’s more:

Cliff’s Notes…

Floyd Mayweather and Brian Kenny are missing only one thing: Wide World of Sports.  With a national forum of that magnitude, they’d not only be the best athlete-interviewer combo in sports.  They’d be fully recognized for it…Ok, so what’s really going on with Top Rank and Kelly Pavlik?  Whatever it is, can we skip straight to Pavlik-Arthur Abraham?...Free Mikkel Kessler!…So Chad Dawson dumped the IBF belt while he looks for Glen Johnson which is fine but when he wins another Light Heavyweight belt, you just know someone is going to call him a three-time World Champion…Finally, congratulations to Fresno’s Edison High School Baseball Tigers for making the first ever section final in school history. Go Tigers!

Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com