By Ryan Songalia
You can add WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto to the list of fighters eager to face the newly crowned WBC junior middleweight champion Manny Pacquiao.
That's what Berto's promoter Lou Dibella said just hours before his Saturday evening promotion between middleweight champ Sergio Martinez and Paul Williams in Atlantic City, NJ. Dibella's fighter Martinez eventually won by knockout in the second round.
"If [Top Rank CEO Bob Arum] is interested in a Pacquiao-Berto fight, I'm all ears," said the CEO of the New York-based promotional organization Dibella Entertainment.
"Generally when Bob and I talk, within an hour we can figure out if we can make a deal or not. Manny makes his own decisions. It’s not if Berto wants to fight Manny that makes the difference, it's whether Manny wants to fight Berto that makes the difference.
"If that’s what Manny wants to do, I’m all ears."
Berto, 26-0 (20 KO), of Winter Haven, FL joins a list that includes lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez and Shane Mosley. Any chance of these fighters getting in there with the eight division world titlist would be contingent upon Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. once again failing to come to terms for a third time.
Berto first must get past Freddy Hernandez, 29-1 (20 KO), next Saturday in Las Vegas, NV. Berto is heavily favored over Hernandez, whose biggest wins have come against badly diminished former champions Mike Anchondo and Demarcus Corley.
Mosley, 46-6 (39 KO), was on hand at the press conference to throw his hat into the ring as well. Mosley stated "Pacquiao has fought everybody except for me and Floyd,” adding “I see some openings [in Pacquiao] that I can exploit."
Dibella, a former HBO exec, scoffs at the idea that the 39-year-old Mosley, who registered a draw against Sergio Mora and a lopsided decision loss to Mayweather Jr. in his two most recent fights, can give Pacquiao a serious fight. And yes, he feels that his 27-year-old charge can.
"I personally think it’s more saleable because as big a name as Shane Mosley is, after what happened between Mosley and Mayweather, and also frankly after how Margarito looked against Pacquiao, I don’t think there are a lot of people that will think Mosley has a snowflake’s chance in hell.
"I think that Berto is new blood even though Pacquiao would be favored."
Dibella also mentioned Floyd Mayweather Jr. as another fighter Berto could face, though the possibility is slim considering that advisor Al Haymon represents both.
Dibella concedes that Pacquiao and Mayweather have the bargaining power in this fight. That won't stop him from making his intentions known, however.
"Clearly Floyd and Manny are the boss. They’re in the position that they dictate who they’re gonna fight, not the other way around. Am I gonna offend anybody? No, but is Berto going to make it very clear that he would love the opportunity to fight the very best? Yeah."
"Berto has been dealt a lot of unfair criticism, but I can tell you for a fact that he's willing to fight anyone. Who is there to fight at 147 if you’re not getting a shot at Pacquiao or Mayweather? It’s slim pickings. You have foreign champions that no one knows in the United States [Vyacheslav Senchenko and Jan Zaveck].
"No offense to Mike Jones, we’ll fight Mike Jones if someone wants to pay for it. But I don’t see a difference between Mike Jones and the other challengers like Freddy Hernandez. I had the [Jesus] Soto Karrass fight an even fight."
Ryan Songalia is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) and a contributor to GMANews.TV. He can be reached at ryan@ryansongalia.com . An archive of his work can be found at www.ryansongalia.com . Follow him on Twitter atwww.twitter.com/ryansongalia .
