Andre Berto vs An Elite Figther

dude, if berto had to dig deep for collazo (a gatekeeper) he'll get killed by elite boxers. That's true if you assume that he's not going to get better with experience, but Berto has almost no experience against good fighters. This was the first fight he's had where he really got hit back and even trailed on the scorecards. With the possible exception of the Estrada fight, no one else really even won any rounds against him. So, the way Berto responded against Collazo was good. He does need to get better and if DiBella were to put him in against Margarito, for example, that'd be a mistake, but I could see Berto being the legit 147 lb champ at some point in the next 18 months or so.

He definitely needs to tighten some of his game up if he wants to compete with Mosley, Margarito or Cotto. His defense needs to pick up but the thing that i didn't like about him in the Collazo fight was his poor footwork, and him pulling straight back and still being in the line of the punch. Someone like Margarito or Cottto would follow him straight back and land a punch that drops him because of his balance and if he gets caught in an exchange with either of them, then that would be pretty much it. They would finish him. Give Berto some great movement of say a Cotto or Mayweather JR, then he could be a world beater. Athletically he is probably the best at welterweight though, his hands are lightning.

dude, if berto had to dig deep for collazo (a gatekeeper) he'll get killed by elite boxers. I fail to see how being forced to dig deep and being successful at it is a bad thing for Berto at this point of his career. Collazo is a pretty damn good boxer that is a southpaw (he has been away from the top level for a minute and it showed in the Berto fight though). What happeaned in the Collazo fight is not a good barometer against Mosley,Cotto, Margarito or Clottey because all five of these guys fight vastly different. He might get killed I don't really know, but to say that Collazo fight proves that Berto will get killed by any elite welter is asanine at best, because to me that fight proves he has what it takes to atleast be competitive on that level and he has nothing left to prove fighting guys in the lower half of the top 10.

dude, if berto had to dig deep for collazo (a gatekeeper) he'll get killed by elite boxers.

I believe Collazo himself,is an elite welterweight,Hatton did not win that fight against him,Mosley did though,but from the performance Ive seen Berto give in that fight,he wants none of the other elite fighters.He may have the best chance against Cotto,because they are the closest in size and Cotto also has a suspect chin,but I still dont see him winning, against Margarito,Clottey,or the Punisher,he will be handled easily,"I left Mosley out because he is close to retirement

It's just good experience to be gaining against a top 10 opponent. It proves he wouldn't be Clottey, but it proves that he has the the heart to match skills with someone like Mosley. It also proves that he might need another top 10 opponent or two before he's ready to fight for the top spot in the division. It was tougher than expected, but not the end of the world. Clottey has a big problem if he faces Berto, he fades (also if Berto attacks he can force Clottey to defend mostly, but if Berto is not active enough that could work in Clottey's favor). Berto proved has proven he really does not fade, atleast to this point. I think Clottey-Berto is an intersting fight right now.

I don't know what the Collazo fight means at the top of the 147 pound division. Mosley, Margarito and Cotto are right handed and fight nothing like Collazo (unless Williams goes back to 147 but still he fights nothing like Collazo either). So this may be to much of a conclusion to reach from the Collazo fight. Also Collazo was not just slapping, atleast in the earlier portion of the fight. As the fight wore on and Berto wore down Collazo his punches lost a lot of steam while Berto was still landing flashy shots (I think this had a lot to do with why Berto got the nod). I would like to see Berto fight the top of the division now though. I always though of Collazo as a pretty top guy in the division, not top 5 but 6-10ish so if the ranks go something likes this: 1. Margarito 2. Mosley (or Cotto) 3. Cotto (or Mosley) 4. Clottey 5. Berto 6. Collazo To advance he really has to fight the top guys (or just hang around for a really really long time I guess). Who knows if he wins or can even compete at that level but he needs to prove if he can. It's just good experience to be gaining against a top 10 opponent. It proves he wouldn't be Clottey, but it proves that he has the the heart to match skills with someone like Mosley. It also proves that he might need another top 10 opponent or two before he's ready to fight for the top spot in the division. It was tougher than expected, but not the end of the world.

I don't know what the Collazo fight means at the top of the 147 pound division. Mosley, Margarito and Cotto are right handed and fight nothing like Collazo (unless Williams goes back to 147 but still he fights nothing like Collazo either). So this may be to much of a conclusion to reach from the Collazo fight. Also Collazo was not just slapping, atleast in the earlier portion of the fight. As the fight wore on and Berto wore down Collazo his punches lost a lot of steam while Berto was still landing flashy shots (I think this had a lot to do with why Berto got the nod). I would like to see Berto fight the top of the division now though. I always though of Collazo as a pretty top guy in the division, not top 5 but 6-10ish so if the ranks go something likes this: 1. Margarito 2. Mosley (or Cotto) 3. Cotto (or Mosley) 4. Clottey 5. Berto 6. Collazo To advance he really has to fight the top guys (or just hang around for a really really long time I guess). Who knows if he wins or can even compete at that level but he needs to prove if he can.

Berto is better than he gets cred for. I don't see him beatin the top guys at WW just yet tho.

In his fight with FORBES and ALL THROUGHOUT the COLLAZO fight BERTO held on like a girl.I believe he will hit and hold ,hit and hold ,against anyone with even a HINT of power from now on.This kid was dropped twice and on the verge of being ko'd in the ameteurs with headgear and 12 oz gloves,he was dropped and hurt against COSME RIVERA(the same guy JUDAH ko'd in 3 about 4 years ago) , and needed to used a HATTON/LAZCANO(when RICKY was out in the 10th and pointed to his untied laces to the ref who then gave him 40 seconds to (recover)tie his shoes)move.Berto was hurt and dropped and then decided to call attention to the ref a rip in his gloves which was deemed worthy of stopping the fight at that crucial time for BERTO and giving him the necessary time to recover and win a decision.Seeing him buzzed by DAVID ESTRADA and COLLAZZO makes me believe ,he has SERIOUS chin issues.In THIS division at THIS TIME ,I don't see BERTO seeing the 6 th round against MARGIRITO or PAUL WILLIAMS.I see MOSLEY, CINTRON,and COTTO also beating BERTO by ko and CLOTTEY would also in my opinion be too much for BERTO.The sad part is in a division so stacked with talent where the top 5 or 6 guys are constantly fighting each other you have ANDRE (hit and hold)BERTO who stands on the side lines looking for the weakest opponent that HBO will approve.DELVIN RODRIGUEZ(the guy JESSE FELECIANO ko'd) has been mentioned next for BERTO. I'm sure the REAL ELITES of the welterweight division COTTO,CLOTTEY,MARGIRITO,WILLIAMS view BERTO as CHINNY,PROTECTED fighter who will NEVER get in the ring with them.Remember when BERTO called himself the best in the division and PAUL WILLIAMS issued a challenge to ANDRE ,TEAM BERTO and DIBELLA nearly crapped and said its NOT FAIR that WILLIAMS is a welterweight AND A FIGHT AT THIS time WOULD MAKE no economical sense.I can't remember which boxing site that gave out the year end awards but one of the MOST prominate ones had ANDRE BERTO winning the "EASIEST TITLE RUN OF THE LAST DECADE" award.I have watched boxing for at least 25 years now and I can't remember a title holder having no inclination to uninfy or given pass after pass to fight unknowns when the rest of the division are fighting each othe rto establish whose best.Listen ,say what you want but BERTO is 25 now(not soo young when you think GATTI won his first world title at 23 off of highly regarded TRACY PATTERSON nad JUAN DIAZ won his at 20).Its unprecedented,embarrissing,and not fair that COTTO fights QUINTANA,JUDAH,MOSLEY,MARGIRITO-MARGIRITO fights MARTINEZ,SANTOS(twice),CLOTTEY,WILLIAMS,COTTO,CINTRON twice,I mean even SHANE MOSLEY at 37 stll embarressed COLLAZO(it was a thumb),went toe to toe with an undefeated COTTO and now MARGIRITO,but BERTO keeps getting allowed to fight dead men and now that he FINALLY fought a top ten guy (bottom top ten,but still top ten) in COLLAZO,the whole world had him losing a fight in which he did more HOLDING than HOPKINS,HATTON and KLITSHKO combined.TRULY EMBARRISSING No one in this whole sport holds as Much as that scared bitch wlad... but neways Im sure Berto learned alot from the Collazo fight. If hes smart he'll use that knowledge in his next fight. I think he has a chance agianst mosley, quintana, and judah... Margarito, Williams, and Clottey would just ruin his career.

Berto is still getting better. He doesn't have any real experience outside of the Collazo fight. He's progressing very similarly to Ricky Hatton. For the longest time it looked like Hatton would be spoonfed bums forever take one big fight, lose it and then drop back down into the second or third tier fighting bums. It didn't happen like that and I tend to suspect that Collazo is Berto's version of Eamon Magee. Berto is going to be a better fighter because of the experience that he got fighting Collazo. If he keeps getting the right type of fights to give him good experience he's going to eventually be one of those elite fighters. If he were to fight Shane Mosley at the end of the year I might even give him a decent shot at winning.

In his fight with FORBES and ALL THROUGHOUT the COLLAZO fight BERTO held on like a girl.I believe he will hit and hold ,hit and hold ,against anyone with even a HINT of power from now on.This kid was dropped twice and on the verge of being ko'd in the ameteurs with headgear and 12 oz gloves,he was dropped and hurt against COSME RIVERA(the same guy JUDAH ko'd in 3 about 4 years ago) , and needed to used a HATTON/LAZCANO(when RICKY was out in the 10th and pointed to his untied laces to the ref who then gave him 40 seconds to (recover)tie his shoes)move.Berto was hurt and dropped and then decided to call attention to the ref a rip in his gloves which was deemed worthy of stopping the fight at that crucial time for BERTO and giving him the necessary time to recover and win a decision.Seeing him buzzed by DAVID ESTRADA and COLLAZZO makes me believe ,he has SERIOUS chin issues.In THIS division at THIS TIME ,I don't see BERTO seeing the 6 th round against MARGIRITO or PAUL WILLIAMS.I see MOSLEY, CINTRON,and COTTO also beating BERTO by ko and CLOTTEY would also in my opinion be too much for BERTO.The sad part is in a division so stacked with talent where the top 5 or 6 guys are constantly fighting each other you have ANDRE (hit and hold)BERTO who stands on the side lines looking for the weakest opponent that HBO will approve.DELVIN RODRIGUEZ(the guy JESSE FELECIANO ko'd) has been mentioned next for BERTO. I'm sure the REAL ELITES of the welterweight division COTTO,CLOTTEY,MARGIRITO,WILLIAMS view BERTO as CHINNY,PROTECTED fighter who will NEVER get in the ring with them.Remember when BERTO called himself the best in the division and PAUL WILLIAMS issued a challenge to ANDRE ,TEAM BERTO and DIBELLA nearly crapped and said its NOT FAIR that WILLIAMS is a welterweight AND A FIGHT AT THIS time WOULD MAKE no economical sense.I can't remember which boxing site that gave out the year end awards but one of the MOST prominate ones had ANDRE BERTO winning the "EASIEST TITLE RUN OF THE LAST DECADE" award.I have watched boxing for at least 25 years now and I can't remember a title holder having no inclination to uninfy or given pass after pass to fight unknowns when the rest of the division are fighting each othe rto establish whose best.Listen ,say what you want but BERTO is 25 now(not soo young when you think GATTI won his first world title at 23 off of highly regarded TRACY PATTERSON nad JUAN DIAZ won his at 20).Its unprecedented,embarrissing,and not fair that COTTO fights QUINTANA,JUDAH,MOSLEY,MARGIRITO-MARGIRITO fights MARTINEZ,SANTOS(twice),CLOTTEY,WILLIAMS,COTTO,CINTRON twice,I mean even SHANE MOSLEY at 37 stll embarressed COLLAZO(it was a thumb),went toe to toe with an undefeated COTTO and now MARGIRITO,but BERTO keeps getting allowed to fight dead men and now that he FINALLY fought a top ten guy (bottom top ten,but still top ten) in COLLAZO,the whole world had him losing a fight in which he did more HOLDING than HOPKINS,HATTON and KLITSHKO combined.TRULY EMBARRISSING

Berto vs. Elite only ends bad for Berto... DiBella snuck him in the door and made him a world champion without ever having to face an elite... but he's come to the end of the line. He can fight a rematch with Collazo. After that, its either mandatories for a loss agaisnt an elite. Not hating on Berto, just being realistic.

I don't think he can make 140 without affecting himself, he's a short-ish welterweight but he's pretty big and strong at the weight, he loses to the elite at 147 right now.