Berto-Zaveck: Monday Morning Recap

Good win for Berto. He fought his fight for the first three rounds, looked pretty good doing it, and then overcame the determined advances of Zaveck to win the thing. Good fight, good showing by BOTH fighters. Definitely was punches that busted up and opened up Zaveck's face. No headbutts, and no controversy as claimed by some. Berto really put a whoopin on Jan in the last half of the 5th. In the corner after the 5th, Zaveck knows how badly he is injured, and how much jeopardy he and his title are in at that moment. He screams out in frustration over it, and at one point when they have an endswell over his right eye, a panicked look comes over his left eye that tells me he could not see out of that one either. Good stoppage by Team Zaveck.

Comments (5)

fitefanSHO

I appreciate your passion Leo but I have to disagree with your claim that a cut like the one we see on Zaveck's right eyelid can't be caused by a punch. The eyelid is sensitive fragile skin and takes very little to cut it. A punch can, and did cut his eye, IMO. I also disagree that Zaveck would have only been "half blind" if his corner had let him go on. I think he was having difficulty seeing out of his left eye also. Whether that left eye blindness was only temporary, or whether it would have been intermittent is not important. His vision was compromised beyond the point of being able to continue and I think as he sat there, he knew it.

14y ago

Leohappy

I won't argue about the headbutt anymore, to me it was there. The fight was going on at point blank range, and it happened. Possibly more than one, the camera angles really don't tell the story. I reviewed the match just now (the HBO version, saw the TV Slovenia version a few times already), and I can see why the REF didn't see the headbutt. He was standing behind Berto, and probably couldn't see it happen. It all happened really fast, if you don't look at the animated GIFs, or slo-mo you would have missed it 100%. Also the HBO commentators weren't really paying a lot of attention, instead giving some free advertisement to Victor Conte, what a damn shame (TV Slovenia didn't have Conte or the Lederman cards). Because on Slovenia TV the commentators saw almost immediately something wacky was going on, one of them commented on a strong possibility of a headbutt. Unfortunately they didn't show the right slo-mo's. If you look at this pic, posted in another topic, you'd see a clear cut above Zavec's right eye, this cannot be caused by boxing gloves, unless they were loaded. It's typical damage from a headbutt: http://i1003.photobucket.com/albums/af160/yevskiy426/Zaveckcut.jpg About the corner stoppage. I think Zavec's team did the right thing there stopping it. Even though they argued about going on into the 6th, because Zavec wanted it. I think honestly with that damage and right eye shut, Zavec would be in considerable danger. Berto's a fast, strong banger, and if you can't see what he's doing you are on the road to being packed and delivered. The stoppage prevented Berto looking good at punching a half blind opponent, and would have made Zavec look really bad IMO. Regardless I see these 5 rounds as some of the more entertaining in the recent months, so props to Berto and Zavec. I really hope Zavec will see the US again, on an undercard against a decent WW. He has the potential, but he needs a new cutman for sure. And possibly some dermatologist advice. You can't go into a fight with such a big banger like Berto, and bring in a Journeyman Cutman. The boxer's careers are at stake in every fight so the cutman needs to be experienced and 100% focused. Also I found the official cards produced by the MSAC: David Toranto 48-47 Berto // 2-3 Larry Ingle 49-46 Berto // 1-4 Glenn Feldman 49-46 Berto // 1-4 The card's clearly show if the fight went the distance it would have been a close UD12 win by Berto. And Zavec's team were 100% right with the tactic. Wearing Berto down, and looking for that KO was the only way to win. Sadly the clash of heads prevented this but you can't do much about it, it's boxing. Have a nice day bro.

14y ago

STREET_CLEANER

I did like where the fight was going but the injury stopped it. Zaveck looked in shape, had a plan and was starting to adjust. Berto looked determined also

14y ago

Xcel

Good win for Berto but Zaveck was coming on in the fight.

14y ago

TheZero

Definitely was punches that busted up and opened up Zaveck's face. No headbutts, and no controversy as claimed by some. It was punches that has caused Zaveck's left eye to be cut, but it was not that bad after all. Even Berto was cut over one of his eyes, which is very well visible after the fight. Anyway, if it would be just that cut over the eye for Zaveck, he could continue the fight with ease. It was the hematoma, that has messed him up totaly. This, is what was caused by a headbut. Take a look at my signature, if you still do not believe it. It has closed Zaveck's right eye totaly and there was no way that he could continue the fight fairly, with it.

14y ago