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By Jake Donovan - For decades there has existed the claim that it’s not the belt that makes the fighter, but the fighter that makes the belt.
Far too often has been the case where the efforts made to have an alphabet trinket at stake in a fight debunked that theory, but we’re seeing more and more these days a transition away from that mindset.
Case in point is the February 11 rematch between Victor Ortiz and Andre Berto.
Perhaps the right amount of persuasion could have allowed Berto (28-1, 22KO) to have the belt he acquired last September at stake for a rematch to last year’s 12-round war with Ortiz (29-3-2, 22KO). There is precedence for sanctioning bodies to grant exceptions to mandatory defenses being due, especially when it’s a sequel to what was universally recognized as one of the best fights of 2011.
But shortly after his HBO-televised title win over Jan Zaveck five months after losing to Ortiz, Berto decided that it was more important to avenge the lone loss of his career rather than wait out the politics of the sport.
“I’m probably a little bit (upset about no belt at stake). But I’m at a place where realistically it’s about the fights,” Berto said of his return go with Ortiz, which airs live on Showtime from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. “I won two belts in the sport, but I’m at a point where I’m just going back to the basics. It’s a fight that I wanted and definitely that the people wanted and it’s going to be an exciting one.”
Their first thriller produced four knockdowns – two for each fighter – before Ortiz pulled ahead in the second half of the contest to secure the biggest win of his career. The Californian parlayed the victory into a high-profile showdown with Floyd Mayweather, which came two weeks after Berto’s aforementioned win over Zaveck.
Ortiz’ night didn’t go quite as well, suffering perhaps the most spoken-about knockout of the year, getting caught off guard and knocked out cold by Mayweather at the end of the fourth round after repeatedly apologizing for an earlier intentional foul. [Click Here To Read More]
Far too often has been the case where the efforts made to have an alphabet trinket at stake in a fight debunked that theory, but we’re seeing more and more these days a transition away from that mindset.
Case in point is the February 11 rematch between Victor Ortiz and Andre Berto.
Perhaps the right amount of persuasion could have allowed Berto (28-1, 22KO) to have the belt he acquired last September at stake for a rematch to last year’s 12-round war with Ortiz (29-3-2, 22KO). There is precedence for sanctioning bodies to grant exceptions to mandatory defenses being due, especially when it’s a sequel to what was universally recognized as one of the best fights of 2011.
But shortly after his HBO-televised title win over Jan Zaveck five months after losing to Ortiz, Berto decided that it was more important to avenge the lone loss of his career rather than wait out the politics of the sport.
“I’m probably a little bit (upset about no belt at stake). But I’m at a place where realistically it’s about the fights,” Berto said of his return go with Ortiz, which airs live on Showtime from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. “I won two belts in the sport, but I’m at a point where I’m just going back to the basics. It’s a fight that I wanted and definitely that the people wanted and it’s going to be an exciting one.”
Their first thriller produced four knockdowns – two for each fighter – before Ortiz pulled ahead in the second half of the contest to secure the biggest win of his career. The Californian parlayed the victory into a high-profile showdown with Floyd Mayweather, which came two weeks after Berto’s aforementioned win over Zaveck.
Ortiz’ night didn’t go quite as well, suffering perhaps the most spoken-about knockout of the year, getting caught off guard and knocked out cold by Mayweather at the end of the fourth round after repeatedly apologizing for an earlier intentional foul. [Click Here To Read More]
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