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So I always love a good sports conspiracy theory and need a good justification for the Jr. vs Berto fight so here it goes.
Back in early 2010 Berto was scheduled to fight Sugar Shane Mosley. Was a very good fight at the time. Berto was an undefeated champion and Mosley was a year removed from the Margacheato fight. Suddenly the tragic situation in Haiti came about. Berto unexpectedly pulled out of the fight, saying he couldn"t focus with everything going on. But many questioned it due to them saying they were going to use the fight to raise money for Haiti. Now around that same time the initial Mayweather/Pacquiao negotiations fell through and Mayweather needed an opponent for May 2010. Paul Williams was asking for the fight, even said he could make 147 despite his last fight being at middleweight but Floyd declined.
I think that Berto took some step aside money so that Mosley would be available to fight Jr. in May of 2010. Why would he do this? I think Al Haymon promised him a Floyd fight down the line to make it worth it.
Now jump to June 2011, Floyd had gone on "vacation" after the Mosley win and was ready to come back in September of that year.
They put him in with Victor Ortiz in what many viewed as a tune up fight to set up a Floyd fight that year. Floyd and 50 cent even showed up to the fight. We all know what happened as Ortiz had the fight of his life and ended up getting the decision in a fight of the year war. Berto then took some time off and a rematch was cancelled with Ortiz the next year due to a failed drug test for Berto and he continued to slide after that, losing to Soto Karass and should have lost to Josesito Lopez if the ref didn"t pull shananigans.
Its possible that despite all this Al Haymon still owed Berto a Floyd payday but he needed to convince Jr. to take the fight. Floyd may not really care since he gets paid either way but it may have taken some time to convince him to take the PR hit he is currently facing.
That"s my theory, not sourced at all but its really the only way I can justify this fight IMO.
Back in early 2010 Berto was scheduled to fight Sugar Shane Mosley. Was a very good fight at the time. Berto was an undefeated champion and Mosley was a year removed from the Margacheato fight. Suddenly the tragic situation in Haiti came about. Berto unexpectedly pulled out of the fight, saying he couldn"t focus with everything going on. But many questioned it due to them saying they were going to use the fight to raise money for Haiti. Now around that same time the initial Mayweather/Pacquiao negotiations fell through and Mayweather needed an opponent for May 2010. Paul Williams was asking for the fight, even said he could make 147 despite his last fight being at middleweight but Floyd declined.
I think that Berto took some step aside money so that Mosley would be available to fight Jr. in May of 2010. Why would he do this? I think Al Haymon promised him a Floyd fight down the line to make it worth it.
Now jump to June 2011, Floyd had gone on "vacation" after the Mosley win and was ready to come back in September of that year.
They put him in with Victor Ortiz in what many viewed as a tune up fight to set up a Floyd fight that year. Floyd and 50 cent even showed up to the fight. We all know what happened as Ortiz had the fight of his life and ended up getting the decision in a fight of the year war. Berto then took some time off and a rematch was cancelled with Ortiz the next year due to a failed drug test for Berto and he continued to slide after that, losing to Soto Karass and should have lost to Josesito Lopez if the ref didn"t pull shananigans.
Its possible that despite all this Al Haymon still owed Berto a Floyd payday but he needed to convince Jr. to take the fight. Floyd may not really care since he gets paid either way but it may have taken some time to convince him to take the PR hit he is currently facing.
That"s my theory, not sourced at all but its really the only way I can justify this fight IMO.