Mitchell Kane
07-18-2008, 09:16 AM
Dan Rafael:
Welterweight titlist Andre Berto (22-0, 19 KOs), who stopped Miki Rodriguez in the seventh round June 21 to claim the belt Floyd Mayweather vacated upon his retirement, is being lined up to make his first defense against Steve Forbes, an ex-junior lightweight titlist and the second-season runner up on "The Contender." Forbes also gave Oscar De La Hoya a tough fight May 3 despite losing a lopsided decision at 150 pounds. The tentative date is Oct. 4 on HBO's "Boxing After Dark," Berto promoter Lou DiBella told ESPN.com. "Forbes wants the fight and ['Contender' promoter] Jeff Wald and I have an agreement in principle, but it's pending a few things with HBO, which has no problem with the fight. Andre is a work in progress and Forbes can fight his butt off. He touched up Oscar even though Oscar won the majority of the rounds. I'd love to see what my guy could do against Forbes and let people draw their own conclusions." If HBO has its way, the card will include Gary Shaw-promoted bouts involving rising prospects Yuriorkis Gamboa and Alfredo Angulo. DiBella prefers not to share a date with Shaw, which is one of the issues he must work out with HBO.
Welterweight titlist Andre Berto (22-0, 19 KOs), who stopped Miki Rodriguez in the seventh round June 21 to claim the belt Floyd Mayweather vacated upon his retirement, is being lined up to make his first defense against Steve Forbes, an ex-junior lightweight titlist and the second-season runner up on "The Contender." Forbes also gave Oscar De La Hoya a tough fight May 3 despite losing a lopsided decision at 150 pounds. The tentative date is Oct. 4 on HBO's "Boxing After Dark," Berto promoter Lou DiBella told ESPN.com. "Forbes wants the fight and ['Contender' promoter] Jeff Wald and I have an agreement in principle, but it's pending a few things with HBO, which has no problem with the fight. Andre is a work in progress and Forbes can fight his butt off. He touched up Oscar even though Oscar won the majority of the rounds. I'd love to see what my guy could do against Forbes and let people draw their own conclusions." If HBO has its way, the card will include Gary Shaw-promoted bouts involving rising prospects Yuriorkis Gamboa and Alfredo Angulo. DiBella prefers not to share a date with Shaw, which is one of the issues he must work out with HBO.