I was watching him interviewed prior to the Maidana-Lopez fight. Dude sounded SLIGHLY punchy, like he's on the verge. I don't think it's gonna end well for Berto. He's got a lot of heart to make up for his shit chin, but his defense is HORRIBLE and I see a few more beatings in his future.
I saw Berto at a mall a few months ago and according to those who spoke to him, they say the same thing. He's starting to show the signs. Berto was never going to be great IMO but he was mismanaged. I think his opponents were poorly picked and he just never developed.
Actually his opponents were very WELL picked. They were WEAK. Guy never woulda won a belt in a stronger era. He made two mediocre fighters in Victoria and Guerrero look like monsters. And he damn near got KO'd by Cosme Rivera.
Not surprising. Started fighting early in life, long amateur career combined with style of fighting. Obviously never as good as Fernando Vargas, but a similar career path, and Fernando started slurring even earlier, probably because of the tougher competition.
:: is it true that Vargas is brain damaged? this is an interesting development,. I knew not that he had a brain.
I totally agree. His team did an amazing job when you think how long he had that belt. One of the biggest frauds ever, but his team probably made a lot of coin. My only question is, if Berto won another belt tomorrow, would he fight a top guy or need a few more fights first?
:: at Berto being mismanaged. Puerto come on man, he's a legendary hypejob with one of the easiest roads to the top ever. How could he have been managed any "better"? He got beaten up by 2 cherry picked 140/135 pounders, he was hardly thrown to the lions.
agREED... On Paper, Signing to Fight Berto Seemed like POOR DECISIONS on the Part of Ortiz, Guerrero & their Management...Both of them MOVED UP to Face Berto & were Favored to LOSE, Yet Whipped his Ass & Propelled Themselves to CAREER HIGH Paydays in their Very Next Bouts... In that Regard, even if Berto Has Made Some DECENT Coin in his Career, he Still CHOKED, by FAILING to Share a Ring w/Floyd, when the 2 Guys who BEAT Him Both Did... REED:hammert:
It's because of the cherry picking. I never said he was going to be great. But other than his fight with Collazo, he was fed a steady diet of easy fights and he lost his hunger. There's no way he would have ever beaten the top guys. But he had no business losing to Ortiz or Guerrero... Berto got complacent and that happens to some guys who face easy opponents their whole career.
Berto was definitely mis-managed from a development perspective. He's the poster boy for the undeserved full-time move to premium cable. When he should have been learning his craft, fighting 5-6 times every year, he was on getting hyped on HBO. The pressure was on him to look good and flashy, not get better. He never actually learned how to fight. You take the money when you can get it, but Berto was never given a chance to become a quality pro.
depending on how much of a cut haymon gets Id say he has done well for berto. how much better would the guy have become really? he's been on HBO/showtime a dozen times and Im sure his average purse was in the 7 figures.
In Berto's case, not much better. But as a general rule of thumb, that's a bad way to develop a boxer.
Ah that's what you meant. To be honest though I disagree, Berto just can't fight. He's like a homeless man's Mosley, I don't think it had anything at all do with losing his hunger. He just looked like a fairly clueless fighter against Ortiz and Guerrero, one with a bit of talent and heart, but no ringsmarts or skill. He didn't look like a fighter that lacked hunger.
You Think So???... REED has NO Way Proving it, 1 Way or the Other, but he Thinks Berto was Making Mid to High 6 Figures... REED:hammert:
berto was making well over a million for several of his fights during that stretch. not sure what he was getting the first few
I can't believe Berto was getting a million for fighting scrubs. Surely not? It's not like he's a massive draw, how the fuck did they make any money paying him that much?
Right, he WASN'T a Massive Draw AND he Wasn't Fighting Guys who WERE Massive Draws... Anywhere from $450,000-$700,000 Sounds More Like it...But Again, REED's just Guessing... REED:hammert:
WOW!!!... You Were RIGHT,Neil...Thanks for the Info... REED's Worked on THE LOWEST Level of Boxing Promotion & Negotiation & Won't Pretend to Have the Acumen of Haymon or the HBO Suits...Having Said That, Berto Seems GROSSLY Overpaid @ Anything OVER $750,000, Even when he was Still Undefeated... REED:hammert:
Grossly overpaid. 1.25 million for fighting Freddy fucking Hernandez? wtf :: As I said, surely they lost money paying him that much? I don't see how he could have generated that much cash.
That's bizarre, like the others I had him down as a six-figure guy, that is an absurd amount of money to throw at a boxer like Berto
I'm rather shocked myself. He wasn't a big draw, even down here in South Florida. A lot of people who casually followed boxing that I know didn't even know who he was.
To bad we never got to see Mosley beat the prospect out of him. Talk about punch drunk, had that fight happened people would be wondering if Berto suddenly grew an extra tongue.