NEW YORK ? Andre Berto believes he is ready for fights against superstars.
The undefeated welterweight champion’s critics contend he should forget fighting Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather Jr.
They think he’ll be fortunate to overcome Victor Ortiz on Saturday night in Mashantucket, Conn., in the main event of an HBO’s split-site “World Championship Boxing” doubleheader. The 9:45 p.m. telecast will begin with taped coverage of a WBA junior welterweight championship bout between England’s Amir Khan (24-1, 17 KOs) and Northern Ireland’s Paul McCloskey (22-0, 12 KOs) in Manchester, England.
Berto is 27-0, has knocked out 21 of his opponents and has made seven straight appearances on HBO, which at times has touted him and Ortiz as the future faces of boxing.
But Berto hasn’t beaten any of the top five welterweights in boxing. He knocked out Miguel Angel Rodriguez to win the WBC’s 147-pound title when it was vacant and has been burdened by the perception that executives at HBO have given him low-risk, high-reward fights because of his partnership with powerful adviser Al Haymon.
“I feel I’ll always get a little criticism,” said Berto, of Winter Haven, Fla. “A lot of people believe in my skills and potential. ? At the end of the day I don’t listen to criticism. You need [courage] to step in the ring against anybody. I’m comfortable [with] myself and my true fans believe.”
Others believe Ortiz (28-2-2, 22 KOs) will test Berto more than any of his three opponents since Luis Collazo (31-4, 16 KOs). Berto beat New York’s Collazo by unanimous decision in their January 2009 fight in Biloxi, Miss., but the closely contested bout could’ve gone either way.
Like Collazo, Ortiz is a southpaw, only with more power. Berto doesn’t deny Ortiz’s obvious physical attributes, but he thinks his challenger has been a different fighter since Argentina’s Marcos Maidana knocked him down twice and made him quit during their sixth round of their WBA junior welterweight title fight nearly two years ago in Los Angeles.
“I can out-power him, I can out-skill him, any way it goes,” Berto, 27, said. “What showed in the Maidana fight, maybe he feels that he has a lot more to prove and he’s willing to die to prove it. ? There’s no question about my heart. I have to question his [based on the Maidana fight]. When he had to endure [adversity], he didn’t like to crack back. At the end of the day, you can’t teach what beats in the chest. You either have heart or you don’t.”
Ortiz, 24, settled for a debatable majority draw in his last fight, a 10-rounder against junior welterweight contender Lamont Peterson (28-1-1, 14 KOs) on Dec. 11 in Las Vegas. Though he has moved up seven pounds to challenge Berto, Ortiz, of Oxnard, Calif., is taller than Berto and is hardly a blown-up junior welterweight.
“Mike Tyson once said, ‘Everybody has a plan until they get hit,’ ” Ortiz said. “He says he has power. So do I. He says he has speed. So do I. ? Berto hasn’t been hit by someone like me. He’ll see [Saturday night].”
