Earlier tonight at the Foxwoods resort in Connecticut, former light welterweight contender Victor Ortiz defied the odds to win a unanimous decision against previously undefeated Andre Berto, becoming the new WBC welterweight champion of the world.
From the offset it was clear that the champion wasn’t going to have an easy night as he hit the canvas twice in the first round, one an official knockdown that saw Berto take a knee after a barrage of punches including a big left hand. The other ruled a slip after a grazing blow from Ortiz, although on another occasion it could well have been called otherwise.
In the second, Berto evened things up, forcing Ortiz to put a glove to the ground courtesy of a perfectly timed right hook. It wasn’t enough to keep Ortiz at bay for long however, and the next three rounds were all Ortiz.
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At times Berto looked content to lay back on the ropes and let Ortiz unload on him, perhaps hoping that the challenger would eventually punch himself out.
Unfortunately for Berto that never happened, and by the end of the firth round Ortiz was pulling well ahead on the scorecards.
In the sixth, possibly Berto’s best round of the fight, the pair traded knockdowns. Berto catching Ortiz with a huge right hand and momentarily coming close to stopping him.
Just as it appeared that the champion might have turned the tide of the fight however, the tables turned once again as Ortiz once again dropped Berto in the dying seconds of the round, this time with a big counter. Advertisement
In the second half of the fight Berto began attempting to box more as Ortiz continued to look to load up on big shots, although in most cases it wasn’t enough to secure Berto the rounds.
In the tenth Ortiz was docked a point for hitting behind the head after being repeatedly warned by the referee, but it wasn’t enough to Berto to capitalize on as Ortiz only turned up the tempo once more.
In the final round a still energetic Ortiz once again landed the better punches, despite moments of success for Berto who was clearly running on empty.
The judges scored the fight 115-110, 114-112 and 114-111, all for Ortiz, who judging from tonight’s performance perhaps should have been fighting at welterweight all along.
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The loss will take some getting over for Berto, who was simply outfought every step of the way and looked at times either unable or unwilling to pull the trigger as much as he usually does.
Despite the loss however, Berto proved himself to the critics who either expected him to go to pieces against a top drawer opponent or doubted his chin.
Ortiz too repaired much of the damage his reputation suffered after he quit on his stool in the sixth round against Marcos Maidana, and is bound to be heavily debated as a possible opponent for the likes of Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather in the future.
Simon Alton, Pitt: “Berto’s defense looked terrible tonight, he just didn’t look like he wanted it as much as Ortiz”
