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MAYWEATHER-BERTO: A SHAM FEW WILL BUY By Ed de la Vega, DDS PhilBoxing.com Wed, 09 Sep 2015  There is a new twist in the old proverb ?fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me!?. It goes like this: ?fool me once that?s strike one; fool me twice that?s strike three!? This idiom could not be more apropos for the coming ?big dance? at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on September 12th. The event features the self-declared TBE, Floyd Mayweather Jr., of Grand Rapids, Michigan who abandoned his former abode for the glitter and sins of Las Vegas, versus a spent underdog in Andre Berto, the ex-Olympian who represented Haiti. Berto can be best remembered as the guy who went 3-3 in his last six fights losing to Victor Ortiz, Robert Guerrero and Sotto Karass. Ortiz, who was sucker-punched and KO?d by Mayweather, and Guerrero as everyone knows, were beaten by Mayweather Jr. Such notables as Keith Thurman and Rene Maidana on the other hand defeated Sotto Karras. And, Maidana himself bowed twice to Mayweather Jr. Now how in the world all the ?yes men? of Mayweather Jr. ever figured that Berto has a chance to win? These guys are either first class dreamers and think they can con people over and over again. ?I picked him because of his style? so says Junior. Of course he did because he knows such style will never beat a runner like him. Mayweather Jr. also stated that ?Berto can fight. He?s a two-time champion. He?s hungry. He comes to wage a war. There is never a dull moment when he fights so I expect a hell of a fight out of him.? ?We know Berto is coming to fight, that he is coming to win and shock the world. There?s no way Floyd takes him lightly. He is working just as hard for this fight as he did the previous 48? stated TMT prolocutor, Leonard Ellerbe. The betting gurus at Las Vegas early on tagged the odds for Berto as having 1 in 100 chance to beat Mayweather Jr. Lately, the odds changed but still Berto is something like 1-40 underdog! When a fighter is so far down in the scale like that it isn?t too hard to imagine even his own loved ones will not be betting on him to win. Possibly, that is one reason why Junior picked him for his 49th opponent. With Berto, he is positively assured he can equal the great Rocky Marciano?s record of 49-0. But to equal such distinguished record against a cherry-picked mediocre opponent is pathetic. Based on such stats, it does not take an Einstein to know that Berto has no prayer what so ever to even touch Junior. And predictably, Junior will say after the fight- ?49 tried and 49 failed to dent my pretty face?. I say these because Berto does not have the necessities to beat Mayweather Jr. He is far below Junior?s level. And it would not surprise me either if the referee will allow Junior to hold when cornered and turn a blind eye on the use of his elbows and forearms to ward off Berto as we have seen these happen many times before. More importantly, Junior will be running all the 12 round fight sticking his jab once in a while to ?impress? the ?three blind mice? scoring the fight and will eventually come out the winner of a boring fight via a unanimous decision. Berto would be lucky to even get two rounds, and that?s being very generous. He may even get knocked out if he gets careless like Ortiz. On the other hand, if for some quirk reasons the fights ends up very close, (which is almost impossible) he will never get the decision because no one beats Mayweather Jr. in Las Vegas unless he gets knocked out. No one! But you know what? In spite of all the signs that show Berto is hopeless to win and is just in the fight as a sure bet cannon fodder for Mayweather, a handful of people may still be buying the PPV at $64.95 (standard) or $74.95 (HD). Others will flock to the various movie houses that will show the fight, and a few particularly those that deliberately or unconsciously create alcohol-driven post-fight stampedes will surely be at the MGM Grand Garden Arena as well. But a great majority, I guess may view it in some bar via an illegal video streaming. Junior himself predicted that even his ?haters? would buy the fight on PPV and/or come and see the fight live. ?They say one thing and they do another?, says Mayweather. But why would people continue to buy Mayweather Jr?s events in spite of his disrespect for fans and penchant for only lining his pockets? Two reasons. One:- sadly, many are hopelessly gullible and would love to see the ?bad boy? lose. So in their false hope that Junior will lose, they pay to see the fight! These are the folks that buy in exactly to Junior?s charade. The more he projects that he is bad, the more of those hating him for such will buy PPV. Second:- others are just outright fools and will spend hard earned money to see a farce. That is perhaps their way of idolizing someone who is 48-0, ignoring the fact or maybe not knowing that many of those victories came via cherry picked opponents. Worse, these folks simply close their eyes on Junior?s less than a clean record outside of boxing and continue to adore him as if he is the best that ever happened for the sport. But then again, if that is how they feel, they are free to do whatever they want with their money. This is America, you know. Fortunately, there are only a few of these folks. Therefore, no matter how the TMT spin makers will twist this dance and sugar coat with all the sugar imports from Haiti the best way they can, I think it would be hard-pressed to draw a million buys. They can even say that its Junior?s last fight and entice people to be part of history. "This is it," Junior said, "My health is more important than anything. I have a sharp mind, and I want to leave the sport the same way." Yeah right, just wait until he sees the money next year and he will be back to grab it again. He didn?t name himself ?Money? for nothing, isn?t it? But what ever they do and say, true boxing fan and even perhaps the casual ones will stay away. Simply put, Mayweather Jr. and his crew has fooled people too many times. They can?t go on forever fooling people anymore because fans have caught up with their pretenses! In fact as late as two weeks before the fight, they say tickets are still available even at the nosebleed section. I would not be surprised if TMT buys thousands to give away to guys like that troublesome young Canadian R and B singer whose name I can?t even remember. Junior they said, offered free tickets to Jen Welter, the first female NFL coach possibly in an effort to attract more females and NFL fans to his event. On top of that, to save face, MGM, and Showtime I am sure will buy all the unsold tickets then declare a ?sellout? of the reconfigured arena seating. In all probability, PPV will be less than the 1.1 million they did versus the bloated Juan Manuel Marquez because Berto does not have a huge fun base. Not from the still earthquake-ravaged people of Haiti or even folks from Winter Haven, Florida. Remember Berto drawing less than 1000 fans when he fought Carlos Quintana in 2010 at the BankAtlantic Center at Sunrise City in his own home state of Florida? That was when he was undefeated and a rising star! The PPV numbers will then depend on FMJ?s few diehard fans and his legion of haters. But even the later will think twice before spending on him anymore, particularly after the Mayweather Jr. vs. Pacquiao travesty last May 2nd. We will never know the real numbers because ShowTime, I am sure will not release them particularly if they are far what they thought they will be. To Mayweather Jr., that does not matter. Neither will it to Berto. Junior will be getting his usual $32M plus and Berto will be making more than he ever made before in a fight. To show how much he cares, Junior even stated ? Watch if you want to watch. Don?t watch if you don?t want to watch?, an arrogant statement to say the least. In my opinion, the real losers will be ShowTime/CBS who in spite of their exemplary business acumen were sucked into the ?Mayweather Jr.?s hype? perhaps thinking that they could make insane amount of ROI by paying Mayweather unprecedented millions for 6 fights. They took a gamble and they lost. Well maybe not, but certainly it?s safe to think that they did not make the money they dream they can with each and every Mayweather Jr.?s fight. Far from it, I think. Fortunately for them, a guy named Manny Pacquaio came along and helped erase some of the red ink. Photo: Andre Berto arrives at the MGM Grand Tuesday ahead of his Saturday fight with Mayweather. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.  |
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