Because Andre ?The Human Bermuda Triangle of Boxing? Berto has had a career as stage-managed as that of any politician running for office, it seems fitting that his new bunco phase will take place under the auspices of the Premier Boxing Champions banner. For its debut last week, PBC tried as hard as possible to strip boxing of its wild, woolly, and often wacky ways, from nixing profane entourages to eliminating steamy round card girls to replacing rowdy ring-walk music with a humdrum Hans Zimmer score.
While Al Haymon has his sights on hegemony, homogenization, in hopes of attracting advertisers, perhaps, does not seem far behind. But if there is one thing you can say about Andre Berto over the last few years, however, it is that most of his fights are not PG-rated affairs. And tomorrow night will likely be no different. Berto faces veteran grinder Josesito Lopez at the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California, in a potentially explosive welterweight free-for-all on Spike TV.
Since annihilating sadly overmatched Freddy Hernandez in less than a round on November 27, 2010, Berto, 29-3 (22), has lived out some dada days in the ring. In fact, these days his career brings to mind the title of an old David Bowie tune: ?Always Crashing in the Same Car.? He was beaten from pillar-to-post by an ex-featherweight; became (and, remarkably, still remains) the only notable victim on the ledger of ?Vicious? Victor Ortiz; saw some of his bloated appendages snap, crackle, and finally pop; tested positive for PEDs, and was chopped down by Jesus Soto Karass, Showtime trial horse to the stars. Between making excuses after his losses and whining to referees during them, Berto has somehow managed to earn a reputation for heart. If you have attended more than just a handful of cards, then you have probably seen similar displays of courage from four-round pugs and journeymen on their way to nowhere fast. But false narratives are as much a part of boxing as penny-clicks are and no amount of critical analysis will dissuade agoraphobic Disqus hounds that Andre Berto is not some sort of world-class warrior.
(Still, being smacked around virtually from wire to wire by three prohibitive underdogs must be some kind of accomplishment. Maybe, in addition to being the Millennial Arturo Gatti, Berto is also living proof that not all matchups are virtually predetermined. Remember: in 2014, 50 out of 52 fights aired on Showtime Championship Boxing and Showtime Pay-Per-View were won by the favorites.)
Thirty years ago?an era PBC self-consciously hearkens back to?Berto would have been on par with limited pressure fighters such as Curtis Parker and Frank Fletcher, but given the premium cable junta and the voodoo economics of the last decade, Berto is a two-time ?world? champion, a multimillionaire, and a perpetual, if mystifying, headliner without ever beating anybody better than Luis Collazo or Carlos Quintana. Contemporary boxing specializes in these conundrums and it will likely only get worse when PBC kicks its retread project into full gear. Because the matchmaker, manager, adviser, promoter, and mastermind of the PBC are all the same man, it makes sense for him to recycle his own commodities as often as possible. And if there is anything at all standard about PBC operating procedures?something no one seems to know?then Al Haymon collects his cut of multiple purses for every card.
In his first bout back after shoulder surgery, Berto, Winterhaven, Florida, outpointed an undistinguished and unambitious Steve Upsher Chambers last September and looked even stiffer than usual. With only three fights in the previous four years, Chambers seemed unused to the idea of actual competition and spent twelve rounds sleepwalking under the lights. Even at 31, with the toll of beatings accumulating, Berto still has enough left to outwork a meek junior welterweight. Lopez, on the other hand, may not be so accommodating.
For Lopez, this fight amounts to a homecoming of sorts since the Riverside, California, native spent many of his early years toiling at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario. Now 30, Lopez may also approach this fight as an opportunity to break out of a slump that may signal the end of the line for him.
After thrashing Victor Ortiz in a rousing upset in 2012, Lopez saw himself almost lost in the smoky backrooms of boxing. Instead of taking a high-profile bout he might have had a chance to win, his untrusty braintrust sent him up a weight class and down the river to face Saul Alvarez. Yes, Lopez got what amounts to a windfall for challenging Alvarez, but he also took a vicious beating that seems to have diminished him physically. Pudgy at 154 pounds, far beyond his start as a lightweight, Lopez was dropped three times by a visibly bored Alvarez and was stopped in the fifth round.
In his next start, Lopez played a T-bone steak to a junkyard dog named Marcos Maidana in another punishing fight. This time, it was raw two-way action from the opening bell, but Lopez eventually succumbed via stoppage in the sixth round. Then, after struggling with a completely shot Mike Arnoutis in 2013, Lopez managed to rebound against easy prey when his ambitions were scaled back. Indeed, his last start, six months ago, was a scheduled 8-round prelim. Back in a main event, and on a wide platform, Lopez is looking for the same chance as Berto: a hefty paycheck for a fight against Keith Thurman maybe, or just an opportunity to move up in the PBC pecking order.
In order to win this fight, Lopez, 33-6 (19), is going to have to start fast. Although Berto has only been stopped once in 32 fights, he has a cold chin and can be discouraged early. Berto has been dropped in the first round by Ortiz and Guerrero (as well as by Carlos Quintana, although Referee Tommy Kimmons decided to ignore it), and was rocked early by Collazo and Soto Karass. There were times when Berto rallied in each of his three losses, but the feeling that he may be a frontrunner is hard to shake. When Berto falls behind or finds himself in trouble, winning seems out of his reach, no matter how outclassed the opponent seems to oddsmakers before the fight. Despite a significant power shortage, Lopez will answer the bell knowing that Berto has been bounced against the ring more often in the last few years than a Spalding in Madison Square Garden.
Another edge for Lopez is infighting, something Berto has proven his ineptitude at again and again. If Lopez can get in close enough without incurring damage in the process, he will have plenty of opportunities to lash away at Berto in the trenches. Defensive liabilities mean both fighters will give and take their share, but only the man whose resilience has not withered away completely will remain upright at the final bell.
When Berto and Lopez stroll down what resembles the longest ADA-compliant ramp in North America, they will enter a world of oversaturation and overkill, PBC style, like X-Box, CGI, American Gladiators, and the WWE all rolled into one, but what they will produce in the ring will be something stripped down to its fearsome essentials. No amount of glitzy effects will change that.
