Don King pushing Berto-Collazo rematch, nobody else seems interested

by Scott Christ on Oct 10, 2009 7:02 PM EDT in Boxing News Analysis

Don King, Luis Collazo, the WBC and a lack of interest from networks might get Andre Berto stripped of his WBC welterweight title. It's been reported that King is pushing hard to get his man Collazo a rematch with Berto, who beat him by razor-thin decision this past January. There is a lot of trouble with this.

As Berto's promoter Lou DiBella says, HBO and Showtime aren't interested in Berto-Collazo II. Your first thought might be, "Well that's a problem with HBO and Showtime then," but it's not an actual lack of desire. Combined, Berto and Collazo don't have much fanbase. They just don't. Also, Berto wants pretty big money to fight, in part because HBO was overpaying him to fight scrubs and also-rans on their network for years. Also, Collazo and King have been said to have unrealistic purse demands, too. Put those two together, and a fight that won't draw big ratings between two guys that both probably overestimate their value to TV just isn't going to get made. Without major TV, there's not enough money behind the fight for it to be profitable to DiBella or King, which basically kills the fight dead right there.

I agree that Collazo deserves a rematch, but if there was any way to actually force Berto into it, you'd probably have to hope that Go Fight Live or somebody picks it up as an internet PPV, because that's the only way you're going to watch it. Only HBO and Showtime have the money for that fight, and if neither of them want to pay for it, it's a dead issue.

Berto and DiBella are still working toward getting their January 30 fight with WBA titlist Shane Mosley finalized. What I'd expect is that the WBC will strip Berto, which would be more hilarious politicking from one of the crook sanctioning bodies. Remember, this is the same WBC that essentially gifted Berto the green belt on a silver platter by putting it up for grabs between Berto and the totally unqualified Miki Rodriguez, which came after Floyd Mayweather "retired" and vacated the strap. All in all, it looks like Mosley-Berto will get made, Berto will get stripped of his title, and King will either go back to sitting on his hump and not doing anything or actually make a fight between Collazo and someone else (probably Selcuk Aydin if they could negotiate that one) for the vacant title.

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well after berto gets demolished by mosley, he should probably take this fight next if he’s serious about being a contender. i never liked the whole fluff fight after a loss, i say take the katsidis vs baby bull rout and take on a contender in your very next fight

The Dude Abides

by battle axe of doom on Oct 10, 2009 7:23 PM EDT reply actions

I’m confused why the WBC stripping Berto would be a case of bad sanctioning body behavior. When I think of what sanctioning bodies shouldn’t do (but end up typically doing anyway), I think:

1) Sanctioning bizarre “interim” titles when the titlist is happily fighting away; or

2) Forcing obscure, undeserving mandatories and then stripping the titlist if he doesn’t comply.

But what a sanctioning body should do, ideally, is put forward deserving mandatories for its titlists, and then use whatever leverage it has at its disposal (generally, stripping the title) as leverage in case the titlist doesn’t want to take the fight.

The WBC trying to force Berto/Collazo is a classic case of column B. We all agree that Collazo is a perfectly deserving mandatory, and deserves the rematch. The reason it isn’t happening is monetary, but (as hilarious as this is to say) sanctioning bodies shouldn’t care about the money — indeed, one of their better qualities is forcing people to face the Collazo’s and Clottey’s and Williams’ of the world — folks who don’t bring a lot of money to the table, are very dangerous, and thus would be ignored forever were it not for mandatories.

Berto/Collazo, at the very least, won’t be made until after Berto/Mosley. It might never be made at all. But that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be made, and doesn’t make the WBC wrong for trying.

by schraubd on Oct 11, 2009 2:05 AM EDT reply actions

It’s not a case of bad sanctioning body behavior, necessarily, but it’s nothing more than the sanctioning body doing as it pleases, as they always do. None of these titles mean anything at all, they can come and go at the whim of Don Jose or whomever.

Mandatories were a neat idea in theory, but it’s hard to have it both ways; by which I mean, they’ve shown a complete disregard for consistently enforcing deserving mandatories, so when they occasionally actually do something deserving, like this, I don’t look at it with any more favor than I do when they put up some bullshit challenger like Oleg Maskaev being Vitali Klitschko’s WBC mandatory right now. They do whatever they want and they don’t give a crap if it makes sense or not, so I have a hard time complimenting the bodies for “making the right call.” Sure, they make the right call sometimes, but does it really forgive all the garbage they pull?

Bad Left Hook
"Well Howie, I think I'm going to stay outside and outjab him." -- Tex Cobb telling Howard Cosell how he would approach Larry Holmes

by Scott Christ on Oct 11, 2009 2:29 AM EDT up reply actions