Mosley-Berto on for January 30; Hopkins to tune up against Ornelas
by Brickhaus on Oct 5, 2009 7:04 PM EDT
in Boxing News Analysis
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According to the Los Angeles Times, Golden Boy Promotions and Lou DiBella have reached a deal for Shane Mosley to square off against Andre Berto on January 30 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. This will end nearly a year of inactivity for Mosley, and the winner of this fight will make a strong case to be in the upper echelons of the pound for pound list. Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer stated that he expects contracts to be signed later in the week.
This should be an important and interesting fight for a number of reasons. First, it's a unification bout, and while the top guys have been facing each other for a while now, there actually hasn't been unification of the welterweight belts since Floyd Mayweather dropped a number of his belts after defeating Carlos Baldomir and Zab Judah. Second, this could be a classic crossroads matchup, with the much older Shane Mosley facing the up and coming Berto. At times, Mosley has looked as good as he ever has, while at other times it seems like the years have caught up with him. If the good Mosley shows up, he could really teach Berto a thing or two. Berto, on the other hand, has been criticized for being hyped up without stepping up. This certainly is a big step up for Berto, and one he very well may fall off of. Finally, it actually could be an exciting fight. Mosley almost always likes to press the action, and while Berto's last fight was a snoozefest, I think Mosley is versatile enough to keep him on his toes and actually fight like he did against Luis Collazo.
Also mentioned in the article, Bernard Hopkins will be taking his tune-up fight on December 2 in Philadelphia against middleweight fringe contender Enrique Ornelas. Ornelas, Librado Andrade's brother, was last seen losing a competitive fight to Marco Antonio Rubio in an eliminator to face Kelly Pavlik. While Ornelas is a lot smaller than Hopkins, about 10 skill levels down from Hopkins and absolutely no threat to actually beat Hopkins, it still could be a fun fight to watch, as Ornelas likes to apply pressure, and Hopkins often opens up his arsenal when he knows he has his opponent outclassed. This is, after all, just a tune-up, but Ornelas seems like an ideal opponent to help drum up interest for a Hopkins-Roy Jones rematch.
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so bhop will be fighting on a wednesday? pretty decent bday eve present
The Dude Abides
by battle axe of doom on Oct 5, 2009 8:34 PM EDT reply actions
Lets try and follow this
the welterweight division seems to be taking shape . . .
-Mayweather d. Marquez
-Cotto vs. Pacquiao
-Mosley vs. Berto
-Mayweather vs. Cotto/Pacquio winner
-Mosley/Berton winner vs. Mayweather-Cotto/Pacquio winner
Its kind of like a Super Six tournament without calling it that. Nice to see things start to sort of flesh out.
berto is going to win. i really like the matchup for him.
i’ll be going to the hopkins fight for sure. hopefully theres someone elses on the card with a pulse.
@mikefareri on twitter.
berto gonna git KO’d in 5. hearing it here folks
btw since you seem to be going to bhop’s fight plz confirm that is indeed on a wednesday
The Dude Abides
by battle axe of doom on Oct 6, 2009 12:07 AM EDT up reply actions
I do not see Berto winning that fight.
Although detractors decry (MMA) as a brutal, bloody form of human cockfighting, aficionados know it is a brutal, bloody, totally fucking awesome form of human cockfighting. -The Onion
by The Kittitas Kid on Oct 6, 2009 11:32 AM EDT up reply actions
i love his chances. all about the speed. i think its going to give shane fits.
battle i dont know when it is. nothings been announced that ive seen. chances are its on a saturday at the first union center.
@mikefareri on twitter.
Remind me who the last guy to give Shane fits with his speed was.
Although detractors decry (MMA) as a brutal, bloody form of human cockfighting, aficionados know it is a brutal, bloody, totally fucking awesome form of human cockfighting. -The Onion
by The Kittitas Kid on Oct 6, 2009 7:17 PM EDT up reply actions
The speed is a wash, whereas Shane has been in the big fights under the bright lights before. Is Berto for real? Guess we’re going to find out, but I doubt it.
Although detractors decry (MMA) as a brutal, bloody form of human cockfighting, aficionados know it is a brutal, bloody, totally fucking awesome form of human cockfighting. -The Onion
by The Kittitas Kid on Oct 7, 2009 2:19 PM EDT up reply actions
I’ll wait until it’s closer and maybe we see some video of Shane sparring to make a pick. My early inclination is to pick Shane without thinking twice, but he’s aging and Berto can keep up with him physically. We’ll see how Andre’s chin comes out.
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
Shane punches so much harder than Berto.
Think about the Mosley vs. Collazo fight.
Ok, now think about the Berto vs. Collazo fight.
Ouch. These kinds of analogies aren’t always accurate, but I think they are here. I’m confident Shane will physically dominate Berto, and I don’t have any real second thoughts about it. That’s not to say I’m not excited about the fight, though. I think a loss to Mosley will be good for Berto in the long run, and Berto is the best Shane can do right now, as you’ve pointed out.
Boxing writer: "Iran, what are you going to do when you retire?"
Iran Barkley: "Rob your house"
To be fair, Collazo did hurt his hand early in the Mosley fight, but overall I think the analogy probably does work.
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
I would normally pick Mosley for this fight but the thing is that he hasn’t been in the ring for a year and the man ain’t getting younger. The line separating quick and defensive and slow and easy to hit is extremely thin. Coupled with the fact that fighters tend to age rather quickly, all makes me hesitant to pick Mosley. The fact is that if Mosley has lost a step, Berto will exploit the hell out of it and probably get a decision/maybe a KO. However, the Mosley that showed up against Margarito, will absolutely neutralize Berto and KO him in under 10 rounds. This is too close to call in my book.
It’s only close because we’re wondering if Mosley got old, other than that It’s an easy pick. And even if he did, I don’t think there’s a risk of Berto doing any real damage in terms of anything near a KO. Mosley’s been down once, to Vernon Forest, and Berto ain’t no Forest.
"I swear to God, I'll take this ******* ball and shove it down your ******* throat" - Serena Williams
Until I actually see Shane flying off the cliff, I’m going to have a hard time postulating that it’s happened.
He’s had long layoffs before, and with older fighters like him and BHop it seems to help more than hurt. These guys know how to box. Their bodies need recovery time between training camps and fights.
Although detractors decry (MMA) as a brutal, bloody form of human cockfighting, aficionados know it is a brutal, bloody, totally fucking awesome form of human cockfighting. -The Onion
by The Kittitas Kid on Oct 6, 2009 11:34 AM EDT up reply actions
These guys are just on two different classes. To me, Berto is kind of a poor man’s PBF, quick, flashy. But he gets hit, and Collazo showed he can be hurt. I think Mosley, even if he has aged since the Margo fight, will have plenty of everything to capitalize on one of the many mistakes Berto makes.
I don’t think Berto is a bad fighter, I just think we’re talking about good v. great here.
"I swear to God, I'll take this ******* ball and shove it down your ******* throat" - Serena Williams
I think Berto's more like a poor man's Meldrick Taylor
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
I always actually thought poor man’s Sugar Shane was the most apt comparison, which is why this fight should be fun. Does not at all have the defensive skills of a PBF (not that anybody does), and I don’t really see Meldrick in him either.
Although detractors decry (MMA) as a brutal, bloody form of human cockfighting, aficionados know it is a brutal, bloody, totally fucking awesome form of human cockfighting. -The Onion
by The Kittitas Kid on Oct 6, 2009 11:36 AM EDT up reply actions
Interesting
Certainly a career defining moment for Berto. I know it’s early, but an guesses as to whether this will be an HBO freebie or if they’ll try to push a PPV. If they go for the PPV, I’ll probably buy it, but it might be a stretch to expect big, or even moderate numbers. Thoughts?
Wear something sexy to my funeral.
I would guess a freebie
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
yeah margarito was way bigger than berto, and that was on “free” hbo. all logic points to this being free as well, and if it ain’t well shit that sucks cuz i won’t be buying it
The Dude Abides
by battle axe of doom on Oct 6, 2009 4:24 PM EDT up reply actions
Yes, but
Berto does have a history of being more unreasonable with his demands than Mosley. If it was going to be at the Staples Center, I’d be more leery that it might be a PPV, but with them getting a site fee from a casino, there should be more than enough money to go around without putting it on pay per view.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
More unreasonable than Margarito I meant
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
To be fair, Berto’s unreasonable demands came from HBO shelling out way too much money to secure shitty fights like Berto-Miki Rodriguez so that they’d “have” Berto.
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
If Berto can be dropped my Cosme Rivera… god bless him vs the man who broke the damn robot….
"Boxing is dirty," said Casamayor. " The day I’m not ready to be a dirty fighter is the day I don’t fight anymore because it will mean that I have no heart for it anymore."
Good Night,Shane !
This is where he will realize that he isn’t as fast as he thinks he is. Shane is 37 years old with experience and for some reason he thinks he has found the fountain of youth.
Maybe Hopkins drew him a map....
Boxing is the beginning of all sports. I'm willing to bet that the first sport was a man against another man in a fight. (Omar Epps)
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