Andre Berto v. Chad Ochocinco: Bengals wideout calls out welterweight titlist

Well, this was unexpected. For anyone that's been watching HBO's "Hard Knocks" this season, covering the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals in training camp, you've probably seen outspoken wide receiver Chad Ochocinco use boxing as part of his personal training.

But now he's talking about fighting welterweight titlist Andre Berto.

"I want to fight Berto,'' the Cincinnati Bengals' Pro Bowl wide receiver said after a recent pre-season game against the New England Patriots. "I've been training for a while. We've been going at it on Twitter. I may even tweet him from the end zone.

"We can do it for charity. It would be just like tonight. I kick an extra point and people say ‘I didn't know you could kick!' After I beat Berto people will say, ‘I didn't know you could fight!' I'll knock him out. People would pay to see that.''

This is absolutely ridiculous. Look, first things first, Andre Berto is 5'8 1/2" and fights at 147 pounds. Ochocinco's Yahoo! Sports page lists him at 6'1", 192. Even though he'd be grossly overmatched from a skills standpoint, he's not even picking on a guy near his own size.

Why not jump on the train and challenge Roy Jones Jr.? He's a man. He's 40.

Famed trainer Freddie Roach spoke about Ochocinco's boxing in the same article, penned by Ron Borges of The Sweet Science:

"I didn't work with him but I watched,'' Roach said. "Kevin [Kelley] was training him. He's obviously fast of course and a good athlete and all but he's not a boxer.

"He said he wanted to fight Manny and I told him ‘Calm down. We'll fight you at heavyweight.' He's a great guy but he talks some s---."

Berto responded, of course, and made his feelings very clear:

"Chad Johnson, Ochocinco, or whatever his name is, the two of us have been going back and forth for a while behind the scenes," Berto said. "I'm here to say that when his season is over, which should be before the playoffs start, I'll give him the beating of his life. . . . By the time I'm done with him, he'll want to change his last name to No Mas."

We can argue about how good Berto might be when he faces elite boxers, but let's be real here: Andre Berto, even undersized, is a world-class boxer. Chad Ochocinco is a football player that has tooled around in the gym with Kevin Kelley and Ricardo Williams Sr.

There is not a comparison between the two as boxers. Berto would embarrass Ochocinco. In a lot of ways, I'd love to see it happen.