Andre Berto Vacates IBF Title to Rematch Ortiz After HBO Turns Down Bailey Fight
by Scott Christ on Nov 8, 2011 5:29 PM EST
in Boxing News Analysis
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With HBO having no interest in a fight between Andre Berto and Randall Bailey, and the IBF ordering that fight for its title, Berto has decided to vacate the belt and target a rematch with Victor Ortiz instead. From ESPN.com:
"It's a fight that I want more than a world championship," Berto told ESPN.com. "I love my title, but then again, I want to give the fans what they want to see."
... "I think that the rematch will be a tremendous fight. The first one was a fight of the year and it's only right for me just knowing that I got into the game to be in great fights. It's the fight everyone wants to see. We have a short time span in this game, so I every time I step in this ring I want it to be remembered, and I want people to remember me for that."
Promoter Lou DiBella says that Berto "doesn't understand" why the fight with Bailey was turned down, but while Berto may not, we all do, and so does DiBella, who admits there is no U.S. TV money in the fight, and thus there is no fight. HBO has actually put on worse Berto matchups than that one in the past, but it's a new regime in their boxing department now, with Ken Hershman leading the way. Whether this was a Hershman-specific decision or not isn't clear or anything, but considering all of one year ago, HBO was paying for Berto vs Freddy Hernandez, one has to guess he had a hand in saying no.
Many of us do not care about the belts, but keep in mind that fighters do, and that giving up the title was certainly no easy decision for Berto. He gets criticized a lot, and he may not be boxing's most eloquent fighter, but I think this is an admirable move that deserves respect. Either way you look at it, he's targeting a bigger, better fight, and a rematch of the fight that made both he and Victor Ortiz legit in one night. Hopefully it can get done, and rumors have already floated about HBO wanting the bout for January 28. If that is indeed the target date, DiBella and Golden Boy might have an announcement to make sooner than later.
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It’s not a huge matchup, but I think Berto-Bailey could have been interesting. Berto can be sloppy, and has been dropped. Bailey is a murderous puncher. Would have liked to have seen what would have happened if Bailey landed a huge right hand.
i was more interested in baily-berto then a rematch with ortiz.
by The Twillness on Nov 8, 2011 5:55 PM EST up reply actions
i was not kidding. i dont see the rematch being as exciting as the first one. either its more of the same or berto just totally masters ortiz when he remembers that he’s actually a decent boxer when he tries to. bailey is new drama.
by The Twillness on Nov 8, 2011 6:34 PM EST up reply actions
*well more of the same wouldnt be so bad, i just dont think itll be as dramatic. ortiz kicking berto’s ass wouldnt be as surprising.
by The Twillness on Nov 8, 2011 6:55 PM EST up reply actions
Bailey’s a right hand and nothing else. I’ve seen worse fighters than Berto totally neutralize him. It’s not that I really mind Berto vs Bailey, but I’m glad HBO’s not spending money on it, and then winding up next October having to shove another Hopkins vs Dawson-like card onto PPV because of budget issues.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
berto’s defensive negligence made the fight attractive to me. i know bailey’s limited as limited gets, but against berto i really felt bailey had more then a good chance to ice him. i understand your sentiment though.
by The Twillness on Nov 8, 2011 8:45 PM EST up reply actions
Not to mention, the next IBF mandatory after Bailey
Is very likely to be either (a) a horrible style matchup for Berto or (b) someone who can’t draw flies to a cow paddy. Not that the IBF has updated their website since Berto won the belt, but the next six in the rankings are Mike Jones (a), Sebastian Lujan (b), Rafal Jackiewicz (b), Isaac Hlatswayo (b), Said Ouali (combination of (a) and (b)), and Wale Omotoso ((a) and (b) for sure). After that you got Paulie M, who I doubt DiBella wants to work with too much right now, one prospect (Shaun Porter) and a few no-names.
If this means making better fights all around, then great. And now when Jones-Bailey is for the title, hopefully we get one more somewhat exciting young fighter in a title spot. Hopefully HBO under Hirschman won’t waste their money on him making defenses against crappy fighters though. I’d LOVE to see Jones-Omotoso, but that’s about as likely to happen as me coming home to find Beyonce Knowles lying in my bed waiting for me naked.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
I’d love to see Berto and Ortiz again, I don’t mind seeing rematches, it seems like fighters are always ready to say “I’ve already beat him” and fans are starting to say similar things where one of the best boxing conversations (and the subject of a new post above) is:
What’s the best trilogy ever?
I personally think this is the best fight for both of them, short of big money fights with the you know whos.
http://fistonchin.com http://brightlightssports.com
I love the fight tbh, and Berto is fast becoming a favourite of mine.
Pretty exciting, thought he was another USA hype job a few yrs back but he proved me wrong.
by Shitali Klitschko on Nov 8, 2011 5:54 PM EST via mobile reply actions
Yeah, honestly, when you put aside the hype and the bad matchups, Berto is an exciting fighter to watch with the right opponents. He’s put that Juan Urango turd behind him.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
I think Berto honestly wants to be great and please the fans. Al Haymon has sort of given Berto a black eye. He never quit trying against Ortiz, and I remember him rallying in the last round against Collazo.
That was a great fight! It lead me to believe that a star was born in Berto. He went backwards after that up until Ortiz.
He should have been screaming rematch immediately.
Kudos to HBO for not buying the Bailey fight who by now is a non entity.
Either way, where here now.
My only questions was, why/is was he not matched up with Pacquiao, Cotto or Mayweather????
Is Hershman Doing This?
I think Hershman starts January 9th but I could be wrong. Who is making decisions now at HBO?
He hasn’t officially taken over yet, but he surely has some input into how his budget is being spent.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
I have to imagine he has some say-so
Hopefully this is an omen for the future. HBO has all the leverage. Bout damn time they use it.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
There would be been worse fights that could be made, but I am more concerned if Berto is going to get an absurd million dolllar payday if he doesn’t fight Ortiz.
"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."
Even more than the fight, I’m kind of excited by a fighter giving up a “belt” in favor of a generally more interesting fight.
But I know he’ll get more monetary reward, title or no title, by fighting someone more people will pay for, so I guess that’s the name of the game.
It’s not entirely a noble gesture, but I suppose it’s a start. Someday, fighters will no longer be even going through the motions of fighting for “sanctioned belts,” but rather will be fighting for PPV championships.
Belts once meant and were really synoymous with the income for a fighter, but they don’t anymore; PPV numbers do. So, that’s what they will fight for. It makes perfect sense to me.
While I don't think a Berto Baily fight would have sucked
I think it would have been suited better as a non PPV fight.
Fantastic stuff from Hershman if he is pulling the strings on this one.
None of this is going to be pay-per-view or ever was going to be pay-per-view.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
Actually independent PPV was the only way that Berto-Bailey was gonna get on TV, but HBO wouldn’t have been behind it. It would have had to be Integrated Sports selling to 750 people. Or if they wanted to take it to Friday Night Fights maybe.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
My bad
I guess it is a pretty smart move from HBO. Not only do we get a rematch of one of the fights of the year….
But Berto’s defence sucks. And Bailey has dynamyte in his right hand.
HBO do not want Berto to get his lights turned out by a fighter who has limited upside
by Sweet science on Nov 8, 2011 6:55 PM EST up reply actions
I don’t really like the fact that Berto just decided to drop a belt he just won, but HBO is HBO and Berto is not exactly going to get in the way gate money of PPV sales without a ‘name opponent’. The Ortiz fight is an interesting fight and at least keeps both out of way of any future Floyd/Manny fight (yeah right).
So what happens with the IBF belt? Zaveck v Bailey on Friday Night Fights/Showtime/in Slovenia?
Nobody will read this and care and why should they?
That’s a good question, I wouldn’t mind Zaveck v Bailey. Zaveck was fun to watch against Berto, hopefully his eye doesn’t shut up again…
http://fistonchin.com http://brightlightssports.com
I think that would be a great fight to start off the new series that they are going to have….
"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."
It’s supposed to be prospects, so 35-year-old Zaveck vs 37-year-old Bailey is probably unlikely.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Nov 9, 2011 12:48 AM EST up reply actions
The ESPN story floated two possibilities for the IBF belt. One is that Bailey fights Carson Jones, which I think could be a really good fight. The second is that the IBF just decides to hose Bailey and instead sanction Mike Jones/Sebastian Lujan for the belt.
I’d rather that the winner of [Mike] Jones/Lujan just be considered the mandatory for the winner of Bailey/[Carson] Jones, but that’s less because I think it’s a “worse” fight (I think it’s also a good fight) than simply the fact that Bailey has waited, earned his spot as next in line, and deserves the shot he was promised (also, I’m a big Carson Jones fan and would love to see him get a crack at a belt).
Bailey vs Jones works for me. Carson’s a tough SOB and Bailey did everything the IBF asked, including step aside for Berto to take his title shot at Zaveck.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
This is a good look for Berto. While we have all lobbed criticism his way at one time or another, dropping the belt to take the tougher fight is worth some commendation. As Scott said, belts may not mean much to boxing fans, but they do to the fighters themselves (source of pride I guess), so I’m sure this wasn’t an easy decision. But as was also mentioned, I think Berto is a guy who wants to please the crowd and this should help (regardless if you think the rematch can evenlive up to the original or not).
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