After previously serving as a stepping stone for others to land fights with Floyd Mayweather, it appears that Andre Berto is going to get his chance against the pound-for-pound king. Berto is reportedly set to face Mayweather on September 12, according to a report by Michael Woods of The Sweet Science.
The catch is that this won't be a pay-per-view fight, as Mayweather (48-0, 26 KO) will instead face Berto (30-3, 23 KO) on CBS, bringing the biggest name in American boxing to network television. Woods' source says that if the experiment goes well, Mayweather could then go for 50-0 next year on CBS, rather than pay-per-view.
Mayweather, 38, last fought on May 2, beating Manny Pacquiao in a true mega-fight that shattered marks for pay-per-view buys, pay-per-view revenue, live gate revenue, and fighter payout. In any way the fight could break a money mark, it did. But the fight also did not perform well critically after the fact, and Team Mayweather could be looking for a way to give back, as it were. The amount of money that "Money" made for the Pacquiao fight was so above and beyond anything else that taking a relative pay cut to fight on CBS doesn't really impact Mayweather as much as it may have even a year ago.
Berto, 31, had been in the mix for the fight. Amir Khan was thought to be the leading contender, but that could wait until next May, which might actually be better for Khan, who would have had to sandwich in a potentially rushed training camp after Ramadan to fight in September. Berto last fought on March 13, stopping Josesito Lopez in six rounds.
If Berto indeed gets the fight with Mayweather, there will be plenty of scoffing out there, and while it's understandable, it's not exactly an unheard of sort of matchup for a top fighter over the history of the sport. Berto is credible but not a real threat on paper, which is the sort of matchup you can find all over the record sheets for any number of the sport's great fighters. And with the bout reportedly not being sold on PPV, that makes it a little more palatable, too.
What do you think of this idea? Are you just happy to not be asked to pay money to see another Mayweather fight? Even free, is Berto too weak a choice for your tastes?