WBC welterweight titlist Andre Berto came into the Beau Rivage Casino in Biloxi, Miss., to face the toughest test of his young career. Former welterweight titleholder Luis Collazo made the fight live up to that hype.

Berto was able to adapt and overcome just enough to squeak out a tight unanimous decision victory over the somewhat snakebitten Collazo, who is now 0-3 against perceived elite opposition. He was robbed, some would say, against Ricky Hatton, and when he fought Shane Mosley, he got hurt. This time, the 12th round was the difference, as the stronger Berto fired on a winded Collazo for the entire three minutes, sealing the victory.

Official scores were 116-111 and two cards of 114-113. Berto had a point deducted in the fourth round for repeated holding. The scorecards reflected what I saw, which was the fight being up for grabs in the 12th and final round, which Berto unquestionably dominated.

It was a hell of a good fight that boiled down to a few bullet points.

• At distance, Collazo was no match for Berto. Berto's natural athletic gifts were too much for Luis, who had to rely on timing and wits in those situations. In those instances, it sort of resembled Yuriorkis Gamboa's fight against Roger Gonzalez last week.
• Inside, Berto was outgunned by the rugged, steel-chinned Collazo. Collazo did a ton of body work meant to slow Berto down, which worked beautifully. When he got him in close quarters, he took Berto's rhythm completely away.
• It was a fight with great ebb and flow. And it was a hell of a battle that will unfortunately be semi-forgotten, I assume, as the year rolls on and bigger fights litter the landscape.

Round-by-round coverage and scoring of Berto-Collazo starts at 9:45, and the fight is televised on HBO. Join us tonight for the first "big" fight of 2009, and one that looks to be pretty interesting on paper.

No doubt about it, I'm an Andre Berto fan.

The Haitian-American's rise to the upper class of the welterweight ranks has been stunning to watch transpire. Currently, the 25-year old Berto sits on a perfect 23-0 record, with 19 knockouts. He took the WBC welterweight title vacated by the "retired" Money Mayweather.

His talents are obvious. Hand speed, ferocity, power that adds up if not so big one-punch thunder.

Yet there's the itching feeling somewhere that Berto, as it is right now, is sitting on something of a throne of lies.

The WBC title he holds is a paper championship. It means nothing. It was put up for grabs when Berto fought Miki Rodriguez, who was nowhere near championship-level.

Prior to that, Berto built his rising star on names like Miguel Figueora, Norberto Bravo, Cosme Rivera, David Estrada and Michel Trabant. I'm not trying to insult any of those men, but Rivera and Estrada are the two best fighters mentioned, and both are gatekeepers.

Steve Forbes challenged Berto in September, and was easily outclassed over 12 rounds. You know why? Because as much as we all like Steve Forbes, he isn't that good, and he's not a welterweight.

On Saturday night, with HBO televising, Berto will take on his first true test. Luis Collazo is no superstar -- it's not the risk Berto was willing to take against Shane Mosley before Sugar's fight with Antonio Margarito panned out. But it's a legitimate challenge.

It's a test. It's another step up.

Berto thus far has acquitted himself very nicely in each step. Only Rivera knocked him down, and Berto sprang back into the fight with ease, winning a wide decision against a tough guy.

Collazo is best known as Ricky Hatton's first welterweight opponent back in 2006. Since beating Jose Antonio Rivera for the WBA welterweight strap in 2005, Collazo's career has been a series of unfortunate events. Some will still argue he deserved to be the man that took Hatton's "0." After that, it gets a little fuzzy.

Between his disputed loss to Hatton and a clear loss to Shane Mosley during which Collazo was injured, Collazo beat Artur Atadzhanov in Arizona. Atadzhanov was a 10-5 fighter at the time. After nearly a year out of commission following the Mosley fight, Collazo has gone 2-0, both wins over guys he had no trouble with, and shouldn't have.

Now, Collazo steps back into the lion's den against Berto. For as much as it might seem like I'm sort of dissing Berto right now, I'm not. He's a clear favorite against Collazo. He's younger, stronger, fresher, has been more active.

But has Berto been in with a crafty southpaw on Collazo's level? Has he faced even a top 20 welter, let alone an arguable top 10 guy?

It's Collazo's style that should most worry Berto's team and his biggest supporters. Against Collazo, you get nothing for free. He's a sound technician and smart fighter. Berto's mind has not been tested the way it will be on Saturday.

Berto is clearly being positioned as one of boxing's next big stars, and he's earned that right. Luis Collazo, though, won't care what plans HBO might have for Berto, or how promoters see Berto faring at the box office in two or three years.

If Berto lets him, Collazo will find holes. He'll pick at them. He'll frustrate Berto. And then you've got a real fight on your hands. But if Collazo isn't 100% ready, isn't in great shape, and gets overwhelmed early by Berto's speed and energy level, it could be a short night of work.

In other words, color me intrigued by this matchup. We'll have live, round-by-round coverage and scoring of Berto-Collazo on Saturday night here at Bad Left Hook.

A fight between WBA junior middleweight titlist Daniel Santos and Sergio Martinez has been agreed to for HBO's February 14 card, removing Martinez from the January 17 show and turning that Feb. 14 lineup into a brilliant triple-header, according to BoxingScene.com.

Santos (32-3-1, 23 KO) and Martinez (44-1-1, 24 KO) will likely be the opening fight on a night featuring Ricardo Mayorga v. Alfredo Angulo and Nate Campbell v. Ali Funeka, making for a PPV-worthy fight of nights on HBO World Championship Boxing. Frankly, given recent PPV cards, it's far more than PPV-worthy.

Santos was approached as a replacement for "Mean" Joe Greene on Jan. 17, but balked at having to get ready on just 10 days' notice. The multiple-time titleholder has been out of the ring since knocking out Joachim Alcine last July, gaining the WBA title in the process.

It's an excellent fight added to an already-great doubleheader. There's a lot of intrigue in every bout, and I can't say enough good things about the three-fight event. Kudos, HBO.

Queens fighter "Mean" Joe Greene (pictured, courtesy Sky Sports) is out of a scheduled fight on January 17 against Sergio Martinez, which was to be the co-feature to Andre Berto-Luis Collazo on HBO. The unbeaten Greene is currently suffering from kidney stones, and despite a desire to fight anyway, promoter Lou DiBella and doctors have strongly advised Greene to fight, and thus he will not.

The 22-year old Greene was taking a massive step up in competition, going from fighting the likes of Joshua Okine and Jose Miguel Torres to Martinez, a world-ranked competitor who stole the show on HBO's last "night of the prospects" offering when he thoroughly dominated the rugged Alex Bunema.

According to Dan Rafael, ESPN first tapped 154-pound titlist Daniel Santos on a deal to fight over the divisional weight limit in a non-title bout, but even though promoter Don King was OK with it, Santos balked at having to get ready for a fight on just ten days' notice.

HBO is now looking at 27-year old Anthony Thompson, whose career has stalled a bit after back-to-back controversial losses to Yuri Foreman and Ishmail Arvin, and 37-year old ex-titleholder Travis Simms, who hasn't really fought since a July 2007 loss to Joachim Alcine. Simms did fight last August, but against a total tomato can at a Radisson Hotel in South Carolina.

Source: LA Times

Promoter Lou DiBella has won a World Boxing Council purse bid for the right to stage welterweight champion Andre Berto's next title defense against New York's Luis Collazo, the WBC announced on Monday.

DiBella, who promotes Berto, told The Times the bout will occur on Jan. 17 at a site to be determined. The fight will be televised by HBO.

DiBella won the bid for $675,000. Collazo's promoter, Don King, came in second at $427,000.

Berto (23-0, 19 KO) is facing what should be a final "ladder step" opponent before he starts taking on the best in the 147-pound division, or at least that's how I see it. Collazo (29-3, 14 KO) has come up short in his two biggest fights, against Hatton and Mosley, and hasn't beaten anyone worth a crap since 2005.

This would be a BIG upset for Collazo, even though he is a step up from the likes of Michel Trabant, Miki Rodriguez, David Estrada and probably even the undersized Stevie Forbes. And it's a fine welterweight lead-in night for January 24's Margarito-Mosley fight, too. Glad it's done, glad it's going down.