Lance Pugmire of the LA Times reports that Golden Boy's Richard Schaefer is trying to finalize a new date and venue for the postponed Victor Ortiz vs Andre Berto rematch, with June 23 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles the new target. The bout was originally set for February 11 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, but was canceled when Berto suffered a bicep injury.

Schaefer says that the May 19 fight in Las Vegas between Lamont Peterson and Amir Khan prompted him to try moving this rematch to Los Angeles:

One might question whether or not Los Angeles deserves major fights, since the last two Golden Boy-promoted events in the area were utter flops at the gate.

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Yesterday, promoter Lou DiBella said that his fighter Andre Berto would be ready to reschedule his highly-anticipated rematch with Victor Ortiz in late June, and that nobody would have interim fights, and simply go straight into the rematch as was planed for February 11.

Today, the Ortiz camp weighs in, and manager Rolando Arellano agrees: No interim fights, no tune-ups, just the Berto rematch is on their mind. From Ryan Maquiñana:

"Showtime is paying for the fight. They’re paying licensing fees, marketing, and they’ve spent a lot of money going toward the ancillary materials for the prefight production, so we’re going to act in good faith for the rematch."

The new target date is June 30, and Arellano says that the MGM Grand isn't set, but if they can't make the fight there, it could move over to Mandalay Bay.

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The scrapped rematch between welterweights Victor Ortiz and Andre Berto will be rescheduled, according to a report by Rick Reeno of BoxingScene.com, with Berto's promoter Lou DiBella saying that a late June date is the current target.

"The rematch will happen. Berto will not require any surgery. Berto-Ortiz will take place in about four months. There will not be any interim fights. They are going straight into the rematch," DiBella told BoxingScene.com.

Berto injured his bicep recently, which forced the scheduled February 11 date to be canceled. After seeking a second opinion on the injury, Berto has opted to not have surgery, and an 8-to-12 week recovery period is expected.

Showtime will still televise.

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The latest word on Andre Berto's arm injury, which canceled his February 11 rematch against Victor Ortiz, comes from Team Berto nutritionist Victor Conte, who tells Ryan Maquiñana of BoxingScene.com that Berto won't undergo surgery.

"[Trainer] Tony [Morgan] said he was told eight to 12 weeks for recovery," Conte informed BoxingScene.com. "It’s a tendon tear near his left armpit."

Berto (28-1, 22 KO) had surgery on this bicep two years ago, but in a different location. It's a worrisome thing going forward from here, and could become the type of injury that haunts his career long-term. If you missed the photo of the injury, Showtime shared that on Tuesday night.

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The story of the day has been the postponement of the rematch between Andre Berto and Victor Ortiz after Berto ruptured his left bicep. The Showtime Boxing Facebook page posted a picture of Berto's arm after the injury and it should cancel out any fears that this was anything less than a legitimate injury.

Here's the photo:

Now, I'm no medical expert, but if you can see an injury to the muscle with the naked eye, that's generally bad news.

I'm sure there will be plenty more emerging in the next few days as we find out the exact extent of Andre's injury and the amount of time required to rehab it as well as seeing if Victor Ortiz slides into another fight while waiting for Berto to heal.

Related Links on the Berto vs. Ortiz cancellation:

- Official news that the fight was postponed
- Vanes Martirosyan pretends he wants to fight Ortiz
- Berto to receive a second opinion and establish timeline for the rematch
- Danny Garcia asks "Why not a rematch between Victor Ortiz and Floyd Mayweather, Jr.?"

Chris Robinson of the Examiner spoke with Victor Ortiz's trainer Danny Garcia about what Victor will do next in the wake of Andre Berto being forced out of the February 11 fight due to a ruptured bicep. Richard Schaefer has said that if Berto's recovery period is significant, Ortiz will move on and look for another fight. Garcia had some ideas.

One is the winner of the February 25 bout between Marcos Maidana (an old conqueror of Ortiz) and Devon Alexander. Alexander has already said he wanted to face the Ortiz-Berto winner, and there's an OK chance that the winner of that fight would be ready again in late May or early June, all open dates on HBO right now.

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Golden Boy's Richard Schaefer says that Andre Berto will get a second opinion from a Los Angeles Lakers team doctor on his ruptured bicep, and that any pursuit of a make-up date for the canceled February 11 fight with Victor Ortiz will wait until a recovery timeline is laid out, as you'd expect. From RingTV.com:

"If it's not an extended period, then, obviously, the idea is to go straight into the fight. But if not Andre -- and again, we are only speculating that he could be out for an extended period -- then the idea is that Victor would do a fight in between because Victor is not going to just sit around."

There are plenty of good fights for Ortiz (29-3-2, 22 KO) to take in the interim, and I still wouldn't count out a potential rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr on May 5. The reason I'm thinking that is not because Mayweather vs Ortiz II is some big, desirable fight, really, just that Floyd does have to fight someone, and the options are limited. Miguel Cotto and Canelo Alvarez should still be considered the front-runners, but there could be issues on either side.

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It's now official: The scheduled February 11 rematch between Victor Ortiz and Andre Berto has been postponed, according to RingTV.com:

According to his trainer, Tony Morgan, Berto suffered what was determined by an MRI to be a ruptured left biceps while throwing a hook to the head of sparring partner Tureano Johnson, and will require arthroscopic surgery as early as Tuesday.

... "Boxing fans really wanted this fight. We're right there with these two guys. We're right there behind Mayweather and Pacquiao, and then there's these two, hungry young guys Ortiz and Berto. I mean, Floyd's the best of the best, and so is Pacquiao, but you can't deny that they're in their 30s," said Ortiz's manager, Rolando Arellano.

This all came down last night, as Berto was reported to be hurt, then the ruptured bicep was reported, and then Ortiz said he'd keep camp going, but it was pretty clear from the get-go that we were losing this fight.

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Even though reports are saying that Golden Boy CEO Richard Schafer has been informed of Andre Berto's injury, it seems that Team Ortiz is being optimistic on Berto's status according to Jake Donovan of Boxing Scene. It seems that the camp is going to go on as planned until they get news confirming that Andre Berto cannot make the February 11th fight date.

"We heard that he's hurt, but so far it's not conclusive" Rolando Arellano, Ortiz' manager, informed Boxingscene.com. "We're acting as if the biggest, baddest Andre Berto is going to walk out of the hospital and show up ready to fight on February 11 on Showtime."

It seems that Victor Ortiz is going to keep on his schedule until the announcement is official, which is the only logical move.

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Gabriel Montoya and Steve Kim of Max Boxing are tweeting that Andre Berto suffered a ruptured bicep. Andre Berto is currently undergoing surgery to fix the tear. It should go without saying that the Februray bout between Victor Ortiz and Andre Berto is off.

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