Tonight at 9:45pm EDT, HBO goes live from Foxwoods in Connecticut with a must-win fight in the welterweight division for two young would-be stars. Andre Berto (27-0, 21 KO) puts his undefeated record and qualifications as a near-future megafight opponent on the line against Victor Ortiz (28-2-2, 22 KO) in the night's live fight, and after that HBO will have a tape delay replay of the Amir Khan-Paul McCloskey fight from this afternoon for those who missed it.
Bad Left Hook will be covering Berto-Ortiz live, then switching over to the Showtime thread for the Juan Manuel Lopez-Orlando Salido fight. That card goes live at 10:30 with the Luis Cruz-Martin Honorio co-feature.
Here's a snip from our Berto-Ortiz preview:
I think this could be a very good fight, a very entertaining fight. Neither are great defensively (to say the least), and both like to mix it up. If Ortiz is out there with a tough guy chip on his shoulder, he might look to turn this into a brawl to prove something about himself. He has to know that his reputation has been damaged in the last two years. As for Berto, I think given the speed advantage, he'd welcome some trades. Chances are he lands before Ortiz can, and we know Ortiz can be hurt.
My gut is telling me Ortiz has a legit chance here, but I just don't see him winning. Not after reviewing his performances since the Maidana loss; there's been nothing special about him, and it seems to come from a loss in swagger. He's not the confident fighter he used to be, no matter what he says in interviews. Pick: Andre Berto UD-12
Berto-Ortiz starts a nice night at the fights on TV, so join us this evening and get your discussion on.