Lou DiBella Expects Ortiz-Berto Rematch to Happen

Promoter Lou DiBella, who saw his fighter Andre Berto lose his undefeated record on April 16 against Victor Ortiz, expects a rematch of what was one of the better fights of 2011. That's what DiBella said to BoxingScene.com's Bill Emes:

"Victor earned his title and Berto proved what kind of lion he is, what kind of heart he has. Berto will fight Ortiz again. I don't know if it's going to be the next fight. They will fight again, but I wouldn't be surprised if they fight other people first. We're going to wait and see."

Golden Boy's Richard Schaefer has floated Ortiz's name as a potential opponent for Floyd Mayweather Jr., which may not seem to make sense right away considering that Ortiz would be a huge underdog against Mayweather, and few would expect him to win. But realistically, Golden Boy getting back in Mayweather's good graces -- and making money off of a Mayweather-sized fight -- isn't going to hurt their business. And if Ortiz were to lose to Mayweather, I don't think many people would count it as some slight on Ortiz's ability, since Mayweather is Mayweather. Losing to the best guy available is not a totally bad thing, and at 24 Ortiz would still have tons of career left, and a lot more money in the meantime.

But more likely, I would expect Ortiz to honor the mandatory against Selcuk Aydin. As HBO hasn't spent millions and millions of dollars on Ortiz the way they have Berto (who was reportedly paid $1.3 million compared to Ortiz's $400,000 for the April 16 bout), and given that Ortiz being Mexican-American gives him a more natural and frankly bigger fanbase than Ortiz, thus more eyeballs on the TV, HBO might be more willing to run with Ortiz-Aydin in a main event than they were Berto-Aydin.

DiBella also says he expects Ortiz-Berto would be a great fight again, and I have to figure he's right, even if it comes down to the fact that both fighters are more hot-headed and willing to trade shots than might be considered wise. If Ortiz takes an interim fight -- which seems likely -- Berto could do the same, perhaps even on the same bill as a way to prime the audience for a rematch. Who would Berto fight? There are a lot of guys out there, but there aren't many that would be particularly attractive, as welterweight is short on names and if he were to fight on the same card as Ortiz, that would count out Top Rank fighters since there's no way that Golden Boy and Top Rank are co-promoting a card, even without their fighters facing each other.