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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.
This is a pretty damn big blow to the schedule, as Ortiz vs Berto II was legitimately the biggest (signed) fight out there at the moment. But as Ortiz says, these things happen. This also means the cancellation of the undercard bouts, which means that Erislandy Lara (set to face Ronald Hearns) remains inactive since last July, and Gary Russell Jr (who was to fight Dat Nguyen) also loses a date.
Ortiz (29-3-2, 22 KO) really should move on and maybe try to land that May 5 date with Floyd Mayweather Jr that I suspect could be a possibility now. Berto (28-1, 22 KO) is not going to be back in the ring all that quickly, and Ortiz doesn't need to sit around waiting.
Still, even in this time of disappointment, I am amused by Victor:
"Disappointed isn't even the best word to describe how I feel right now. I got home, and my manager is like, 'guess what? I don't know how to tell you this, so I'm just going to to ahead and tell you that your fight has been postponed or cancelled,'" said Ortiz.
And you know, if his manager were anyone but Roland Arellano... Never change, guys.