Andre Berto’s dilemma emblematic of boxing today
In the last two weeks welterweight titlist Andre Berto has experienced more popularity and buzz as a news headliner than he ever did in the ring. Welcome to what it’s like to a world class fighter in 2010. Berto and his camp made headlines recently for responding negatively to an ordered match by the World Boxing Council (WBC).
The WBC, who seek to unify their welterweight champion, slated Selcuk Aydin, the current International/Silver titlist, against Berto, the current WBC title holder. But whereas Aydin’s camp responded favourably to the order, Berto and promoter Lou Dibella rejected it outright, essentially implying Aydin was out of Berto’s league and an unworthy opponent. Which is basically like saying an unworthy paycheck.
Dibella said of Aydin: “nobody knows him,” and even suggested Berto may forfeit the fight and vacate the belt rather than take it. As Dibella has clarified, this is chiefly because he and his fighter feel that as WBC champion they ought to be entitled to more opportunity and not an anonymous Aydin.
It is true that on a marketing level Aydin is close to anonymous. But then again, how many people on the street could tell you who Andre Berto is? h**l, this guy ain’t no Floyd Mayweather. At least not yet.
And therein lies the problem. By rejecting the fight, Berto is suggesting he is just like Mayweather. And not just by avoiding negotiations; by claiming to be the best of the best. Because this is really what it’s about isn’t it? It’s about more money, of course, but the claim for more money comes from Berto justifying his position as one of the sport’s best. But this is where there seems to be a short circuit between Berto and others. He won’t take fights because he feels superior; yet his superiority has yet to be genuinely tested. He’s playing the waiting game for the big paydays, but will they ever come with his arguably premature sense of entitlement?
On the one hand, Berto’s position should evoke some empathy from boxing fans. He’s a former Olympian, after all, and has rallied a 26-0, 20 KOs record, which is generally something to write home about. But here’s the rub: he hasn’t been active with his title in 19 months, and he claimed it on somewhat dubious grounds. He beat Miguel Angel Rodriguez for the WBC crown in 2008, and has since taken on four opponents, none of which were boxing household names (closest being Carlos Quintana). These guys aren’t exactly murders’ row of the welterweights, that’s for sure. It’s true that some fighters have been moving up to junior middleweight (Mosley, Cotto), but surely you can make something happen.
At the same time, Berto’s promoter, Lou Dibella, has been very vocal on things not going his way with Berto. He claims Berto has challenged guys like Mosley and Cotto, and all has led to nothing. Most recently Berto has tried to get a fight going with Andriy Kotelnik. Dibella also blames ‘unfair’ business ties between the promotion companies like Golden Boy, who hold exclusive, monopolizing rights with broadcasting companies for the inactivity and lack of opportunity for his fighter.
In a recent article by Lyle Fitzsimmons of boxingscene.com, he argues that Berto and Dibella’s methods nudge the “needle further toward a super race of fighters picking and choosing foes based on purses and matchups, rather than quality of opposition and a would-be challenger’s ranking among his peers.”
This is an excellent insight by Mr. Fitzsimmons. But it’s too late by about a fifteen years. The fact is that boxing is already those things, so it's best that participants wake up and smell the coffee.
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