Will Andre Berto Ever Fight Shane Mosley?
The massive Haitian earthquake in January had a devastating impact on millions of people both in the country and around the world with family members living in the area. Andre Berto was one of those people who were affected by the earthquake, as the Haitian-American WBC welterweight champion lost an uncle and several other members of his family in the earthquake.
The tragedy impacted Berto on a professional level as well as a personal level. He immediately cancelled plans for a fight scheduled just two weeks after the earthquake with then-WBA welterweight champion Shane Mosley. While Mosley was gracious and understanding about the cancellation, there’s little doubt that pulling out of the fight caused Berto’s career to take a step back. Berto lost an opportunity to unify the welterweight crown and make a name for himself against one of the top draws in the sport. Meanwhile, Mosley went on to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. in one of the biggest fights of the year to date.
For a time, it appeared that Mosley’s one-sided loss to Mayweather Jr. on May 1 would end any chance for Berto to get a second chance at Mosley. Many people speculated that the 38-year-old Mosley was exposed as being “over the hill” in his lopsided defeat against Mayweather Jr. and that he would likely retire. However, Mosley is convinced that he still has what it takes to be a title contender and is apparently looking at options for fights later this fall.
At first glance, this might appear to be good news for Berto if he wants to reschedule his fight against Mosley. But reports suggest that while Mosley is considering Berto as a possible candidate for his next fight, he isn’t his first choice. That would be Sergio Mora, the former super welterweight champion looking to make a comeback of his own since losing his belt to Vernon Forrest.
Mora is a former champion but he certainly isn’t on the level of the elite boxing champions. The fact that Mosley is targeting him as his number one choice for his next opponent might be an indication that he doesn’t believe that he has what it takes to fight against the top fighters in the world - with his performance against Mayweather Jr. being a prime example of this.
If this is the case and Mosley is not interested in pushing himself against the top fighters in boxing, then the odds aren’t good that Berto will be getting a second shot at a bout against Mosley. With a record of 26-0 and 20 knockouts, Berto is one of the most feared fighters in the sport, but his “name brand” with casual fans has yet to reach the level of his reputation with boxing experts. If Mosley is more interested in booking fights against “name” opponents which can make him money without posing a huge threat of a loss, then Berto might be left completely out of the picture.
A potential next opponent has recently emerged — WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez. Managers for both Martinez and Mosley confirmed last week that a proposal has been floated to have the two fighters meet at a catchweight - likely 155 pounds - with Martinez’s title on the line. In addition, Mosley would receive a 60 percent share of the purse.
If Mosley were to fight either Martinez or Mora, that would leave Berto scrambling for a major opponent. Berto recently said that he’s not interested in moving down to junior welterweight for a shot at some of the top talent in that division like Timothy Bradley, Devon Alexander or Amir Khan. One option would involve him moving up to junior middleweight to fight new WBA champion Miguel Cotto while another would pit him against IBF welterweight champion Jan Zaveck.
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