By Rich Mancuso
It has been confirmed that Andre Berto, who suffered a serious arm injury in training, is hurt and may not be able to get in the ring and fight Victor Ortiz another time on their February 11th Showtime televised fight. Berto, late Monday, was scheduled to have an MRI performed at a nearby hospital in Van Nuys California where he is training for the fight.
A source at Golden Boy, promoter of Ortiz, said it was undetermined if the fight will proceed. The extent of the injury is unknown, but reports say it is not good and the injury could require more than a three-week recovery period. Ortiz could not be reached for comment.
This is supposed to be one of the anticipated fights of the year. Their first fight,
last April 16th at Foxwoods resort in Connecticut, could have been classified as Fight of the Year. Both fighters were knocked down twice, both in the sixth round and Ortiz went on to a unanimous decision and taking the WBC welterweight title from Berto.
Despite all the talk and discussion, Julio Caesar Chavez Jr. is not avoiding or backing off from defending his WBC middleweight title against Sergio Martinez. Chavez will defend the title Saturday on HBO against Marco Antonio Rubio.
But, promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank, who holds the rights to Chavez, is putting a dent in the Martinez-Chavez fight when he stated last week that if Chavez prevails he could face Miguel Cotto next. Arum is also awaiting a decision from Manny Pacquiao about his fight plan with more speculation that Cotto could be the next opponent for Chavez.
This only adds fuel to the fire as to why Chavez is taking time to encounter Martinez. In the meantime, Arum may have no alternative because the WBC has mandated that after the Rubio fight, Chavez has to defend against Martinez. Arum said, “Chavez will fight Martinez when he is ready. I don’t think Martinez is all that good.” Yes, Arum can offer his opinion. And Chavez could be avoiding Martinez, but in the end the WBC has made their mandate and the fight will eventually be on the calendar at some point this year.
This post is sponsored in part by Forest Hills Rentals & Long Island Insurance Directory
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