Andre Berto vs. Victor Ortiz

Andre Berto vs. Victor Ortiz was a welterweight world title fight that aired on HBO's World Championship Boxing on April 16, 2011.[1] As part of an HBO televised broadcast, the split-site double-header included WBA junior welterweight Championship Amir Khan vs. Paul McCloskey, Khan fighting from his native England.[2]

East-West Showdown
DateApril 16, 2011
VenueUnited StatesFoxwoods Resort Casino, Mashantucket, Connecticut, USA
Title(s) on the lineWBC Welterweight Title.
Tale of the tape
Boxer United States Andre Berto United States Victor Ortiz
Nickname Vicious
Hometown Miami, Florida Garden City, Kansas
Pre-fight record 27-0-0 (21 KO's) 28-2-2 (22 KO's)
Height 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Recognition WBC Welterweight Champion. The Ring's No. 9 ranked Jr. Welterweight
Result
Ortiz defeated Berto by unanimous decision.

Build Up

Berto came off a TKO victory over Freddy Hernandez. Berto successfully defended his WBC welterweight title, stopping Hernandez at 2:07 of the first round.[3] He hammered Hernandez (29-2) with a left hook, then floored him with a straight right during the co-feature fight of the Juan Manuel Marquez-Michael Katsidis lightweight championship bout.

While Ortiz's last battle ended up being a draw against Lamont Peterson that could have delay that desire on the Amir Khan-Marcos Maidana junior welterweight title fight undercard.[4] Peterson went down for the first time from a right hand that finished a four-punch combination. Peterson got up quickly and did not appear hurt. But he was moments later from another punch and he grabbed on to Ortiz as they tumbled to the mat. Both Andre Berto and Victor Ortiz were considered by some as two of the hottest prospects in any division.[5]

Both rapper 50 Cent and #2 P4P boxer in the world Floyd Mayweather Jr. were sitting in ring side.[6]

Negotiations

The fight was sanctioned as a world title fight in the welterweight division, where the weight limit is 147 pounds. However, Berto's camp agreed to fight at a catchweight of "145 pounds plus one"[7] to accommodate Ortiz, who was moving up from the 140 lb division.

The fight

Although Ortiz was the fighter moving up in weight, on fight night he was 161 on HBO's unofficial scale while Berto was 156.[8] At Friday's weigh in, Ortiz weighed in at the contracted catchweight of 146 pounds, while Berto weighed 145.5. Ortiz outpointed Andre Berto to take Berto's welterweight title.

Ortiz took the fight to Berto (27-1, 21 KOs) from the beginning and almost never let up. Berto fired back throughout the fight but wasn't able to fully cope with the challenger's relentless pressure and hard, accurate punches. The knockdowns started almost immediately, Ortiz sending Berto down to one knee—and hurting him—with a combination in the first round.[9] Berto returned the favor in the second with a right to the chin, forcing Ortiz to touch the canvas with his glove. Ortiz won the next three rounds by continuing to fire punches, many of which landed. Again, Berto punched back but couldn't keep pace. In the sixth round, Ortiz dropped his left hand and Berto landed a huge right about two minutes into the round, putting Ortiz on his back. Ortiz survived and put Berto down with a short left with a few seconds remaining in the round. Ortiz controlled the remainder of the fight as he had most of the first six rounds, pounding Berto inside with hard shots to the body and head as Berto failed to keep up.[10]

In April 2016, the pair had a rematch, with Berto reversing his loss to Ortiz by way of a fourth-round technical knockout win.

Undercard

Televised

Preliminary card
  • Welterweight bout:United States Joseph Elegele vs. United States Angel Hernandez
    • Elegele defeated Hernandez by TKO of round 2.
  • Welterweight bout:Puerto Rico Thomas Dulorme vs. Dominican Republic Harrison Cuello
    • Dulorme defeated Cuello by KO at 1:27 of round 2.
  • Middleweight bout:United States J'Leon Love vs. Guyana JC Peterson
    • Love defeated Peterson by TKO of round 2.
  • Bantamweight bout:United States Luis Rosa vs. United States Joseliz Cepeda
    • Rosa defeated Cepeda by TKO at 1:12 of round 5.
  • Heavyweight bout:United States Sonya Lamonakis vs. United States Gigi Jackson
    • Lamonakis defeated Jackson by points.

References
  1. Rafael, Dan (2011-03-12). "Andre Berto-Victor Ortiz site set". ESPN. Retrieved 2011-03-26.
  2. Satterfield, Lem (2011-01-19). "Andre Berto-Victor Ortiz 'Promising' for Amir Khan April 16 Card". AolNews. Archived from the original on 2012-10-06. Retrieved 2011-03-26.
  3. Vester, Mark (2010-11-27). "Andre Berto Destroys Freddy Hernandez One Round". BoxingScene. Retrieved 2011-04-12.
  4. Satterfield, Lem (2010-12-11). "Lamont Peterson-Victor Ortiz Ends in Majority Draw". AOLNews. Archived from the original on 2012-10-06. Retrieved 2011-04-12.
  5. Mannix, Chris (2011-04-16). "147-pound Contender Ortiz Needs Only 1 Look In Mirror To Explain Woes". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2011-04-16.
  6. Marley, Michael (2011-04-06). "Floyd Mayweather Jr To Arrive At Berto Ortiz Card". BoxingScene. Retrieved 2011-04-16.
  7. Rosenthal, Michael (2011-02-14). "BREAKING NEWS: BERTO, ORTIZ REACH AGREEMENT". RingTV. Archived from the original on 2011-03-21. Retrieved 2011-04-14.
  8. Rafael, Dan (2011-04-17). "Victor Ortiz stuns Andre Berto". ESPN. Archived from the original on 30 April 2011. Retrieved 2011-04-17.
  9. Rosenthal, Michael (2011-04-17). "Ortiz outpoints Berto in entertaining brawl". RingTV. Archived from the original on 2011-04-20. Retrieved 2011-04-17.
  10. Rosenthal, Michael (2011-04-17). "Ortiz outpoints Berto in a thriller to put criticism to rest". RingTV. Archived from the original on 2011-04-20. Retrieved 2011-04-17.
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