Andre Berto

dlofnep

What's everyone's thoughts on Berto? The Americans are really warming up to him.. He has a very good KO ratio and is generally exciting, but his competition has been somewhat pampered.

Future top guy or another flop?

cowzerp

Its very hard to call till he meets the top guys, some lads look great untill they meet real opposition and then they fall to pieces, this could go either way..

Bernard Hopkins

Yeah Berto looks good, I suppose you cant bring a fighter along any other way than pampering him untill the big money bouts are due.

a better tip for the welter division is Joel Julio !!
they will probably meet each other someday,....
it's so hard to know when the welter is so hotly contested !!
Berto could be really good , but not be recognized when compared to the top-top names. time will tell , he's got 8 - 10 years left .

Big Ears

Jeff Lacy #2 , a very good fighter who will probably capture a world title but is over reliant on his power and will be thoroughly outboxed by elite fighter .
However with the right trainer he could go on to achieve a lot .

David Estrada is a good step up but if they push him too early he'll be just like Joel Julio , a hard punching Welterweight with a lot of hype that is having to rebuild after being put in with someone too early .

Then again sometimes a loss relatively early in a career is good for a fighter .

Bernard Hopkins

here Big Ears,... your a big Lacy fan , is he really that good ?

dont you like Julio much then , I think he's class.
it can be hard for a columbian to shake off the "banger" stero-type, Julio is very skilled, and is still only a kid,
since his defeat he's been lumped in with real veterans..... if he comes thru all that he will be a major big title contender imo.

Maybe im biased, Ive been in love with anything Columbian since i was young.

Big Ears

Bernard Hopkins wrote:

here Big Ears,... your a big Lacy fan , is he really that good ?

dont you like Julio much then , I think he's class.
it can be hard for a columbian to shake off the "banger" stero-type, Julio is very skilled, and is still only a kid,
since his defeat he's been lumped in with real veterans..... if he comes thru all that he will be a major big title contender imo.

Maybe im biased, Ive been in love with anything Columbian since i was young.

I wouldn't call myself a big Lacy man(I was rooting for Calzaghe against him) but I do like the guy . I see a lot of quality in Berto , enough that I feel he will possibly pick up a belt before too long but I feel he has too many flaws to ever be the #1 man at Welterweight and it's obvious he's made the old mistake of falling in love with his power .

Julio has a bit more about him I think but I can't get the Quintana fight out of my head and Julio just seeing perplexed as to what to do while he was being outboxed . I think the defeat may have done him some good and slowed down his progress(but as you said he's been put in with some good veterans like Rivera) and had he of beaten Quintana he would of been matched with Cotto and that fight could of ruined him . It became apparent that night that he simply didn't have the experience yet required to mix it at that level and it's something he's gaining now by taking on the likes of Rivera .

It might sound a little silly but I think Berto needs a loss , as it is he will be put into matches that will lead to a World title shot quite shortly and at this present stage he is miles away from Championship standard .