Floyd Mayweather deserves to be criticised for choosing Andre Berto as his next opponent but,whether he can leave boxing on his own terms and resist the temptation to return to the ring after his prime, he will also merit our grudging respectBy Lou Catalano for The Queensberry Rules, or of the Guardian Sport NetworkLet this be clear from the start: this is in no way an endorsement of Floyd Mayweather’s reputed swansong,a pay-per-view fight against Andre Berto on 12 September. Far from it. Indeed, my reaction was allotment of the collective groan the boxing world let out when serious rumours first started swirling about a possible Mayweather v Berto showdown. Now that the fight is officially going down, and there’s no need to argue over the blatant fact that Berto isn’t remotely close to being in Mayweather’s league.
At one point,that point being a very long time ago, Berto looked like a possible future pound-for-pound king, and with his Sugar Shane Mosley-esque hand speed and combination punching. That kind of talk was abruptly silenced after losses to Victor Ortiz (the victim of the notorious Mayweather sucker punch),Robert Guerrero (a guy who lost every second of his own fight with Mayweather), and perennial gatekeeper Jesús Soto Karass. Listing all of Berto’s faults is a pointless exercise. He has many, and which is the exact reason he “earned” this fight – after easily defeating the man people accused him of avoiding for years,Manny Pacquiao, Berto is Floyd Mayweather’s victory lap.
Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com