Not much on the boxing schedule this week aside from major announcements. But here are the biggest winners and losers of the weekend.
Biggest Winner-Andre Berto: He hit the Mayweather sweepstakes and undeservingly so. Berto is 3-3 in his last six fights. The three wins came against Steve Upsher Chambers, Josesito Lopez, and Jan Zaveck. His three losses came against Victor Ortiz, Jesus Soto-Karass, and Robert Guerrero. Guerrero and Ortiz subsequently went on to face Mayweather after they defeated Berto. Lopez was winning his fight with Berto until he was stopped.
Still Making Money: No matter what, Mayweather will still get his 32 million from Showtime no matter how good or bad his pay-per-view with Berto Does. Had the fight been on CBS and not an extra 74.95, I don’t think there’d be many complaints about a Berto fight. But making fans pay for this bout has not gone over well with just about everybody.
Berto always makes good fights and will indeed be paid handsomely for his fight with Mayweather. But it’s hard to imagine there were other more deserving fighters like Keith Thurman, Shawn Porter, and Amir Khan among others. Not to mention, you have to pay 74.95 for HD to watch this fight.
Biggest Loser-The Hardcore fan: The hardcore fan will be hard pressed to not order this fight. On top of being two other main events on pay-per-view in the two months after (Golovkin-Lemieux and Cotto-Canelo), the undercard has the rematch of fight of the year contender between Roman Martinez and Orlando Salido and a fight between Badou Jack and George Groves, which on paper is a good match. While the main event has long odds, the two undercards should deliver. So the hardcore fan has to decide whether those two fights are worth the mismatch of the pay-per-view.
James Toney Still Fighting: Shame on those who made money off using James Toney in the ring. Once one of the best fighters of an era, Toney should be remembered as an all-time great. He shouldn’t be remembered as a guy past his prime losing to fighters that wouldn’t have lasted two rounds with him in his prime. Toney also deserves some blame, but any commission or promoter abiding by it should be investigated in the very least.
