Hunter On Berto-Ortiz “Doesn’t interest me because Victor’s got a long way to come back”

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BertoOrtiz_Hogan42Trainer Virgil Hunter has clarified his position on a possible rematch with Victor Ortiz(30-5-2, 23KO’s) for his man Andre Berto(30-3, 23KO’s), who claimed the interim WBA World welterweight title against Josesito Lopez on March 13th.

Speaking with Fighthype.com he said;

“It doesn’t interest me because Victor’s got a long way to come back, and he did beat Andre, but it doesn’t make sense now. He has to keep going in the direction he’s going in. I’ll say that’s not an easy fight because Victor has the confidence of beating Andre before. So me personally, I don’t have a problem saying I wouldn’t wanna take that fight but if it was a fight that had to be made, of course.”

Effectively that’s a veto then. When Berto and Ortiz faced each other in 2011, it was an exceptionally chaotic and brutal affair and both men were dropped twice en route to Ortiz’s unanimous decision victory. It was Berto’s first loss.

Both men are now leagues below were they were going into that fight; Berto has since lost to Roberto Guerrero in another slugfest, and he got KO’s by Jesus Soto Karass in the fight after. Even in his latest victory he didn’t look too convincing. Ortiz has had his jaw broken by Josesito Lopez and looked unwilling to continue after getting floored by Luis Collazo upon his return to the ring after nearly two years out of action. Neither has given the impression that they are ready to gatecrash the VIP section of the welterweight division anytime soon.

With all that said, the only thing a rematch would do is satisfy a bloodlust for the spectators that are that way inclined, and given Virgil Hunter’s reputation for preaching the finer points of a tight defence in order to minimise the damage his fighter’s take, it is unsurprising he would not favour such a bout.