23.06.08 – By Vivek Wallace: This past weekend fight fans were pleasantly surprised as they were treated to a night of Boxing that exceeded expectations. Although there were some surprises on both the HBO and Showtime cards, it was the overall performance by the young Andre Berto that perhaps left most with much to talk about. The welterweight division is one of the rare divisions in the sport where literally as many as 8 of the top 10 contenders are all totally formidable and are fully capable of springing the kind of performance that could leave some of the best judges in the game on the brink of making what could result in very unpopular decisions in the end.
Prior to last Saturday night, standing atop the division was rising Puerto Rican sensation Miguel Cotto, and Mexican warrior Antonio Margarito, followed by the likes of seasoned veteran Shane Mosley, the powerful Joshua Clottey, the incomprehensible Paul Williams, and a distant but still noteworthy Kermit Cintron, Zab Judah, and Carlos Quintana..
Fast forward to Sunday morning and suddenly the plot thickened as we saw the latest key figure to join the race, and potentially the most gifted of them all from a natural talent standpoint. No doubt, it’s far too early to crown anyone a true heir apparent to the former Pound for Pound King, Mr. Floyd Mayweather Jr., but not since his absence – despite the great fighters to follow his footsteps – have we seen a pure crescendo of speed, power, stamina, reflexes, and simply put, pure skill. There were literally moments of the Berto fight where I found myself doing a literal role call of former Pound for Pound greats when trying to ponder whose style his most resembled. At one point I saw ripping combinations which gave flashes of Roy Jones Jr.. Other times I saw pinpoint precision which gave flashes of Floyd Mayweather Jr.. In key moments of adversity I saw the explosiveness of a young Mike Tyson, which I recently relived, thanks in part to ESPN’s Marathon of his hey day. (DEAR GOD WAS “IRON” MIKE A BEAST?)!!!!
In alot of the other great welters today I see many of these skills, but typically they’re not all encompassed within the same fighter. Miguel Cotto would probably come the closest, however, despite currently seeing the speed and the power, it wasn’t until recently that we saw the stamina and ability to be a pure boxer in him. In Antonio Margarito I see the power and the stamina, but the blazing speed is absent, as well as the ability to purely box. In Paul Williams, I see the stamina and the power, with adequate speed, but absent is that text book ‘Boxing 101’ blueprint that you want to see from a fundamental standpoint. Aside from Cotto, the closest the division gets to a total package is either Shane Mosley or Zab Judah, however, Mosley has shown some decline in his latter years and Judah has at times lacked the mental conditioning required to employ such a plethora of skills on a consistent level.
In Andre Berto, you see all of these things in one body – a very young body might I add – which sets the stage for some great fights ahead. The only thing about Berto that needs polishing, (and it should be noted that this will evolve with tenure), is the fact that he often seems too timid to start out fights, being overly methodical rather than letting the fight come to him. This is to be expected for a ‘young gun’ who knows that he’s the proverbial ‘new kid on the block’, but now that he’s the official owner of the sports most prestigious strap, the WBC green-belt, this is a tendency that could leave him in trouble against seasoned vets who know how to put early rounds in the bank. This was a lesson that Antonio Margarito learned the hard way against Paul Williams who started fast and ended up taking Margarito’s strap.
Once Berto reaches that ‘Champion level’ comfort zone and is effectively able to kick it in auto-pilot-cruise-control, it’s gonna take more than his perceived height deficiency to slow him down. As for now, the divisions best kept secret is no longer a secret. Far from under the radar, the only thing concealed about Berto after this victory was the tears he openly wept as his face remained buried in his Father’s shoulder. It took him many years, blood, sweat, and tears, to get here, and now that he’s reached the top of the mountain, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him enjoy the view for quite some time. Of course that won’t be the case if Miguel Cotto has anything to say about that, but then again, Margarito would have something to say about that, just like when it was him, Williams had something to say about that, and when it was him, Quintana had something to say about that, while at the same time Clottey, Mosley and Judah as well as a host of other guys have a little something they wanna say about that. (Run-on sentence but I’m sure you get my drift). One thing for sure, if all these guys have something to say about this, it’ll be literally impossible not to listen. Since it’s my time to chime in, here is my question to fight fans: Now that we’ve added another piece to the puzzle and the table is set, my ‘loaded question’ about our ‘loaded deck’…..ARE YALL READY FOR THIS?
I follow that question with an appropriate parting question: DAMN, ISN’T IT A GREAT TIME TO BE A FIGHT FAN?
(Got Questions or Feedback? Write ESB’s Vivek Wallace at vivexemail@yahoo.com or show some love at www.myspace.com/anonymouslyinvolved)