No Holds Barred: Why Mayweather vs. Berto Should Be Splendid

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman presents a commentary on why the September 12 fight between Floyd Mayweather and Andre Berto, contrary to the prevailing opinions of many who scribble about boxing, should be splendid.

This fight is being described as the final one in the career of the 38-year-old unbeaten Mayweather, who holds WBA and WBC welterweight belts. With a record of 48-0 and 26 KOs, Mayweather will be trying to tie the historic 49-0 record of heavyweight icon Rocky Marciano.

Mayweather's opponent, the 31-year-old Andre Berto (30-3, 23 KOs), is a former WBC and IBF welterweight champ, and now holds what is called the WBA interim welterweight title, for what that is worth. He has won his last two fights, although he is just 3-3 in his last six, including losses to Victor Ortiz and Robert Guerrero, both of whom Mayweaher has defeated.

This fight will take place Saturday, September 12, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, and will be shown live in the U.S. on a Showtime pay-per-view, and also around the world on various networks.

In analyzing this fight and why it will exceed the expectations of many, a key factor is the likelihood of an exciting matchup of styles between Mayweather and the usually aggressive Berto, who will no doubt be highly motivated to display his best skills.

Also considered is why choosing other possible opponents for Mayweather does not make sense given the prevailing business structure in place in boxing. Some potential opponents like Keith Thurman, Amir Khan, Shawn Porter, and Danny Garcia also have Al Haymon as their manager/advisor as does Mayweather, but are all apparently in future plans when Mayweather retires and relinquishes his belts. Others, like Tim Bradley or Canelo Alvarez, whom Mayweather has already defeated, are under exclusive contracts to promoters who are suing Haymon in regards to his Premier Boxing Champions venture, which is not exactly a good way to get into his good graces to be part of what should be another lucrative Mayweather fight. They also have exclusive contracts with HBO, which of course is the premium network rival of Showtime, which has an exclusive contract with Mayweather. These networks have only worked together on mega-fights like Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson in 2002, and Mayweather-Pacquiao earlier this year.

In addition, also discussed are the relative popularity and drawing power of Berto compared to other possible opponents for Mayweather, the possibility of a crowd-pleasing knockout to cap off Mayweather's career, the relative lack of Black fighters who have been opponents of Mayweather over his career, and much more.

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