A fan’s take on GUERRERO VS BERTO

                The November 24 matchup between Andre Berto and Robert Guerrero was a big disappointment for me in a lot of ways.  First and foremost while many are clamoring about this being a fight of the year candidate they certainly are delusional simply based on the style of the fight. Berto certainly showed a tremendous amount of metal withstanding and responding to the onslaught he was bombarded with and Guerrero definitely came out with more power and aggression than most probably expected however before the total canonization of the Ghost begins something has to be said about both fighters styles.

First of all The Ghost was incredibly dirty and had a great friend in Lou Moret who stood by as a series of head held punches capped off with a shove lead to the first round knockdown.  He spent the entirety of the fight pushing, hugging and punching after the ref called break. Maybe Guerrero was paying homage to Ricky Hatton’s return with his grappling style of boxing but with the amount of power he seemed to have he did not need to resort to boarder line low blows and arm locks. In addition Guerrero decided to continue to push the envelope throughout the fight and even went as far as to attack Berto with five hard punches after the final bell in round 12. In all fairness Guerrero is a close range fighter so his style makes for a grittier fight, but just because a ref is too lazy, apathetic or complacent to call you on a dirty move doesn’t mean you have to try and go for more cheap tactics.

As for Berto there is obviously some room for improvement specifically in how he deals with southpaws. Berto was coming off a substantial layoff and it showed in the way he came into the fight he used a more defensive style with the shell defense, which despite what most believe, he has done before. However his strength is in his offense and he never became the aggressor in the fight, at least not before taking substantial punishment which probably diminished his power. Berto has physical talents like speed and power, but he lacks defensive fundamentals which he can hopefully be taught. When Berto is on the offensive he is strong but he continually has trouble dealing with fellow aggressors who lead with their head as well. Berto needs to work against guys who lead with their heads so he can get better at sidestepping and check hooking such opponents.

All in all the fight may not have been as crisp and aesthetically pleasing but both men have something to walk away with: Guerrero kept his belt, has another substantial victory and proof that he can contend with solid welterweights. Berto walks away proving that he is a strong contender fighting a good portion of the fight with both eyes swollen which shows he has more stamina and a better chin than critics would like to give him credit for. Given the fact that Berto stayed standing for the final ten rounds after what seemed to be devastating knockdowns in one and two he seems to have about as glass of a jaw as Juan Manuel Marquez; so he may be easy to knock over but he’s hard to keep down.