By James Slater: Superstar Floyd Mayweather Junior has replied to the rematch pleas/demands of September 17th KO victim Victor Ortiz. Via his Twitter page, “Money” referred to Ortiz as “Victoria,” and he said the former World Boxing Council (WBC) welterweight champ can have a return date with him if he can first repeat his April win over Andre Berto.
Mayweather doesn’t have to fight Ortiz a second time, not to prove he is the better fighter, anyway. In fact, Mayweather owes the man who blatantly butted him in that wild and controversy-filled 4th-round absolutely nothing. It might seem strange then, that Mayweather has offered the 24-year-old wild man a way back in. Sure, the fans would likely turn out for a Mayweather-Ortiz II (if Ortiz has by that time scored an impressive repeat win over Berto), if only because the fight they all really want to see – Mayweather Vs. Manny Pacquiao – looks no closer to taking place.
But though a Mayweather-Ortiz part II would be mildly interesting (to Floyd and to the fans), wouldn’t a Mayweather-Andre Berto meeting be a much better idea? Mayweather has already beaten Ortiz once (with considerable ease) and he would undoubtedly do so again, but Berto would offer the 34-year-old master something different.
No, Floyd won’t be interested in the IBF strap Berto picked up with his recent TKO win over a game Jan Zaveck, but he might just relish the idea of testing his skills against another fast welterweight; this one being young and in his prime. And for the fans, a Mayweather-Berto fight would likely be an exciting match. Of course Mayweather would be a colossal favourite to win (as he would be against any welterweight in the world apart from the Pac-Man), but Berto would give Floyd certain things to think about in there; different things to those that Ortiz made Mayweather focus on.
If Berto and Ortiz do fight a return of their April thriller – and this match-up is clearly the biggest and most appealing next fight for either guy – the stakes would be even higher if the winner were guaranteed a crack at Mayweather. For what it’s worth, I think 28-year-old Berto will have learnt from his mistakes and would defeat Ortiz in a return, and he would then make a perfectly fine opponent for Floyd.
Sure, such a match-up would be a poor consolation for a Mayweather-Pacquaio super-fight; but what fight wouldn’t be? Unless Mayweather agrees to meet reigning middleweight king Sergio Martinez at a catch-weight, a Berto who has avenged his sole loss could be the best challenger out there for him.