Back to the drawing board for Berto, Plus a Title Shot
Andre Berto is looking straight down the barrel of another title shot at welterweight when he challenges Slovenian welterweight Jan Zaveck for Zaveck’s IBF welterweight title. The comeback fight for Berto against Zaveck is set for September 3, 2011 at the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi.
Berto will have a huge advantage over Zaveck in the speed, power, and counterpunching departments as Zaveck loves to come forward and throw wide punches.
Berto and Zaveck both only have 1-loss boxing records which is outstanding, though Berto has been up against stiffer competition than Zaveck. That says a lot, since Berto’s competition was roundly criticized. Can Berto look sensational against a fighter like Zaveck who will give him a lot of opportunities to land a lot of counterpunches, or will the Ortiz fight linger in the back of Berto’s mind enough to allow Zaveck an opportunity to give Berto serious trouble in this fight?
Tale of the Tape
Andre “The Beast” Berto is 27 years old, with a record consisting of 28 wins, 1 loss, and 21 wins coming by way of knockout. He stands at 5 feet 8 and one half inches tall with a 72 inch reach, fighting out of the orthodox stance.
Jan “Mr. Sympathikus” Zaveck is 35 years old and he has a record consisting of 33 wins, 1 loss, 1 no contest, and 18 wins coming by way of knockout. He stands at 5 feet 7 and one half inches tall and he also fights out of the orthodox stance.
Andre Berto vs. Jan Zaveck Preview
Andre “The Beast” Berto is a Haitian-American fighter who is known for his outstanding speed and power. He is the former WBC world welterweight champion. Berto was introduced to the sport of boxing by his father and he began his boxing journey as a decorated amateur.
After the Olympics in 2004, Berto turned professional and has notched up some quality wins along the way, including over the always tough Luis Collazo, Juan Urango, and Carlos Quintana.
In 2010, Berto was scheduled to face off against “Sugar” Shane Mosley in what would have been the first big fight of his career, but due to the loss of several family members in the Haiti earthquake, Berto withdrew from the fight.
In Berto’s last fight, he went up against “Vicious” Victor Ortiz, a fighter who had a lot to prove to the boxing world and who was definitely at a crossroads in his career. This fight started off with a bang as Ortiz knocked Berto down in the first round. Berto returned the favor to “Vicious” Victor in the second round by making Ortiz’s gloves touch the canvas via a right hand. Both Berto and Ortiz scored knockdowns on each other in the sixth round as well, though, Berto’s knockdown was more hurtful than Ortiz’s.
The fight was close, but Ortiz’s constant pressure and cleaner, more effective shots, earned him the twelve round unanimous decision victory. This is the only loss in Andre Berto’s professional boxing career.
Jan Zaveck is the current IBF welterweight champion. Born in Slovenia, the Slovenian champion is known for his straight up European boxing style. He started boxing professionally in 2001 and he won his first 24 out of 25 fights with one of the fights ending in a no contest. Zaveck has never fought in the United States throughout his career, and while he has quality wins over fighters such as Isaac Hlatshwayo in which Zaveck captured the IBF welterweight crown in 2009, and Rafal Jackiewicz, by and large he hasn’t dealt with many tough foes.
In Zaveck’s last fight, Zaveck successfully defended his IBF welterweight crown in impressive fashion as he stopped the overmatched American Paul Delgado as the referee step in and stopped the fight in round five. Delgado was knocked down twice along the way.
Berto vs. Zaveck Prediction
Andre Berto should win this fight easily and I expect him to. Berto will have the speed, power, height and counterpunching attributes over Zaveck.
I expect Zaveck to come forward and stay behind his jab, but one thing that Zaveck does in his fights that will be a huge advantage for Berto is he likes to throw wide punches and this will allow Berto to counterpunch Zaveck at will.
If, however, the fight goes into deep waters, this is where the test will come for Berto. Can Berto conquer his stamina issues and can he get the Ortiz fight out of the back of his mind.? If not, we all know that anything can happen in the sport of boxing and I feel that if the fight is late and Berto gets fatigued, then Zaveck will have some opportunities given his steady approach.
Zaveck should have learned from the Ortiz-Berto fight that constant pressure is the blueprint for beating Andre Berto, but in the end I feel that Berto will get it done sooner rather than later, and will make his name relevant again in the welterweight division in the process. Also, remember, Zaveck has never fought outside of Europe. This is Zaveck’s fight trip to the United States, so he will definitely be in hostile territory.
Prediction: Berto by six round knockout.
