Andre Berto update from Fat Dan

danrafaelespn Dan Rafael
This morning @AndreBerto gave up his IBF belt, @loudibella told me. Moving toward a Berto rematch with @VICIOUSortiz. #boxing
about an hour ago

Must mean the HBO talks are pretty serious.

I guess Bailey will now face somebody for the vacant trinket.

GrantZilla wrote:Had Berto kept his belt, he would have been obligated to next face mandatory challenger Randall Bailey. And since HBO, which has been bankrolling the careers of Berto and Ortiz for several years, wants Ortiz-Berto II and is not interested in buying Berto-Bailey, the writing was on the wall.

http://tinyurl.com/6llb83q

with no hbo and Berto only being able to draw 1000-2000 people to see him fight he wouldn't make 1/4 of what HBO probably overpays his ass. HBO should offer not alot more than Showtime would pay for a Berto/Ortiz fight, which I'm guessing is less than a million dollars between the 2 fighters. I'm sure HBO won't have learned their lesson and will be paying each guy double what they could make elsewhere. Morons.

If Kell Brook is smart he'll get his promoter to get him in there with Bailey.

Hagler's Bald Head wrote:If Kell Brook is smart he'll get his promoter to get him in there with Bailey.

good call. Get a trinket in a very winnable fight. Bailey can punch, but he can be outboxed and his chin isn't made of iron. And it actually fits Brook's career progression. Ndou, Jackiewicz, and then Bailey is about as good of preparation as you can get for his probable future opponent, Mike Jones.

captainanddew wrote:

Hagler's Bald Head wrote:If Kell Brook is smart he'll get his promoter to get him in there with Bailey.

good call. Get a trinket in a very winnable fight. Bailey can punch, but he can be outboxed and his chin isn't made of iron. And it actually fits Brook's career progression. Ndou, Jackiewicz, and then Bailey is about as good of preparation as you can get for his probable future opponent, Mike Jones.

And it'll hopefully capture HBO/Showtime's attention.

Hagler's Bald Head wrote:

captainanddew wrote:

Hagler's Bald Head wrote:If Kell Brook is smart he'll get his promoter to get him in there with Bailey.

good call. Get a trinket in a very winnable fight. Bailey can punch, but he can be outboxed and his chin isn't made of iron. And it actually fits Brook's career progression. Ndou, Jackiewicz, and then Bailey is about as good of preparation as you can get for his probable future opponent, Mike Jones.

And it'll hopefully capture HBO/Showtime's attention.

I think Jones and Brook would make for a good showtime matchup. The pricetag wouldn't be enormous and the winner would move on to bigger and better things.

Both guys are in the same boat, in that there is Pac and Floyd who are on a level by themselves, then there is Ortiz and Berto who are going to fight again, and after that there isn't alot out there at 147. They are the logical fight to make.

I guess there is no way Bailey can get ready in time for Dec 17th. Showtime would be doing well to have Brook-Bailey on the Ward-Froch undercard.

UBeeg9cats wrote:I guess there is no way Bailey can get ready in time for Dec 17th. Showtime would be doing well to have Brook-Bailey on the Ward-Froch undercard.

Why not ? it's like five weeks away.