By: Albert Alvarez
Before the fight, I felt that Berto was going to land a blitzing right upper cut late in the fight, and would then be able to stop Robert Guerrero. I was right about the right upper cut being a deadly weapon for Berto, but I was wrong about the way I felt that Guerrero would handle the lethal shot. Turns out that Guerrero has quite a chin on him.
Guerrero devoured Andre Berto’s heavy shots as if they were M & M ‘s. That sight was something that I was not expecting to see. I also was not expecting to see Guerrero drop Berto in the 1st and 2nd rounds of the fight. The fight itself was more than a brawl, and credit goes to Guerrero for fighting the perfect fight needed to beat up Berto. It was not very pretty in there from time to time, but because of the unpleasant manner in which the fight was being played out, Berto was then forced to step on it late and make it exciting.
Berto knew that he had to dig deep and take chances in order for him to hopefully land an atomic bomb that would then drop or stop Guerrero. That time never came for Berto, as Guerrero pressed Berto with immense aggression that never allowed Berto to fully extend on his straight shots and hooks. Major changes are needing to be made in Berto’s style, otherwise, the kid is going to burn out sooner than later.
If Berto is going to continue to fight this way, he needs to study more tape on Tyson, Chavez Sr., and Duran. Those three fighters knew how to punch back when being smothered. They all knew how to turn their punches over without needing to fully extend to land damaging blows. The key is to always keep your feet in position to land a killer shot. Berto on the other hand, instead allowed for Guerrero to push him back. Berto should have planted his feet, then double and triple jabbed Guerrero to give Guerrero something to think about the next time he planned on charging in. Guerrero out hustled Berto and now finds himself ringing Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s doorbell.
