Shawn Porter Stops Andre Berto In Title Eliminator

By Anthony “Zute” George (At Ringside)

Barclays Center, in Brooklyn, New York, was the location for the WBC Welterweight Title Eliminator between Andre Berto and Shawn Porter. Berto managed to keep Porter at distance at the onset of the fight, scoring well and keeping Porter at range, who appeared to be feeling out Berto in the first round and a half. Soon after, it was a fight that was fought on Porter’s terms. Those terms were of bullying and foul filled tactics. Porter was determined to close the distance on Berto and accomplished this by lunging in, leading with his head and doing his best impersonation of Lawrence Taylor. Once Porter got inside, he used his elbows and forearm as leverage to land telling blows more often than not. Berto was ill equipped to neutralize Porter’s extracurricular style and received little help from referee Mark Nelson.

Berto suffered cuts around his eye that appeared to be bothering him, as he kept blinking his eyes; the cuts came from the billy goat approach on the part of Porter. The ringside physician kept checking Berto’s vision and kept giving him the go ahead to keep fighting. Porter also suffered cuts via clashes of heads, however, it did not discourage him from fighting dirty. The 9th round saw the fruits of Porter’s dishonest labor come to fruition, as he dropped Berto and the referee called a stop to the bout at 1:31 of round nine.

After the fight, Porter seemed more embarrassed than celebratory about his victory. He was very apologetic to Berto. Porter said, “My intentions is never to use my head as a weapon.” The next question that should have been asked of Porter should have been, ‘What is your intentions when you rush into your opponent like a football player, and use your elbow and forearm as leverage when you are punching?’ That question was not asked because Showtime is more interested in selling fights. Instead, they brought WBC 147-pound king Keith Thurman into the ring. With this victory, Porter put himself in a position to fight Thurman for his title. It will be a rematch of a fight that was a fight of the year candidate that the undefeated Thurman won. With the victory, Porter improves to 27-2-1, 17 KO’s, while Berto falls to 31-5, 24 KO’s.

I think the story of this fight is the dirty tactics of Porter are dangerously close to being normalized. Anyone who was watching that fight who is knew to boxing, or maybe been away for a while, would have changed the channel. Part of the problem is Porter is a likeable guy and the press tries to cut him slack. It was clear Porter tried to use his jab to score in the beginning of the fight, and resorted to dirty tactics when he realized he could not, and Berto did not have the ability to cope with that style. The other part of the problem is money. Barclays Center was packed to see this fight and will be packed once again for Thurman vs. Porter II. So, Jim Grey can address the dirty tactics of Porter, but he is not going to probe the way he should. This was an ugly fight that was not in keeping to high level boxing. Porter should have been receiving harsh warnings and had points taken away from him throughout this fight. Instead, he gets rewarded with a title shot and a hug payday. Something is rotten in Denmark.

Hatley Vs Charlo

The co- feature saw Jermell Charlo defend his WBC 154-pound title against number one contender Charles The Future Hatley. Round one was a feeling out process. While he did not score with anything significant, Hatley threw the more purposeful punches and won the round. In round two, neither fighter landed with anything tremendous, Charlo tried to measure Hatley with his jab, but could not get anything going off the jab. Hatley was busier, and based on his worked load, was winning the round until the final seconds when Charlo hurt Hatley with a straight right hand that pushed him back into the ropes. Round three saw a more aggressive Charlo, as Hatley was backing up; probably still feeling the effects of that right hand. Charlo landed an anvil-like left jab, followed by a straight right that dropped Hatley in round three. Hatley survived the round, but was now behind in the fight. Round four saw Charlo stalk Hatley, who was now a moving target. Hatley was backing up, moving left to right and occasionally tried to throw his hands. Charlo was not effective in cutting off the ring. Round five Hatley became stationary again and Charlo landed a stiff left jab the first minute of the round. Little else took place in the round, although the crowd was in full ooh and ahh mode with every Charlo punch.

In round six, Charlo stepped on the gas and threw punches in bunches. Hatley tried to stand and trade with Charlo but he could not keep up with Charlo’s hand speed. A crunching, perfectly delivered straight right hand dropped a wide open Hatley, who he fell through the ropes unconscious. The ringside physicians managed to revive Hatley, as he appeared okay upon regaining consciousness. The official time of the knockout came at :32 seconds of round six. Charlo improves to 29-0, 14 KO’s, while Hatley falls to 26-2-1, 18 KO’s.

Undercard Results:

Hitchens Vs Picot

Welterweights Alexander El Bravo Picot and Richardson Hitchens had the distinct honor of being the first, and only, fight of the night to go the distance. Brooklyn’s Hitchens won a unanimous decision 40-36 3X. Hitchens, the 2016 Olympian, controlled the action throughout the fight with effective aggression. Hitchens pinned Picot on the ropes on several occasions, however, he failed to land significant enough combinations to force a stoppage. With the victory, Hitchens improves to 2-0, 1 KO, while Picot falls to 2-3-1, 1 KO.

Serrano Vs Santana

Amanda Serrano and Dahina Santana fought for the vacant WBO bantamweight title. Serrano was the victor via TKO at 1:14 of round 8. The crowd did not like the stoppage from referee Benjy Esteves, but appreciated Serrano’s effort. The bout was fast paced, as both fighters had their moments throughout the fight. As is typical in a Serrano fight, however, she appeared to be the more heavy-handed pugilist and scored with the more telling blows. Santana seemed confused about whether or not she wanted to mix it up with Amanda, or showcase her lateral movement. Neither tactic had any sustained success. Amanda was not confused about what she wanted to do in the ring, as she chopped down a very game Santana. With the victory, Amanda Serrano captures her fifth world title in five different weight classes. A record for female boxing. After the bout, an emotional Serrano told the crowd that this fight meant a lot for her, female boxing and Puerto Rico. When asked about retirement, Serrano indicated she had no plans to hang up the gloves.

Borrego Vs Delperdang

147 pounder John Delperdang laced ‘em up against Mexican pugilist Jose Miguel Borrego and the action was fast and furious. Borrego switched stances throughout round one and landed well on the inside. Delperdang was not hard to find, as he put the earmuffs on and walked right up to Borrego. Round two Delperdang tried to close distance again and landed well while Borrego had his back to the ropes. In the first two minutes of the round, Delperdang scored well when he was able to bull Borrego against the ropes. In the last minute of the round the tide shifted as Borrego appeared to kick it into a second gear and he was the fighter who was scoring well while his opponent was against the ropes.

In round three, Borrego made a concerted effort to score from distance and increase his overall punch volume. Even though Delperdang was still able to close distance, he did little scoring; save for a nice overhand right with about :22 seconds to go in the round. Round four began at a slower pace, as Borrego was flicking soft punches just to try and manage distance, Delperdang landed another good right at the 2:00 minute mark that appeared to wake up Borrego, as he once again stepped up his work rate. Delperdang remained the aggressor throughout the round but he was eating more punches than he was landing. This did not discourage Delepardang however, as he kept coming forward. Borrego did his best work in the last 35 seconds of the round as he landed some wicked uppercuts that appeared to start taking its toll on Delperdang.

Round five Delperang landed a hard-left hook in the first minute of the round. As was the case throughout the fight, Borrego responded by increasing his work rate when Delperdang landed well. Delperdang did little to capitalize on his eye catching left hook the rest of the round. In round six, the two fighters met at the center of the ring. Delperdang scored well to the body but Borrego remained the busier fighter, and put together more combinations. Again, Delperdang faded after the first minute of the round while Borrego never stopped moving his hands. Borrego landed his most impressive punches in the last 12 seconds of round six and came close to dropping Delperdang. Round seven saw Borrego switching up and maintain his work rate. Every punch appeared to do some damage to Delperdang, as he was backing up exclusively for the first time in the fight. Trapped on the ropes, Delperdang was fatigued, bloodied and was eating clean shots. Referee saw enough at 2:01 of round 7. With the victory, Borrego improves to 12-0, 11 KO’s, while Delperdang falls to 10-3, 9 KO’s.

Sosa Vs Valadez

Crowd favorite Julian Sosa looked very impressive against fellow welterweight Emmanuel Valadez. The Mexican-born, Brooklyn resident, Sosa, used his jab in a variety of ways; feinting, as a power punch and even doubling off the jab. Sosa’s diverse jab paid off immediately as he dropped Valadez in round one.

With the crowd chanting SOOSA SOOSA, throughout the bout, Sosa never looked back and Valadez never got into the fight. In round three, Sosa opened up with a 4-punch combination, moments later, a wicked three punch combination; with a straight right hand doing most of the damage, dropped Valadez again. Referee Alan Huggins called a halt to the bout at 1:55 of round 3. Sosa also slipped punches well throughout the bout and is a pugilist on the rise. With the victory, Sosa improves to 8-0-1, 3 KO’s, while Valadez falls to 3-4, 3 KO’s.

Williams Vs Romero

A good-looking cruiserweight, Joseph Williams, dominated Felipe Romero. The heavy-handed Williams’ punches were delivered with a thudding sound, which you felt from your seat. Obviously, Romero felt them much more than the crowd. Williams put his thudding punches together well, in particular, his body work was eye catching. Romero had no answer for Williams’ offensive output and was stopped at 2:43 of round 3. Williams improves to 12-0, 7 KO’s, while Romero falls to 19-13-1, 13 KO’s

Robles Vs Woodberry

The first bout saw Staten Island welterweight, Kenny Robles, take on Latorie Woodberry. Robles proved to be too much for Woodberry. In round one, Robles landed a crunching left hook that proved too much for Woodberry to handle. Official time of the stoppage was 1:33 of round 1. Robles improves to 2-0, 1 KO while Woodberry falls to 1-4-1.

Zutes Boxing Talk & Zutes MMA Talk are podcasts that bring you the world of combat sports straight up with no twists. In each episode, “Zute” calls upon the best boxing & MMA minds in the business to talk about the current state of the fight game, and interviews some of the best fighters in the world of combat sports. Carlos Palomino, Mikey Garcia Sergey Kovalev, Shonie Carter and Jeremy Horn are among the guests that have been featured on the podcast.

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