Berto is coming off of his win against Steve "Two Pounds" Forbes. He's now facing the toughest competition he's faced so far in his career in Luis Collazo. This a fight between young welterweights, Berto being 25 years old and Collazo 27.
I've followed Berto since I saw him on the undercard of Taylor v. Pavlik I and am looking forward to see what he does in 2009. He is the WBC welterweight champion, having won the vacant title last June.
Max Kellerman and Bob Papa are our commentators tonight. Before the fight, HBO is showing a piece showcasing Berto's life. Kellerman now interviews Collazo. He says that he's hungry to show the critics that he's a top welterweight in the world. Collazo adds that he will capitalize on Berto's mistakes and work the body.
Collazo is 29-3 and Berto is 23-0 with 19 KOs. The intros are complete and it's time to fight.
Round One
They touch gloves in the center. Berto goes to work first and tries to establish the jab. Collazo tries out his jab. Both fighters look to be in good shape. Berto lands a left jab as Collazo comes in. Berto gets tagged with a huge right hand and stumbles back. He looks like he's in trouble, and has to clinch to stay on his feet. Berto looks like he has his legs under him. Now Berto peppers Collazo with a huge combo, and Collazo is forced to clinch. Collazo lands a right hand upstairs. Fantastic first round.
Spartan117: 10-9 Collazo
Uatu: 10-9 Collazo
Round Two
Berto comes out in round 2 swining with hard hooks. Collazo throws a jab follows by a cross. Not much landing cleanly. Collazo counters with a right hand and lands. Collazo lands a good body shot. Now Berto lands a straight to the body. Berto gets tagged with a left. Berto starts to use the uppercut and lands it, followed by a left. Berto clocks Collazo with a lightning fast combo to the head. Berto lands a great hook as Collazo comes forward. They hook up and Collazo lands some hooks as they break. Berto wobbles Collazo with a right and left hook. Another great round.
Spartan117: 10-9 Berto
Uatu: 10-9 Berto
Round Three
Collazo comes out fast and throws about six punches to the body. Berto counters to the head. Collazo looks like he hurt Berto with some shots as they clinch. Berto gets warned for holding. The two trade punches against the ropes. Both fighters are swinging wildly and getting rocked with huge combos. Berto looks to be taking most of the damage, but he continues to come forward. Collazo is winning the battle as they go toe to toe. Berto rocks Collazo with a right hand and Collazo smiles. The bell rings to stop the action.
Spartan117: 10-9 Collazo
Uatu: 10-9 Collazo
Round Four
Berto comes out with a right uppercut. Collazo is throwing a lot of punches and landing the cleaner shots. Berto lands three punches to the head. Berto rips Collazo with a wide hook. Now Collazo lands an uppercut and goes to work to the body. Berto catches Collazo as he comes in. Berto is clinching but getting punched while doing so. Berto gets a point deducted for holding. It's rare to see that happen. Berto wobbles Collazo with a right hook.
Spartan117: 9-9
Uatu: 9-9
Round Five
Berto hits Collazo and knocks out his mouthpiece. Berto backs away so the ref can put it back in. Berto is winning this round so far by landing a lot of great combinations. Berto catches Collazo with a jab. Collazo lands a left hook. Collazo is using great movement to dodge a lot of Berto's punches. Berto is throwing a ridiculous amount of punches down the stretch of this round. Berto lands a left hook right before the bell.
Spartan117: 10-9 Berto
Uatu: 10-9 Berto
Round Six
Berto tries to beat Collazo to the punch and comes out swinging. He's landing big shots upstairs. Berto lands a left uppercut and puts Collazo on the defensive. Now Collazo works with the uppercut. Collazo is backed against the ropes but landing big shots. Collazo throws another six-punch combo the body. A right hand backs up Collazo. That was the most intense round of the fight. Huge action from both fighters. It could have gone either way.
Spartan117: 10-9 Berto
Uatu: 10-9 Berto
Round Seven
Berto has landed a combo at the start of the last few rounds now. Berto lands another big combo and Collazo has to keep his gloves up. Berto lands a right and left to the head. Berto's left eye is swelling shut and he has a cut over it from a headbutt. Collazo drops his hands completely. Collazo has had his hands below his waste for about 30 seconds now. Berto hasn't done anything to capitalize. Collazo looks a little tired. Collazo keeps his hands down as Berto lands a combo.
Spartan117: 10-9 Berto
Uatu: 10-9 Berto
Round Eight
The crowd is chanting for both fighters during the break. Sounds like more for Berto. Now a cut has opened over the left eye of Collazo. Collazo keeps his hands down again but not as low as the last round. Collazo is throwing substantially less punches. Berto continues to throw his combos and is landing the majority. Collazo isn't doing much this round. Collazo goes back to keeping his hands at his sides. Berto complains about a headbutt. Berto lands another combination. Collazo looks tired. Berto lands a jab followed by a right hook. Collazo lands two shots to the body and one upstairs. Berto rocks Collazo's head with a big right hand. Collazo stumbles into the corner, but the bell saves him.
Spartan117: 10-9 Berto
Uatu: 10-9 Berto
Round Nine
These have been pretty close rounds. Both fighters take a short break for the first 30 seconds. Berto is still landing his combos. Collazo is really working the body while they clinch. Berto's head snaps back by a left hand of Collazo. Collazo lands three huge shots and Berto gets backed into the ropes. They look like they hurt him. This has been a very strong round for Collazo. Collazo lands a left upstairs. Berto's eye looks barely open. Berto gets crushed by a left and right that stagger him. Berto can't take too much more punishment like that.
Spartan117: 10-9 Collazo
Uatu: 10-9 Collazo
Round 10
In the corner, Berto's eye didn't look as bad as I thought. Collazo comes out swinging. Collazo is throwing an insane amount of punches, mostly to the body. Both fighters are trading punches and it's doing more damage to Berto. Collazo is getting crushed but still landing huge shots. Berto looks really hurt. Collazo now looks winded. Berto lands a left hook and uppercut. Berto stumbles, almost certainly caused by fatigue.
Spartan117: 10-9 Collazo
Uatu: 10-9 Collazo
Round 11
Berto has his legs back under him and comes out fast as usual. The fans are really into this fight and for good reason. Berto lands a right uppercut and left hook. Both fighters go toe to toe again and Collazo lands big body shots. Berto lands two left hooks. Berto lands another hard combo. Collazo pours on the body shots again. Collazo looks tired and wobbly. Collazo keeps his hands at his sides again. Berto lands a huge right hand before the bell.
Spartan117: 10-9 Berto
Uatu: 10-9 Berto
Round 12
Both of these fighters have been through a war tonight. This fight has been a great way to kick off the year. Collazo's cut looks bad. They touch gloves in the center and now they swing for the fences. Collazo works the body and Berto goes to the head. Berto rocks Collazo with a huge left hand and Collazo's head snaps back. The fans are on their feet. Collazo goes back to the body. They go toe to toe again and Collazo is peppering Berto with flurries. Berto has landed some huge shots and Collazo shows the strength of his chin. Berto is going for a knockout. Collazo is really hurt and tired. Collazo falls out of fatigue. Collazo is in big trouble. Twenty seconds to go, and Collazo is really tired. Berto lands a combo to end the fight. Great, great fight.
Spartan117: 10-9 Berto
Uatu: 10-9 Berto
Judge 1: 116-111 Berto
Judge 2: 114-113 Berto
Judge 3: 114-113 Berto
Spartan117, Uatu: 115-112 Berto
The winner by unanimous decison... and still WBC welterweight champion... Andre Berto.
Berto gives Collazo praise and says he's a slick, powerful fighter. He says he would be interested in a rematch because thats what the fans want.
Collazo says he knew that Berto would be a great fighter and he would be happy to do it again. Collazo didn't sound like he was too angry about the decision and showed good sportsmanship.
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15 comments:
how in the world did lederman give round 7 to collazo!? He intentionally was not punching.
lederman is an old idiot
that makes his entire scorecard bogus
Here comes Andre. The haters will have to give him some props if he finishes Collazo...
big comeback by collazo in round 9
Yep, spoke too soon...
You guys have the rounds 5-4 Berto with one even, so this is going to be interesting...
indeed. clearly the fight is up in the air. except on lederman's card.
how does lederman have it?
he had collazo up 97-92 at one point. so collazo had it already pretty much by then.
115-112 collazo 7-5 for harold
tx let me know whose anounced as the winner when it happens.
berto 114-113, 114-113, 116-111.
pretty much right on except that 116-111
Looks like you two scored it closer to the real judges than Lederman... not that that's a shocker!
good fight, I believe giving Berto the decision was correct. Collazo just came up a little short in being consistently busy throughout the entire fight. Collazo did impress me though, especially with his infighting. I would welcome Collazo back against a mid to top level guy or against a top guy under the right circumstances.
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