Highlights
–Rather than the fireworks that defined their first meeting five years ago, things started somewhat slow, with Victor Ortiz and Andre Berto feeling each other out. An inadvertent head butt in the final 30 seconds of the first round opened a nasty gash on the top of Ortiz’s forehead.
–With blood trickling down his face, Ortiz scored the bout’s first knockdown, dropping Berto with a straight left hand near the end of Round 2.
–After the knockdown, Ortiz won Round 3 on two of the judges’ scorecards and seemed in control until Berto blasted through his defense with a pinpoint right uppercut midway through the fourth. Ortiz immediately hit the deck, and even though he beat the count, he rose on unsteady feet. Berto attacked with another flurry of punches that put Ortiz down once again, forcing referee Jack Reiss to end the bout.
It took Andre Berto five years to get a second crack at Victor Ortiz, the man who handed him his first professional defeat. Berto would need less than four rounds Saturday night to exact his revenge.
Berto (31-4, 24 KOs) overcame a slow start—including a flash second-round knockdown—to earn a fourth-round stoppage of Ortiz (31-6-2, 24 KOs) in a 147-pound clash at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.
The fight was a rematch of an April 2011 brawl in which each boxer hit the canvas twice, with Ortiz prevailing by unanimous decision to dethrone the unbeaten Berto in what was named the 2011 Fight of the Year.
The rematch of former 147-pound champions got off to a much slower start, with both men feeling each other out for much of the first stanza. The round’s most poignant moment came in the final 30 seconds, when an inadvertent clash of heads opened a nasty gash on top of Ortiz’s forehead.
The cut looked like it could be troublesome for the 29-year-old Kansas native. But with blood trickling down his face, Ortiz scored the bout’s first knockdown, dropping Berto with a straight left hand near the end of Round 2.
Berto sprung to his feet quickly, but Ortiz went on to win the third on two of the judges’ scorecards to seize command of the bout. That’s when the 32-year-old Berto, perhaps sensing he was behind, pushed down on the gas.
Midway through the fourth round, the Winter Haven, Florida, native blasted through Ortiz’s defense with a pinpoint right uppercut. Ortiz immediately hit the canvas, and although he beat referee Jack Reiss’ count, he rose on unsteady feet.
When the fight resumed, Berto unleased a flurry of punches and pinned Ortiz against the ropes, sending him down once more. This time, Ortiz beat the count by a split second, but when Reiss asked him if he wanted to continue, Ortiz didn’t respond. That forced Reiss to wave off the bout at the 1:14 mark.
