Ortiz vs Berto II is in jeopardy due to an arm injury suffered by Andre Berto.
ESPN.com's Dan Rafael reports tonight that Andre Berto has suffered an arm injury in training, and his scheduled February 11 rematch with Victor Ortiz is in jeopardy:
"He had to go the hospital to get it checked out and he is hurt. I know the fight is in jeopardy of not happening on that date. It didn't sound good," one source said.
On whether the fight would be postponed, another source said, "When one of the guys in the fight is in the hospital for an arm injury two weeks before the fight, that is bad news."
Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, who is Ortiz's promoter, told ESPN.com that he had spoken to Al Haymon, Berto's adviser, and that he was at the hospital with Berto. Schaefer said Haymon told him that Berto was undergoing an MRI exam and that the extent of the injury was not known, so no decision could be made yet on the status of the fight.
Obviously, as the sources tell Rafael, it doesn't sound good. This would be a huge blow to the current boxing schedule, as Ortiz vs Berto II is the best fight on the docket right now, and was going to be a chance for Showtime to come with as close to a true "event" fight as there is without pay-per-view.
If Berto is out, the fight could be rescheduled...or, and I'm just speculating here, Floyd Mayweather Jr may have just added an extra option for a May 5 opponent.
We'll have more for you as the story develops, and I wouldn't be surprised if this takes a pretty big turn in the coming days.
0 recs | 7 comments
Essentially, MRIs are used to examine damage to any soft tissue in the body. Therefore if we constrain ourselves to the arm, there are three main types of injuries that are possible. The most likely injury is an elbow or shoulder dislocation. An MRI is used to examine possible tendon or ligament damage resulting from the dislocation. The next type of injury is a potential muscle tear. This type of injury is difficult to diagnose unless the injury is severe, resulting in a popping sound. The final type of injury would be a blood clot.
All of these injuries would take at least of couple of weeks if not months to heal. Just based on the fact that he was rushed to the hospital two weeks before the fight, essentially means that the fight will be pushed back. I’m somewhat surprised that Showtime hasn’t reported this story since I would expect the fight camp 360 crew to be embedded with the Berto camp.
Waldo Rastel - January 30, 2012
So touching…yet also so much information. Awesome comment.
AndrewDM - January 30, 2012
Well i was writing a story on this until scott posted it. So this was essentially from the story.
Waldo Rastel - January 30, 2012
BTW, I was totally being serious (though I did crow-bar a Meet the Parents reference in there). That comment was exactly the kind of info I was looking for on what could have happened.
AndrewDM - January 30, 2012
I appreciate it, thanks!
Waldo Rastel - January 31, 2012
Should've borrowed Ortiz's "Flintstone Vitamins"
TheDreadedMarco - January 30, 2012
Well, this sort of sucks. Means a highly-anticipated rematch is 99% sure to be off (a friend of mine was flying out to Vegas for the fight, too) and also, if your speculation is on target, means potentially a crappier Mayweather fight in May. I’m sure they’re still targeting Cotto or Canelo for the $, but Ortiz isn’t a terrible backup plan given the intrigue of the controversy from the first fight. I just don’t really want to see that fight again right now, not over Cotto or Canelo.
AndrewDM - January 30, 2012
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