HBO World Championship Boxing Recap

September 27, 2008

Home Depot Center-Carson, California

1. WBC Welterweight (147 pounds) 12-Round Championship Match:

Andre Berto (22-0, 19 KO's, 145.5 pounds) (c) vs. Steve Forbes (33-6, 9 KO's, 147 pounds)

Berto won this title when it was vacant in his last match via technical knockout at 2:13 of round 7 over Mikki Rodriguez on June 21, 2008 at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee. Rodriguez had never been knocked out in his career prior to that match. However, Berto had such an easy time with Rodriguez, that the son of pro wrestler Dieusuel Berto was smiling throughout rounds 4 through 7. The original recap of that match can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2008/9/28/recap-of-andre-bertos-title-win.html

This is Berto's first defense of this title. The title was previously held by Floyd Mayweather, Jr., who vacated the title to "retire".

Berto was an outstanding amateur boxer. He suffered a controversial disqualification in his attempt to make the 2004 United States Olympic team. However, since his parents were from Haiti he used a loophole in the rules to be the only boxer to represent Haiti at the 2004 Athens Olympiad. That was despite the fact he had never been to Haiti, before being named one of their Olympians.

Dieusuel was Andre's first boxing trainer and did not train Andre like most amateur boxers are trained. Andre's early training is more reminiscent of the way young pro wrestlers are taught the business by locker room veterans. Rather then just throwing jabs over and over to learn his fundamentals, Dieusuel placed a heavy emphasis on conditioning. If Andre misbehaved at school he had to get up early and do 500 squats and 500 push ups. (A WWE Superstar did a similar thing to Daivari for disrespecting Shawn Michaels.) At 8-years-old, Andre showed up to his first amateur match with ring gear. He came out to the ring wearing the colors of the Haitian flag and trunks with his name on them.

Berto is The Ring magazine's number 10 contender at 147 pounds to their vacant championship in the weight class.

Forbes is a former titlist at 130 pounds. However, he was best known for being the runner up on the "Contender Season 2" reality series. However, Forbes is now most well known for being the opponent Oscar De La Hoya pummeled last May.

The challenger is coming off the loss to De La Hoya on May 3, 2008 at the Home Depot Center. Forbes was dominated in the match losing every round on many observers scorecards. However, that loss earned him enough name recognition to get this title shot. The original recap of that match can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2008/9/28/recap-of-oscar-de-la-hoya-vs-steve-forbes.html 

Forbes is unranked by The Ring, and the number 41 ranked boxer in the world at 147 pounds by boxrec.com

At 25-years-old, Berto is 6 years younger then 31-year-old Forbes. Berto holds the height advantage standing 5' 8.5" tall, while Forbes stands 5' 7.5" tall. The challenger has the reach advantage with an arm length of 22.5" measured from the armpit to the end of the fist, compared to the 22" arm length of Berto. Forbes will be the larger boxer in the ring having unofficially weighed-in before the match at 158 pounds. Berto unofficially weighed in at 153.5 pounds approaching time. Both boxers will employ the orthodox stance.

California's version modified version of the unified rules of boxing are in effect for this event. Two of the official judges keeping score of this match from ringside are from the United States and the other is from Japan. The referee is Dr. James Jen Kin-Ca. Harold Lederman will keep unofficial score of this event for HBO.

Forbes landed a few clean punches at the end of round 1 to steal the round from Berto, 10-9. Berto uses his superior hand speed to win round 1 on Lederman's scorecard, 10-9. Very good round 2 for Forbes, who wins it, 10-9. Lederman scores round 2 for Forbes, 10-9. Berto wins round 3 easily, 10-9. The champion boxed round 3 very aggressively and with a sense of urgency. Berto's corner told the champion he had lost round 2, and Berto seemed to think for the first time as a pro he was behind in a match. The Winterhaven, Florida resident was working at a frenzied pace that it is unlikely he can maintain. Forbes has never been knocked out, let alone down as a pro, amateur or in a sparring session. This match is going 12 rounds and Berto will need to be able to have the energy to go the distance. After 3 rounds, Forbes leads on my scorecards, 29-28. Lederman scores round 3 for Berto, 10-9, and has the champion ahead after 3 rounds, 29-28. Sometime in round 3, Forbes was cut above his left eye. The referee is ruling the cut was caused by an accidental clash of heads. The cut is not above the eye or bleeding much. Jacob "Stitch" Duran is working Forbes' corner. Therefore, the cut should play no factor in this match. Berto was notified that the referee has ruled that the cut was caused by a clash of heads and became very upset in his corner between rounds. The champion believes the cut was caused by a punch. Berto's corner seems to be playing the part of psychologist in this match more then strategist. They had to get the champion to concentrate on round 3 and not round 2 that he lost. Now, they have to get him refocused on the match, after he is getting upset in the corner over a referee's ruling.

Berto dominates round 4 and wins it on Lederman and my scorecard, 10-9. On replay, it appears Berto was right. It appears to have been a left hand from Berto that opened up the cut on Forbes, not a headbutt. It appears losing round 2 and the bad call by the referee made Berto box wit more intensity, rather then lose focus. Berto lands several flashy effective combos to win round 5, 10-9. Lederman scores round 5 for Berto, 10-9. The champion wins round 6, 10-9. Berto leads on my scorecard after 6 rounds, 58-56. The Winterhaven, Florida resident has historically been very flawed defensively. However, tonight his defense has been stellar. He is blocking and slipping punches at an elite level. Lederman scores round 6 for Berto, 10-9, and has the champion ahead in the match after 6 rounds, 59-55.

The champion shows more speed and power then Forbes can deal with in winning round 7 on Lederman and my scorecard, 10-9. With 1:50 to go in round 8, Berto caught Forbes so cleanly with a right uppercut that it knocked the challenger's mouthpiece out and sent it flying about 10' in the air to the other side of the ring. Yet, after Forbes has taken numerous shots like that, which have had the crowd going "Ohhh" and "Ahhh" all night long the challenger appears in no danger of being stopped. With 1:29 to go in the round, the referee halts the action to let Forbes get his mouthpiece put back in his mouth. After about a 15 second pause the action is resumed. Berto wins round 8, 10-9. Lederman scores round 8 for Berto, 10-9. The champion easily wins round 9, 10-9. Berto is ahead on my scorecard after 9 rounds, 88-83. The Winterhaven, Florida resident is ahead on Lederman's scorecard after 9 rounds, 89-82.

Berto cruises to easily win round 10 on Lederman and my scorecard, 10-9. Despite the fact Berto is smaller then Forbes, he has appeared to be the bigger stronger boxer in the ring. Forbes appears to have reverted to the form he did in the latter rounds against De La Hoya. It appears Forbes is no longer trying his best to win. Forbes is acting like a sparring partner that is there to last out the match and only put up token resistance. Berto is boxing with the same speed and aggression he had in round 4. The champion appears in no danger of running out of gas using Forbes for a human punching bag. Round 11 was the best round of the match for Forbes, since round 2. That means Forbes landed 2 good punches, when Berto forgot Forbes was allowed to punch, too. However, Berto still won round 11, 10-9. The 2 clean punches are good enough for Forbes to win round 11 on Lederman's scorecard, 10-9. Berto wins round 12 easily on Lederman and my scorecard, 10-9. We both have Berto winning the match, 118-110. Dieusuel's work with Andre showed in this match. Andre looks as fresh at the end of this match as he did at the beginning. The champion probably has the stamina to go another 12 rounds with Forbes.

The official decision from the legendary Michael Buffer is that the judges have scored this match: 118-109, 118-109, 116-111, all for the winner by unanimous decision, still undefeated, and still the WBC Welterweight Champion of the World, Andre Berto. All of the judges gave Berto a 10-8 round and it is baffling what round that could be. The 116 score is possible, if rounds 1, 2, 4, and 11 were all scored for Forbes, which is charitable, but defensible. The win moves Berto to 23-0 with 19 of those wins coming by way of knockout.

The final punchstat numbers have Berto landing 147 of the 619 total punches he threw, for a 24% total connect percentage. Berto landed 115 of the 382 power punches he threw for a 30% power connect percentage. Forbes landed 105 of the 607 total punches he threw, for a 17% total connect percentage. The vanquished challenger landed 76 of the 351 power punches he threw, for a 22% power connect percentage.

Berto was great in this match. The final punchstat numbers did not show him to be nearly as dominant beating Forbes as De La Hoya. However, in reality Berto was only a step behind De La Hoya in his domination of Forbes. Berto's next match is a mandatory title defense against Luis Collazo. That match will probably happen in January.

Forbes was good for the early part of this match, before he was overwhelmed by a young champion on the rise. The Las Vegas resident said before the match that he was going to retire if he lost. That is unlikely to last, nor should it. Forbes' defensive prowess has kept him out of the brutal matches that should send most boxers into early retirement. He can probably continue to be paid well and potentially win in matches designed to test the progress of young boxers. Berto is a small 147-pounder and physically dominated Forbes all night. Forbes would be best off continuing his "gate keeper" role at 140 pounds. He is still a good boxer. However, he is not a championship caliber boxer. That does not mean there is no place for him in the sport.

2.  WBA Inter-Continental Super Welterweight (154 pounds) 12-Round Match:

Shane Mosley (44-5, 1 NC, 37 KO's, 153.5 pounds) vs. Ricardo Mayorga (29-6-1, 1 NC, 23 KO's, 153.5 pounds)

This title is currently vacant. It was last held by Alex Bunema. He has left this strip of leather behind to go after a relatively more meaningful trinket.

Mosley had an outstanding amateur career. He won over 250 amateur matches and the 1992 United States Amateur Championships at 139 pounds. However, he lost in the Olympic qualifying tournament that year to Vernon Forrest, which denied him a trip to the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympic Games.

Mosley is coming off the longest layoff of his career, because a scheduled May 31 pay-per-view match with Zab Judah fell through. A few weeks before the match, Judah slipped in the bathroom of his Las Vegas, Nevada hotel and put his right arm through the shower door. The lacerations on Judah's arms required 50 stitches to close. Therefore, the match between Mosley and Judah was delayed until Judah was going to be healthy enough to compete. However, without notifying Mosley, Judah took another match with Joshua Clottey. That left Mosley without an opponent and out of action for months.

The Pomona, California resident's last match was an exciting 12-round unanimous decision loss to Miguel Cotto on November 10, 2007 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The match was historic, because it was the first 12-round match ever scored by CompuBox, where both boxers connected on the same number of total punches. The original recap of that match can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2008/7/26/recap-of-cotto-vs-shane-mosley.html

Mosley is The Ring's number 4 contender at 147 pounds.

Mayorga had a good amateur boxing career winning a National Amateur Championship in his native Nicaragua.

Whereas, Mosley is a health and fitness fanatic who has gone so far as to take EPO injections from BALCO to increase the oxygen levels in his blood, Mayorga is a natural athlete that works to decrease the oxygen levels in his blood. Mayorga can smoke up to 3 packs of cigarettes a day (that is 60 cigarettes) and continues to drink beer while training. He says he has given up those habits during his training camp for this match, because his mother asked him to do it. However, it is very hard to quit a 60 cigarette a day habit cold turkey. Therefore, calling shenanigans here would be fair. Especially, since there was a story on his smoking habit in Friday's Wall Street Journal with a picture of him smoking. Amazingly, following this rigorous training routine he once missed weight for a match at 147 pounds by 6 pounds. He was given the usual 2 hours to try and drop some weight to allow for a catch weight match. However, he could not lose anymore weight. Therefore, after being the top boxer in the world at 147 in 2003, Mayorga was forced to move up to 154 pounds in April of 2004.

However, Mayorga has continued to struggle to make weight at 154 pounds. He was fined $100,000 for using an illegal diuretic to get down to 153 pounds for his May 6, 2005 match with Oscar De La Hoya. (Mayorga looked bad in that match and lost by technical knockout in round 6.) In this match, he was seen doing a full late night sparring session 4 days before the match. However on Friday he rushed to the salad bar before the weigh-ins, indicating he cut far too much weight on accident. Additionally, after weigh-ins he has put on 17 pounds in under 24 hours. Mayorga may have magically mastered an inhuman ability to cut weight or something is funny and will show up in the post fight drug test. The man with the infamous lifestyle does not look like a trim 170-pounder. This is a situation that should be tracked in the upcoming weeks.

The resident of Managua, Nicaragua's last match was a 12-round majority decision over Fernando Vargas on November 23, 2007 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

Mayorga is unranked by The Ring, and the number 28 ranked boxer in the world at 154 pounds by boxrec.com. 

At 34 or 35-years-old, Mayorga is 2 or 3 years younger then the 37-year-old Mosley. Both boxers stand 5' 9" tall. Mosley has the reach advantage with a 25" arm length, while Mayorga has 24.5" arm length. Mayorga's beer gut will make him the heavier boxer in the ring as he has unofficially rehydrated to 170 pounds since the weigh-ins. Mosley has unofficially rehydrated since the weigh-ins to 160.5 pounds. Both boxers will employ the orthodox stance. The MGM Grand has Mosley a 9-to-1 favorite in this match.

Two of the official judges keeping score of this match from ringside are from California and the other if from Puerto Rico. The referee is David Mendoza.

Mayorga wins an exciting round 1 behind his winging right hand power shots, 10-9. Lederman scores round 1 for Mayorga, 10-9. Mayorga appears huge in the ring next to Mosley. The Nicaraguan's aggression probably wins a very close round 2, 10-9. Mayorga wins round 2 on Lederman's scorecard, 10-9. Using a bullying style, Mayorga wins round 3, 10-9. After 3 rounds, Mayorga leads my scorecard, 30-27. Lederman scores round 3 for Mosley, 10-9, but has Mayorga ahead in the match after 3 rounds, 29-28. Mosley's plan was to make Mayorga back up in this match, using short punches to beat Mayorga's looping punches. However, Mayorga has been able to rush in at will against Mosley, and has kept Mosley completely off balance. Mayorga is beating Mosley to the punch and pushing the Golden Boy Promotions executive around the ring at will.

Mosley wins round 4, 10-9. According to CompuBox, Mosley greatly out-landed Mayorga in round 4. However, the round appeared much closer. Lederman scores round 4 for Mosley, 10-9. Mosley easily wins round 5, 10-9. Mayorga is starting to really slow down. He is not coming forward much anymore. Mosley is now backing Mayorga up as he had planned to do, it just took a few more rounds to do then people expected. The Pomona, California resident wins round 5 on Lederman's scorecard, 10-9. Mosley beat on Mayorga in round 6, like the Nicaraguan insulted his wife. Oh, wait... Mayorga did insult Mosley's wife. Mosley who does not possess a lot of power at 154 pounds teed off on Mayorga with repeated seemingly free shots. This was not the situation as in the past where Mayorga stuck out his chin and allowed his opponent to hit him. Instead, Mayorga stood flat-footed in front of Mosley and Mayorga's porous defense allowed the 3-division champion to land repeated right hands and combinations. The fact Mayorga takes a punch so well that he was never in trouble keeps that drubbing from being a 10-8 round. Mosley wins round 6 on everyone in the buildings' scorecard, 10-9. After 6 rounds, my scorecard has the match temporarily even, 57-57. Lederman has Mosley ahead in the match after 6 rounds, 58-56. In round 6, Mosley landed 25 out of the 43 total punches he threw, which is good for a total connect percentage above 55%.

Mosley punishes Mayorga with more straight right hands to take round 7, 10-9. The Pomona, California resident takes round 7 on Lederman's scorecard, 10-9. Mayorga has become a stationary target that is not putting up any defense against Mosley. Mosley does nothing in round 8. Mayorga does not land any clean punches in round 8, but his aggression wins the round, 10-9. After round 8, Mayorga stuck his glove up in the air in celebration of winning the round and was heartily booed by the crowd. Then before round 9 started, Mayorga got off his stool stuck both gloves in the air, then flexed at the crowd. That is a heel who knows why they are there. Lederman scores round 8 for Mayorga, 10-9. Close round 9 that Mosley wins, 10-9. After 9 rounds, Mosley leads on my scorecard, 86-85. Lederman scores round 9 for Mosley, 10-9, and has him ahead in the match after 9 rounds, 87-84.

With 6 seconds to go in round 10, Mayorga throws Mosley to the ground out of a clinch. The referee correctly rules it a slip, and the action resumes with only a few seconds to go in the round. Mosley takes round 10, 10-9. Lederman scores round 10 for Mosley, 10-9. Mosley wins round 11 on Lederman and my scorecard, 10-9. With 17 seconds to go in round 12, Mosley delivers a combination that he finishes with a left hand to a dazed Mayorga and the native of Managua, Nicaragua drops to all four's on the canvas. Mayorga successfully answers the referee's count to continue, and with 5 seconds to go in the match the action is resumed. It only takes one more punch. A left hook from Mosley, is the only punch thrown when the match is restarted and it puts Mayorga flat on his back on the mat. Just before the final bell rings to end the match, the referee waves off the match making Mosley the winner by technical knockout at 2:59 of round 12. Mayorga never appeared in danger of being stopped the entire match until the last minute. Then Mosley poured on the offense and finished with a flourish. This finish caused Larry Merchant, who was doing color commentary of this event for HBO, to exclaim, "Shane Mosley, I love you!" That should be the knockout of the year.

The official outcome from Michael Buffer is that: at 2:59 of round 12 the winner by knockout (this may be changed to a technical knockout), and new WBA Inter-Continental Champion, "Sugar" Shane Mosley. The win moves Mosley to 45-5 with now 38 wins coming by way of knockout and 1 no contest. This was Mosley's first match in the Los Angeles, California region in 8 years and his first knockout win in over 2 years. At the end he had his hometown crowd chanting his name. This match was ugly and boring at times. However, Mosley sent the fans home happy with a great dramatic moment.

The final punchstat numbers show Mosley's domination. He landed 144 of the 397 total punches he threw, for a 36% total connect percentage. Mosley landed 99 of the 214 power punches he threw, for a 46% power connect percentage. Mayorga landed 73 of the 588 total punches he threw, for a very poor 12% total connect percentage. The knockout victim landed 68 of the 429 power punches he threw, for a 16% power connect percentage.

Mosley in his post match interview said because of his need to get another match soon, that he will probably not be able to face either Cotto or Antonio Margarito (who is in the audience) next. When asked about facing Berto, Mosley was non-committal. That should be interpreted as the polite way of saying, "No".

Surprisingly, 1 of the judges had Mayorga ahead by a point entering round 12. Regardless of that, Mosley was very good in this match. Mayorga's unorthodox style and diminished skills make it hard to know how Mosley's win here will translate to other opponents. Mosley seems very small at 154 pounds and much better suited to 147 pounds. If Mosley wants a good paying match at 147 pounds, there is only 1 opponent that will be available soon, Paul Williams. Williams is likely to beat a soft opponent at the end of November and could be ready for a PPV date in February. With Margarito and Cotto out of the picture and Father Time looming, Mosley seems much more interested in facing Williams then he did a few months ago.

Mayorga does not belong at 154 pounds. His lifestyle at this point seems to make him almost a better fit for 168 pounds. However, Mayorga can probably only be competitive at 160 pounds. With his promo skills and strong showing here Mayorga could be in the immediate running for a shot at Kelly Pavlik. There are no name opponents for Pavlik at 160 pounds and Mayorga is a much marketable opponent then John Duddy. That could also be a very entertaining match to watch. Mayorga can blame the loss here on the extreme weight cut and go on his way competing at the higher weight classes like his fading in this match never happened.

 

There were parts of this event that were very good and other parts that were plain boring. This is a recommended watch, but knowing that there are going to be some lulls in the action.

News and Notes: This may be the first time on a television broadcast that Andre Berto was competing on that Dieusuel Berto was identified as a professional wrestler in the Florida territory. Previously he had always been identified as a mixed martial artist/kick boxer. HBO even showed photos of Dieusuel in his gear and video of him in the ring. There was even a clip of what appeared to be Dieusuel winning a match in the 1980's via submission with the D'Arce choke. (Dieusuel is still huge and in fantastic shape. It would be great to see a match between him and Tony Atlas.)

David Haye finally has an opponent for his long delayed debut at heavyweight. Haye will face Monte Barrett on November 15 at the O2 Arena in London, England. The match will not be televised in the United States. Instead HBO is offering a relatively loaded show headlined by Jermaine Taylor vs. Jeff Lacy, that they did not know going in was running opposite Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Couture.

The Taylor-Lacy match is going to determine a mandatory challenger to a belt at 168-pounds that has been vacated by Joe Calzaghe. The new champion is going to be decided by a match between Carl Froch and Jean Pascal. That match will take place December 6 in Nottingham, England and since it is the same day as the Oscar De La Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao PPV will not be broadcast in the United States. Opposite any other event Showtime probably would have broadcast that match.

Kermit Cintron has signed to make his return to the ring following his second devastating knockout loss to Margarito in April. He will return to the ring on that November 15 HBO show against Lovemore N'dou. N'dou is moving up from 140 pounds to compete at 147 pounds, following his second loss to Paulie Malignaggi in May. The winner of the Cintron-N'dou match will become the mandatory challenger to the 147-pound belt that Joshua Clottey currently wears.

The next recap will come out in the neighborhood of October 5 covering the October 4 HBO event an interim title match at 154 pounds.