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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 2:13of round7 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 Superstardid 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 withhis 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, hewas 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 atthe 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 headsand 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 Forbesget 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 isacting 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 championappears 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 championprobably has the stamina togo 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 prowesshas 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.