In a rematch of their 2011 fight of the year, take a look back at my first Berto-Ortiz prediction to get a sense of which way I’m leaning in 2012.
The year may have changed, by my prediction largely remains the same.
Berto still has the faster hands, better conditioning, better footwork, is slightly harder to hit and may have a slightly better chin.
Ortiz, on the other hand, has faced stiffer competition (add Floyd Mayweather to his solid resume of opponents) and has more power.
What has changed in 2012, is that the rematch will be in the "Ortiz-friendly" city of Las Vegas, Nevada (the fight took place at Foxwoods in Connecticut last year). I have also changed how I perceive both men’s ring generalship as well as size/strength gap.
In terms of the former, it appears that Ortiz is only effective fighting on his front foot while Berto appears to be the better ring general-with the ability to fight going forward or going back. Additionally, it is now very clear to me that Ortiz is the naturally bigger and stronger man.
However, I still believe that Berto has what it takes to defeat Ortiz this time around. He would also be wise to thank Floyd Mayweather for sucker punching, ahem, softening up Ortiz.
