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© Tom Hogan – Hoganphotos / Golden Boy Promotions
Foxwoods Casino in Mashantucket, CT was the scene of perhaps the best fight this year so far as challenger Victor Ortiz upset champion Andre Berto last night to capture the WBC welterweight title.
Southpaw Ortiz wasted no time in taking the fight to Berto and before the first round was done had produced a knockdown. Although shaken, Berto beat the count and seemed to turn things around in the second when he put Ortiz on the floor.
But Berto couldn’t wrest control of the bout from the determined Ortiz, who proceeded to batter the champion over the next three rounds.
The sixth frame saw fireworks as Berto finally got on track and Ortiz was dropped hard. Again, Ortiz not only got up but amazingly slammed home a hard left that sent Berto down.
By the seventh, the pair were clearly feeling the effects of their furious efforts and the next few frames saw more boxing and less brawling.
Berto got a boost in the tenth when Ortiz lost a point for rabbit punching but the champion didn’t have the stamina to keep up with his rival, who finished the fight strong but could not finish off the exhausted Berto.
After the 12 rounds were completed, Ortiz was declared the winner by margins of 115-110, 114-111 and 114-112.
Ortiz captures the WBC belt at his first bout at welterweight and improves to 29-2-2 (21), while Berto suffers his first career loss, dropping to 27-1 (21).
