My opinion, which counts for very little, is that Berto is a fighter that hasn't earned the right to be showcased as much as he is on HBO, to take it further, I don't believe beating Victor Ortiz is taking a big step up. That's the reason he gets flack. If he were fighting these opponents on Showtime or ESPN, no one would say anything bad about him. Berto isn't even calling out the big names. He shares a promoter, Al Hayman, with Floyd Mayweather and Paul Williams, two of the biggest names at or around his weight class, and Berto hasn't called them out once.
Another example of this phenomenon is Saul Alvarez. Saul was showcased on HBO in a fight against Matthew Hatton. Alvarez is at the bottom of the top ten and Hatton isn't in the top ten, yet, somehow they headline a HBO night of boxing. Now, if that fight were on Showtime or ESPN or an independent ppv, I wouldn't have any gripe with it. It's on HBO because he has a powerful promoter, but on paper it wasn't a competitive fight, like Berto's last fight.
You bring up Martinez and you are right Martinez is a good example of a fighter who is on HBO, but who HBO forced to face tough competition.
Pac is fighting Shane. Now, I myself don't have a problem with this fight because if Pac beats Shane he effectively has cleaned out the entire welterweight division. Floyd has fought at welterweight for two more years than Pac and he hasn't faced a third of those top guys. I also didn't have a problem with Floyd facing Shane. Shane may be passed it, but he still is a top five fighter at 147. I am intrigued to see how Pac's performance compares with Floyd's too. Do I believe Pac will win? Yes, but I don't believe it'll be as easy as everyone says it is. To go back to your point, the difference also with Pac is that he has faced top, top competition over his career. Berto has faced Collazo and Quintana, but somehow he is already getting gimme fights.
Haye didn't do too much at cruiserweight and hasn't done all that much at heavyweight, but Haye hasn't been showcased on HBO like Berto has. In addition, Haye is getting in the ring with the current heavyweight champion in his next fight.
Khan faced a big puncher in Maidana when it looked like he was avoiding punchers. I give him credit. It was a gutsy choice of opponent. Moreover, it looks like Khan will be facing Bradley if he gets by McCloskey. That's the biggest possible fight at 140.
I want Gamboa and Lopez to fight too. I think that fight has been built up enough. I won't argue with you there.
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