Andre Berto vs. Devon Alexander averaged 941,000 viewers on Fox

Boxingnews24.com

By Allan Fox

Andre Berto vs. Devon Alexander’s fight last Saturday night brought in excellent ratings on Premier Boxing Champions on Fox in averaging a whopping 941,000 viewers on Fox for their fight at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. These are good ratings for two fighters that are no longer among the best in the division.

The high ratings for the Berto-Alexander card showed that a lot of boxing fans still remember the two fighters from many years ago when they were among the top fighters at 140 and 147. Both fighters have been on the slide since 2011, and neither of them is considered a threat to any of the world champions at welterweight. They are, however, still good gatekeeper level contenders at 147. If IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr’s last two opponents Carlos Ocampo and Lamont Peterson had to go through Alexander or Berto to get a shot against him, it would have been a little more interesting. I’m not sure that Ocampo and Peterson would have made it past the likes of Berto and Alexander, which goes to show you the flawed ranking system that some of the sanctioning bodies have.

Berto (32-5, 24 KOs) defeated the 31-year-old former two division world champion Alexander by a 12 round split decision by the scores 115-112, 115-112 for Berto, and 114-113 for Alexander. Berto was knocked down in the third round by Alexander. In the second half of the bout, Alexander faded badly and was outworked by the older 34-year-old Berto. In Alexander’s previous fight against Victor Ortiz, he gassed out in the same way in losing energy in the last six rounds and having to be satisfied with a 12 round draw. Many boxing fans were of the mind that Ortiz deserved the victory with the way that he rallied in the second half and dominated the action.

Berto’s win over Alexander puts him in the running for a world title shot against one of the world champions a 147. The World Boxing Council welterweight title is currently vacant. Shawn Porter and Danny Garcia will be fighting for the vacant WBC belt on September 8. IBF champion Spence would like to face the winner of that fight in a unification match, but it’s unclear whether he’ll get that chance. If Garcia emerges victorious in the bout, he’ll likely resort to his old habit of taking a soft fight. Garcia likes to take between three to six easy fights after taking a tough one. Since his last hard fight was last year against Keith Thurman, Garcia will almost surely take an easy one if he gets past Porter in September. In that case, Berto could be an option for Garcia.

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