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Andre Berto has developed a reputation as the sport's most highly touted prospect. So it was only fitting that the 2004 Olympian stole the show in the non-televised portion of the undercard. Berto was nearly flawless in forcing trialhorse Martinus Clay into submission in the seventh round of their scheduled ten.
Berto's combination of speed and power had the crowd on hand oohing and ahhing nearly every time he let his hands go. Clay seemed to be in awe of Berto's superior skill level, as he spent much of the bout in survival mode.
Though only eighteen fights into his pro career, Berto proved himself to be a true student of the game, never pardoning the body while looking to wear his opponent down. While Clay was covering up in anticipation of Berto's right hands, Andre began gauging his left hook downstairs.
As effective as he was to the body, it was a left hook to the chin that permanently altered the tone of the fight. A crisp, compact shot insde put Clay on his seat early into the sixth round, the bout's lone knockdown. Berto sensed blood and went in for the kill, but Clay was able to use some veteran tricks to survive what had to be the longest two minutes of his fighting life.
Controversy ensued in between rounds, with miscommunication between the ringside physician and referee Clay Huddleston indirectly leading to Clay's demise. With the physician giving Clay a thorough look in between rounds, Clay was supposed to be allotted a full minute rest in between rounds in addition to the examination. Instead, time was never called, and the bell rang to begin round seven while Clay's corner was never given time to brief their fighter.
Nothing notable happened in round seven, but Clay's corner, still furious with the officials, decided their guy wasn't in condition to continue. The towel came in, ending the fight 0:43 into the seventh round.
Berto improves to 18-0 (16KO) with the win, scoring his 14th straight stoppage in the process. Clay is now winless in his last four bouts, but can take comfort in the fact that he extended Berto further than the Olympian has ever been as a pro to date. But moral victories in boxing still count as losses, this one being number 15 for Clay, against 12 wins and two draws.
The greater challenge was coordinating a post-fight meeting between Berto and the press. After being ushered to his locker room for a post-fight drug test, the always approachable Berto agreed to meet with the media. But lack of coordination on the part of HBO prevented such meeting from taking place, with a portion of the press held captive while the HBO camera setup process led to 20 minutes of dead space in an arena in desperate need of resuscitation.
In a night where famous boxing kinship was on full display, undefeated Ronald Hearns (14-0, 11KO) pounded out an eight-round shutout over tough but limited Dennis Sharpe (17-5, 4KO). Official scores were 80-72 across the board.
Hearns dominated all night with jabs and straight rights, though Sharpe was never on the verge of going down. Hearns enjoyed immediate success every time he went downstairs, but didn't commit to the body enough to threaten with a stoppage. Sharpe has now dropped five straight, though can proudly claim to have extended unbeaten middleweight prospects Andy Lee, Buddy McGirt Jr. and now Hearns the distance, and without fighting in survival mode.
Hearns' nine-fight knockout streak ends with the decision win, only the third time Motor City's next generation was denied an early exit.
Berto's combination of speed and power had the crowd on hand oohing and ahhing nearly every time he let his hands go. Clay seemed to be in awe of Berto's superior skill level, as he spent much of the bout in survival mode.
Though only eighteen fights into his pro career, Berto proved himself to be a true student of the game, never pardoning the body while looking to wear his opponent down. While Clay was covering up in anticipation of Berto's right hands, Andre began gauging his left hook downstairs.
As effective as he was to the body, it was a left hook to the chin that permanently altered the tone of the fight. A crisp, compact shot insde put Clay on his seat early into the sixth round, the bout's lone knockdown. Berto sensed blood and went in for the kill, but Clay was able to use some veteran tricks to survive what had to be the longest two minutes of his fighting life.
Controversy ensued in between rounds, with miscommunication between the ringside physician and referee Clay Huddleston indirectly leading to Clay's demise. With the physician giving Clay a thorough look in between rounds, Clay was supposed to be allotted a full minute rest in between rounds in addition to the examination. Instead, time was never called, and the bell rang to begin round seven while Clay's corner was never given time to brief their fighter.
Nothing notable happened in round seven, but Clay's corner, still furious with the officials, decided their guy wasn't in condition to continue. The towel came in, ending the fight 0:43 into the seventh round.
Berto improves to 18-0 (16KO) with the win, scoring his 14th straight stoppage in the process. Clay is now winless in his last four bouts, but can take comfort in the fact that he extended Berto further than the Olympian has ever been as a pro to date. But moral victories in boxing still count as losses, this one being number 15 for Clay, against 12 wins and two draws.
The greater challenge was coordinating a post-fight meeting between Berto and the press. After being ushered to his locker room for a post-fight drug test, the always approachable Berto agreed to meet with the media. But lack of coordination on the part of HBO prevented such meeting from taking place, with a portion of the press held captive while the HBO camera setup process led to 20 minutes of dead space in an arena in desperate need of resuscitation.
In a night where famous boxing kinship was on full display, undefeated Ronald Hearns (14-0, 11KO) pounded out an eight-round shutout over tough but limited Dennis Sharpe (17-5, 4KO). Official scores were 80-72 across the board.
Hearns dominated all night with jabs and straight rights, though Sharpe was never on the verge of going down. Hearns enjoyed immediate success every time he went downstairs, but didn't commit to the body enough to threaten with a stoppage. Sharpe has now dropped five straight, though can proudly claim to have extended unbeaten middleweight prospects Andy Lee, Buddy McGirt Jr. and now Hearns the distance, and without fighting in survival mode.
Hearns' nine-fight knockout streak ends with the decision win, only the third time Motor City's next generation was denied an early exit.
