ZAVECK-BERTO IBF WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
New York, NY – This Saturday night Andre Berto attempts to regain a piece of the welterweight crown when he takes on reigning IBF Welterweight Champion, Jan Zaveck, at the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi, MS. Of all the people in attendance and even more watching at home, there will be no one observing the action more closely then two-time world champion, Randall Bailey.
Bailey, who is considered by many to be one of the hardest punchers in all of boxing, as witnessed by his 37 stoppages in 41 victories, will be seeing action on the undercard against Florida’s Yoryi Estrella. Bailey has been the mandatory to Zaveck for sometime now and could have taken the fight with Zaveck, but instead he chose to step aside and allow the fight between Zaveck and Berto to take place first. Whoever pulls out the victory Saturday night, Bailey will be next in line for a crack at the title.
“This fight would not have happened if Randall Bailey didn’t allow it to happen,” stated Lou DiBella, President of DiBella Entertainment, promoter of Saturday night’s HBO show, as well as the promoter for Berto and Bailey. “He was the legitimate mandatory. The reason Bailey let it happen was because he’s a smart guy, he’s been around the fight game a long time, and he understands that he’s got to feed his family. He understands that this fight was saleable to HBO because of all of Berto’s TV exposure, where his fight against Zaveck would have taken place in Europe and no one would have seen it. Bailey will make a lot more money as a result of that decision in his next fight. He did the right thing because these are the two best available welterweights in the world and because it is a fight that HBO is covering. That’s why Bailey stepped aside and that’s why the fight is happening.”
“I’ll be watching the fight very closely Saturday,” stated Bailey. “It doesn’t matter to me who wins because I will be ready for either of them in the next fight. I wish them both luck on Saturday night, because regardless of who wins the belt, they won’t own it for much longer.”
Battle in Biloxi: Berto vs. Zaveck is presented by DiBella Entertainment in association with SES Boxing and sponsored by AZAD watches, The Underground Clown, and HBO PPV: Mayweather vs. Ortiz. The show will be aired live on HBO’s Boxing After Dark