Lem's latest: Ortiz tried to break Mayweather's nose with head butts - Next

ANDRE BERTO IMPLIES THAT ORTIZ LAID DOWN AGAINST MAYWEATHER

Ortiz was fighting Mayweather in defense of the belt he had won from Andre Berto   (28-1, 22 KOs) by unanimous decision in April. Berto rebounded from the loss to Ortiz by dethroning Jan Zaveck as IBF welterweight titleholder by fifth-round knockout in September, stopping Zaveck for the first time in Zaveck's career.

Ortiz will face Berto in a Showtime-televised rematch on Feb. 11 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Berto recently said he did not believe that Ortiz was hurt so badly against Mayweather that he could not rise from the canvas.

Instead, Berto believes that Ortiz laid down against Mayweather, particularly in light of the fact that Ortiz rose from two knockdowns during their initial clash.

"I just don't know if that shot was as hard as the one that I hit him with, that's what I'm saying. Either he looked up and was thinking about life and said, 'You know, I don't think that I want to do this,' and just stayed down, or I don't know. I got so many phone calls," said Berto.

"It’s just like I’ve never in my life seen somebody so happy to get knocked out. Never. They stopped the fight and he’s up smiling, hugging, kissing everybody around him. I mean, you know, walking back to the dressing room laughing, smiling. At his after-party, posing up and stuff?"

What of the way that the fight with Mayweather finished?

"It's so crazy how he came up with those headbutts. As soon as Floyd cracked him, I was like, 'okay, that's what he gets,'" said Berto. "Ortiz just did a whole lot of hugging and kissing and got knocked out. He wanted to get some extra love and got embarrassed."

BERTO SAYS THE BELTS DON'T MATTER: 'RIGHT NOW, IT'S THE FIGHT'

Berto yielded the IBF belt in order to set up the return bout with Ortiz, leaving Philadelphia welterweight Mike Jones and Miami's Randall Bailey  to fight for the vacated belt.

"Now, it's like, I went through this loss, I came back, I won another title. But now, nothing else matters. I don't care what people say. I just want to go in there and fight. I gave the title up just to have this fight. I don't care about anything else. I just want to go in there and do what I got to do," said Berto. 

"Right now, it's the fight. That's it. I could have gone another rout. I could have defended the world title. I could have continued defending that world title and doing some other things. But at the end of the day, you've got to remember why you got into this game, and that's to be in exciting fights. That legacy. Our fight was part of it, so, it's pretty much, 'let's do it again.'"

Photo by Tom Hogan, Hogan Photos, Golden Boy Promotions

Photos by Phil McCarten, Hogan Photos, Golden Boy Promotions

Lem Satterfield can be reached at lemuel.satterfield@gmail.com