Mayweather vs. Berto 2015: Final Odds and Pick for Championship Superfight

Fight night between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Andre Berto has arrived, and the divisive showdown between the undefeated pound-for-pound champion and a former heavy-hitting wunderkind is ready to take center stage at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. 

Mayweather enters Saturday's fight a massive 1-30 favorite (-3000), according to Odds Shark, and for good reason. Following his defeat of Manny Pacquiao, Money is 48-0 lifetime with a chance to meet boxing legend Rocky Marciano on the 49-0 plateau with a victory over Berto.

The question is, can Berto snap out of his recent funk and assume vintage form as he attempts to put a charge into Mayweather?

At this stage, it appears highly unlikely.

Berto responded to back-to-back losses against Robert Guerrero and Jesus Soto Karass with a unanimous-decision win over Steve Upsher Chambers and a six-round TKO victory over Josesito Lopez, but those results haven't inspired enough confidence that he can implement an effective scheme against a tactical wizard like Mayweather.

Unlike his opponent, Berto is renowned as a power puncher, with 70 percent of his career victories coming via knockouts, according to BoxRec.

As HBO Boxing profiled four years ago, he could deal devastating blows with his powerful right hand when he was still undefeated:

However, a 2011 loss to Victor Ortiz was the beginning of a downward spiral that resulted in three losses in the span of four bouts.

And while he's started climbing out of that hole over the past 12 months, there simply isn't enough working in the 32-year-old's favor to believe he can realistically challenge Mayweather.

"We know Berto is coming in looking to knock Floyd's head off," Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe said, according to ESPN.com's Dan Rafael. "Floyd just has to be prepared. We know Berto is very motivated. He's had ups and downs in his career, but he has been able to bounce back and show the fans he's never in a dull fight. Berto is coming with the mentality of 'I'm gonna get him or he's gonna get me.'" 

Berto may provide a highlight or two, but to consider him an opponent worthy of Mayweather's arsenal would be a mistake given recent results. 

"He has tremendous hand and foot speed, and his boxing IQ—the ability to outthink, outmaneuver and adjust to his opponents—is off the charts," Bleacher Report's Kevin McRae wrote of Mayweather. 

Ultimately, those attributes will make Mayweather too elusive for Berto. Difference-making punches figure to be few and far between for the underdog, and Mayweather's ability to counter with flurries of quick strikes will allow him to build a sizable advantage. 

Isaac Brekken/Associated Press

"Mayweather sports one of the best counter right hands in the history of boxing," the Wall Street Journal's Gordon Marino wrote. "Poke at him with a left and he will pull away, load up his power on his back leg and crack a right that will give any fighter pause about punching."

So while Berto will undoubtedly be looking to deal a knockout blow to Mayweather, expect the champ to be quick on his feet, careful in his blocking schemes and lethal on counterpunching opportunities as a way to exploit Berto's desperation.  

In a fight that should wind up being an aesthetic contrast between Berto's power and Mayweather's speed, the latter should have no problem warding off some of his opponent's aggressive offerings in order to keep his undefeated record in tact.  

Pick: Floyd Mayweather def. Andre Berto by unanimous decision