High Risk, Low Reward: Big Fights Elude Paul Williams and Andre Berto

Two of the top American boxers under 30 should be entering the prime of their careers, the time when they’re getting the biggest fights and turning into bona fide superstars.

Instead, Paul Williams and Andre Berto find themselves passengers on the same boat. Though both men are hunting bouts with the top names in the sport, Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, neither is likely to have much luck getting the two best pound-for-pound boxers in the world to give them serious consideration as potential opponents.

It’s not because they aren’t exciting to watch. Williams (39-1 with 27 KOs) is a punch-throwing machine who regularly approaches or tops 100 attempts per round. Berto (26-0, 20 KOs) has a more conventional style, but he has blazing hand speed and enters the ring on fight night looking like he is carved out of granite.

On top of that, both men have just enough holes on defense to ensure that their foes can get to them at times, which actually adds to the entertainment value of their fights. Anyone who watched Williams’ thrilling majority decision over Sergio Martinez last December or Berto’s slugfest with Luis Collazo early in 2009 can attest to the fact that these guys can certainly be involved in barnburners.

So what’s the problem? It’s simple, actually: money talks, and Williams and Berto don’t bring enough of it to the table.

As Mayweather knows from the days before he created his “Money” persona, it isn’t enough in the current boxing environment to be a talented young fighter. You have to learn to self-promote and discover the magical “it” factor that draws people in, something that so far has eluded both men.

The numbers bear this out. Williams-Martinez had to be held in the much smaller upstairs room at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall because there was no way enough tickets would be sold to warrant it taking place in the main arena. Berto’s most recent fight with Carlos Quintana reportedly had less than 1,000 paying customers even though it was held close to his home in Florida.

With that in mind, it simply isn’t worth it for Floyd or Manny, both of whom are nearing the ends of their careers. That’s especially true when you consider that Williams is a tall, angular nightmare of a match-up, while Berto is a fast, strong puncher who rarely seems to tire.

It doesn’t mean that Mayweather or Pacquiao are ducking the young bucks, just that the risk-reward ratio of making such fights doesn’t come close to working out properly. As fans, we tend to think of potential bouts in idealized terms, but in real life, the financial aspect of matchmaking can’t be ignored.

Ironically, both Williams and Berto just missed out on fights within the past year that would have given their profiles a boost. Paul had two different dates lined up with Kelly Pavlik before The Ghost’s continuing health problems scuttled them, and Andre would have fought Shane Mosley a few months ago had the Haitian earthquake not demanded his time and attention.

The good news is that there’s still time for Williams and Berto to develop into the next wave of must-see stars. Williams just turned 28 at the beginning of this year, which is just about the same age that Mayweather and Pacquiao truly began to accelerate toward superstardom. At 26, Berto has even more leeway.

So while the big paydays for both men aren’t going to come as fast as they’d like, they need to keep winning the best alternative fights they can find and possibly find a few more ways to let the sporting public get to know them better.

And who knows? Maybe five years from now, Williams and Berto will be the Mayweather and Pacquiao of the next wave of boxing stars.

Nick Tylwalk is the editor and co-founder of BoxingWatchers.com . Follow his Twitter feed @Nick_Tylwalk or the site's feed @boxing_watchers .