Welterweight News: Andre Berto Has Anemia, Matthew Hatton Wants Amir Khan

Boxing Scene reports that Andre Berto (27-1, 21 KOs) discovered during blood testing and training under world renowned sports nutritionist Victor Conte and sprint coach Remi Korchemny that he is anemic.

Berto revealed so in the following:

"

I did a lot of blood testing, and I found out I was anemic the last two years. Without enough iron in my body carrying the red blood cells and oxygen to your muscles, you get fatigued, and now that I know that, I know what we got to work on to make sure I'm 100 percent.

"

Berto has been working with Conte since suffering his first loss in April to Victor Ortiz (29-2-2, 22 KOs). Berto lost his WBC world welterweight title and aims to bounce back with another title shot on September 3rd against IBF world welterweight titlist Jan Zaveck (31-1, 18 KOs).

Zaveck has gone 6-0 since his last and only defeat almost three years ago, including a revenge victory over Rafal Jackiewicz (38-9-1, 19 KOs), the man who gave Zaveck his only loss.

Zaveck aims to gain world recognition by fighting in America for the first time. Zaveck's reputation—mostly confined to Germany and his home country of Slovenia—has managed to at least reach Berto, who finds him interesting:

"

When I first heard about Zaveck, I heard that he was a tremendous pressure, pressure, pressure fighter. And then I'd watch his tapes, and he kind of was the opposite. He'll try to press a little bit, but then he tries to jump back all of a sudden and start boxing. A lot of his opponents are flat-footed and walk toward him, but this fight will be a little different. We'll see how he deals with that, but I think it's going to be a good fight, and I'm ready to go 12 hard rounds.

"

Matthew Hatton Vs Amir Khan in England?

Boxing Scene also reports that Matthew Hatton (41-5-2, 16 KOs) wants to face Amir Khan (26-1, 18 KOs) in England. The popular junior welterweight plans to move up to welterweight next year and Hatton will be waiting on him.

Hatton had this to say:

"

There is talk of Khan coming up to welterweight, and if I am holding one of the world titles at welterweight, it would be an obvious fight to make. Khan is a fantastic fighter, one of the best pound-for-pound fighters out there. After fighting Alvarez, I am not afraid to fight anyone and I would love to fight Amir Khan. It would be a dream fight for me, certainly a big fight for England.

"

My Two Cents

With Hatton now throwing down the gauntlet for a world welterweight title shot, the arms race for the world titles at welterweight has shown a steady growth in announced contenders.

Kell Brook recently signed on to face Jackiewicz in an WBA eliminator on October 6th to see who will become the mandatory to face WBA world champion Viacheslav Senchenko (31-0, 20 KOs).

Floyd Mayweather (41-0, 25 KOs) faces Victor Ortiz for the WBC world championship September 17th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

WBO world champion Manny Pacquiao (53-3-2, 38 KOs) faces long-time rival Juan Manuel Marquez (53-5-1, 39 KOs) in their third battle together on November 12th.

No matter who Hatton eventually faces in his world title shot, he faces an uphill battle.