Ortiz dethrones Berto in welterweight thriller

MASHANTUCKET, Connecticut (AFP) – Victor Ortiz dethroned previously unbeaten World Boxing Council welterweight champion Andre Berto Saturday in an action-packed 12-round fight that saw both men on the canvas.

Ortiz emerged with a convincing unanimous decision, improving to 29-2-2 with 22 wins inside the distance as he captured the WBC belt.

Ortiz knocked down Berto for the first time in the first round, and Berto responded by sending the off-balance challenger to the canvas in the second.

Ortiz rattled Berto in the third and punished the champion in the middle rounds.

The sixth was a thriller as Berto, standing his ground in the middle of the ring, knocked down Ortiz, only for Ortiz to drop the champion later in the same round. It was Berto's first defeat in 28 professional fights.

The ringside judges scored it 115-110, 114-112 and 114-111 for Ortiz, who had a point deducted in one round for hitting behind the head.

"I fought like a possessed man, because that's what the world and the crowd of boxing made me," said Ortiz, who said he was stung by predictions that he couldn't beat Berto.

Berto had made five successful title defences since he knocked out Miguel Rodriguez in June 2008 to take the belt.

But he looked like he might not make it out of the first round on Saturday. Ortiz stunned him with a right followed by a left hook that appeared to put the champion down, although referee Michael Ortega ruled it a slip.

Ortiz produced another knockdown before Berto made it out of the first.

Ortiz was in control in the second when Berto backed him up with a short right. The challenger stayed on his feet and took a brief count from Ortega.

Ortiz piled on more pressure in the following rounds but in the sixth Berto woke up, punishing Ortiz before knocking him down with a right.

Seconds before the bell, however, Ortiz sent Berto down with another left hook.

"I think I was very highly underrated," the 24-year-old Ortiz said. "I knew I carried as much power as him, if not more."

Berto said he wanted a rematch.

"Ortiz did a great job," he said. "I wasn't there tonight -- nothing was falling into place."

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