RULES ARE RULES, FOR THE MOST PART

On June 21, HBO’s Boxing After Dark presents unbeaten welterweight contender Andre Berto, ranked #1 by the WBC, facing Miguel Angel Rodriguez, ranked #2, in what is said to be a title eliminator. Berto, 21-0 (18), is the more highly touted participant, having gained considerable TV time after an amateur career of 200 fights and a berth on the 2004 Haitian Olympic team.

Rodriguez, 29-2 (23), doesn’t have Berto’s pedigree, hasn’t fought the same level of competition, and lost to Carlos Baldomir by unanimous decision in a title eliminator three years ago. So on paper, at least, it looks like a slam dunk for Berto.

So presumably Berto would wake up on the morning of June 22 as the mandatory challenger for Floyd Mayweather’s WBC belt. The fact that Berto defeated David Estrada last September in what was supposedly the WBC/IBF title eliminator is apparently immaterial here, although it did go into the record books that way.

But it’s confusing because, not only do you wonder why the guy has to go through another WBC eliminator but Joshua Clottey, ranked #1 by the IBF, also won an IBF eliminator last December, apparently the official one because he is fighting Zab Judah for the vacant title in August. Antonio Margarito, who defeated Kermit Cintron for the IBF title about 20 minutes ago (actually April 12) is relinquishing the belt in order to fight a more competitive and lucrative fight with WBA titlist Miguel Cotto in July, rather than fight the mandatory challenger Clottey.

Down deep inside I realize that titles are meaningless to the truly elite fighters, so maybe I’m just dense, but why should a man be forced to sacrifice a huge payday in a fight that has boxing fans salivating to fight a mandatory against Clottey just six weeks after winning the title?

Do you mean to tell me that Clottey couldn’t be delayed until fall? Even if Cotto wins, he can fight Clottey every bit as brutally as Margarito certainly would. And if not, let the superstar Cotto vacate the title.

Okay, granted that Clottey gave Margarito a tough battle before breaking his hand in their December 2006 fight, but good grief, hasn’t Margarito done enough in his career body of work to merit a pass to finally make some money?

Rules are rules, but apparently they apply to some more than others.

Just a month ago I recall reading an article that Clottey might fight Berto for the vacant title in August. Now that would make sense if Margarito vacated the title, which itself doesn’t make sense unless he had a gun to his head.

And –check this out — as recently as May 30, the IBF website ratings, effective May 19, 2008, lists Antonio Margarito as champion, Clottey as #1 contender, Andre Berto #2, and Zab Judah #3. The August Clottey-Judah fight is already a go, advertised as for the vacant title, so let’s vacate it already.

All of this is so manipulative and contradictory that it’s no wonder why casual fans don’t know the players without a scorecard. Champions, contenders, and mandatory challengers get changed or stripped with little fanfare, and then a couple of months later, fans are wondering, “What happened?”

Personally, I’m still confused as to how Berto wins what is promoted as a title eliminator and then several weeks later Clottey does too. There could be a legitimate reason, but I’m not aware of it and I couldn’t find it on a search engine. If anyone out there knows the reason, write mswann4@aol.com and let me know.

But I really don’t want to pick on the IBF. If anything, they’re the best of a bad lot. The WBC takes the prize this week.

Since winning the WBC welterweight title from Carlos Baldomir in November 2006, Floyd Mayweather Jr. has not made one single defense against a WBC welterweight contender. He fought Oscar De La Hoya at 154 pounds and then defended against junior welterweight Ricky Hatton in 2007.

He was acclaimed by many as The Fighter of the Year for this, and yes they were big events, but I repeat, no defenses against a WBC mandatory challenger.

Floyd is now negotiating for a rematch with Oscar, reportedly to be fought at a catch weight of 150. So do the math — two years will have flown by without the superstar defending his title in the manner expected from almost every other fighter in the world.

Actually, I don’t expect him to do it –there’s no money in it, but geez, my problem is that the WBC has been totally silent on the issue. Why do the rules not apply to certain superstars, while a talented but less prominent fighter such as Antonio Margarito gets targeted as soon as the belt is wrapped around his waist?

Returning to the topic of Berto being Floyd’s mandatory challenger, it’s insane to even think about it. It’ll never happen, and furthermore the kid would be out of his league. Floyd only wants $ 30 Zillion paydays now. Further, even as a fan, we want to see Floyd get tested against the likes of Cotto or Margarito, not Andre Berto.

So forget it Andre, it’s not on the program.

But — if the WBC ever decided to break down and mandate that Floyd fight a mandatory defense, let’s face it, he would simply relinquish the title because he’s Floyd Mayweather Jr. and he doesn’t need any belts at this point. You can’t push him to a place he doesn’t want to go, like any ordinary pug.

But my guess is that the WBC doesn’t have the stones to force the issue. You can best believe that having an athlete of Floyd’s stature as a WBC belt holder adds prestige to the organization, as well as cash to their bank accounts, and they are not going to throw all that away out of principle.

Don’t be surprised if one of these days, perhaps soon depending on how much heat the WBC is willing to take, we’ll see Berto turn up as that old standby, the interim champion.

I’m not a fan of that particular designation, and the use of it virtually amounts to malpractice. If it was used only when a fighter is injured and can’t compete for several months, that would be one thing. But right now the term is being abused.

After all, who or what determines what is “interim?”

Regardless, I see it as a handy way to give Berto a belt and keep the wolves off the back of the WBC.

Ideally, Floyd would fight all the title holders and become a “Super Champion.” But then he’d have to engage and defeat Miguel Cotto, and I’m not reading that in my tea leaves.