Mandatory challenger? Berto vs Mayweather? Someone expalin this to me?

Saw this on boxingscene.com
"In the main event, Andre Berto (21-0, 18KOs) will face Miguel Angel Rodriguez (29-2, 23 KOs) in a WBC welterweight eliminator to set the mandatory challenger to champion Floyd Mayweather Jr."

Can someone explain what this means to me? I can't imagine Mayweather has any interest in fighting Berto. Does a "mandatory cahllenger" not really mean the fight is MANDATORY?
Thanks guys.

 

Berto still has alot of flaws in his game. He just relies on his power too much and leaves himself open alot of times.

 

I agree. Thats why what i read confused me. I dont see any way they would make that matchup. Thats why im looking for an explanation of what exactly a "eliminator" and "mandatory challenger" actually means.

 

Mandatory challenger in this case means an up and coming name to hand the title off to when Floyd is stripped for not defending.

All the really big names hold alphabet titles already or are coming off of a loss.

 

Ah ok, so once Mayweather retires or is striped of the title(assuming he doesnt lose it in a fight) Berto will GET the title? Or will he be one of the two fighters to fight each other for the vacant title?

 

Thats his WBC mandatory but remember Floyeds' a unified champ and holds more than one belt at the same time. He's ranked by more than one governing body so he can pick a different manatory or in some cases he can just dump one of the belts.

Think of it in MMA terms. Lets say you are the unified champ i.e. you hold the EliteXC belt and the UFC belt at the same time. The UFC says fight this guy, but you can fight the EliteXC mandatory instead. This is both good and bad. Your the supreme champ and everyone knows it, but you can also run from one fight and go for and easy win. However, you can also pick the biggest money fight which is great for a fighter.

One day MMA will do the same thing and all the boxing guys you make fun of will say I told you so. Welcome to the boxing forum young man, theres a lot to learn here. It's not better or worse, just different.

 

I hope Berto would fight Mayweather. Can't really say Mayweather really needs a more lucrative bout, though. I'd like to cite Wrestlemania.

 

Thanks for the info thatsmydin.

 

Hasn't Floyd been stripped of most of those titles? Isn't the WBC the last alphabet belt he has? Margarito, Cotto and Quintana are all holding the others aren't they?

 

OK Seano your right, just trying to make it simple for the mma fan is all. I'm sure terms like "alphabet soup" will just confuse him even further.

 

I wasn't really disagreeing with you, your points were sound. I just didn't want it to look like I was wrong.:redface:

 

Cody's a boxing fan. He's no migrant from the heavies.

 

Thanks man. Thats funny,I just took it like you were saying I was wrong. Guess brilliant minds think alike. BTW, r u in vegas?

 

Sorry to Cody, figured he was one of the rock n' roll kids opps!

 

What the fuck is an alphabet title?

 

A term commonly used in describing the myriad of boxing organizations that hold a "world" championship. The acronyms are usually 3 letters, drawing comparison to the term "a,b,c's." This is usually used as a term of frustration over how many world champions there are at a single weight class. Usually used for the less important, or less prestigous titles.

 

Margarito is the biggest for floyd

hes huge for a welter and through over 100 rounds every round .

Margarita could fight like oscar did in the first 6 rounds against floyd for 12 rounds

 

I've gotten so used to not have a defined champ that its almost like i dont need one.

 

OT: but why do i get the feeling Tony-Cotto in July will be the first of 3?

 

Hes got a better chance at PBF than Cotto, to bad Marg wont get past Cotto imo.