Quick Flurries: Berto/Hernandez, Cloud/Dawson, Ortiz/Kotelnik, Alvarez/Ndou

Andre Berto will be meeting Freddy Hernandez as part of HBO's November 27 Marquez/Diaz & Caballero/Litzau triple-header.

Boxing FanHouse - Andre Berto to Fight Freddy Hernandez on Nov. 27

WBC welterweight (147 pounds) champion Andre Berto of Winterhaven, Fla., will make the fifth defense of his crown against Mexico City's Freddy Hernandez on an HBO televised, Nov. 27 card at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, his promoter, Lou DiBella, told FanHouse.

One of these days Berto will step up in competition, but this isn't the fight.  Hernandez has some power as evidenced by his one punch icing of DeMarcus Corley earlier this year, but the 31 year old Mexican doesn't bring much else to the table and given his total lack of hand and foot speed, it's hard to see him winning rounds in this one.

Dan Rafael (danrafaelespn) on Twitter

Gary Shaw told me he's talking to HBO and Don King about a possible Tavoris Cloud-Chad Dawson fight for the Feb/March time frame.

With Pascal occupied, this would be as good a fight as either Dawson or Cloud can make right now.   In terms of the match-up, Cloud likely won't present Dawson with the same kind of issues Chad struggled with last time out against Pascal.  He can put his punches together and does have pop, but the movement and speed that the Montreal fighter troubled Dawson with aren't really part of Cloud's repertoire.  He'll have to bring pressure and fight at a steadier clip than he did against Johnson if he's to make Dawson uncomfortable.

It looks like Khan/Maidana might have company on December 4, with another interesting 140lb clash reportedly in the works...

Boxing Scene - Schaefer: Victor Ortiz Can Make a Statement With Kotelnik

Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer has confirmed that former champion Andriy Kotelnik (34-4-1, 13KOs) is being considered as the opponent for Victor Ortiz (27-2-1, 27KOs) on December 4 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Ortiz-Kotelnik would be the HBO televised co-feature to Amir Khan's defense of the WBA title against mandatory challenger Marcos Maidana. The story was first reported by Ruslan Chikov of BoxingScene.com.

The big question surrounding Ortiz is the youngster's ability to hang in when the going gets tough.  Kotelnik isn't a big hitter, but as we saw against Alexander, he's an accurate steady fighter capable of pushing the pace of a bout and he should give Ortiz twelve tough rounds.  It will also be nice to see the tough Ukrainian junior-welterweight rewarded for his performance against Alexander with another HBO date.

Fightnews.com - Ndou, Alvarez clash December 4

"I gave Miguel Cotto a good fight and he’s a much tougher boxer than Jose Cotto. Alvarez win over Baldomir was predictable. I sparred Baldomir recently and I know he’s a shot fighter. I know Alvarez is looking for a win over a veteran but I want him to know he has picked on the wrong veteran. I am going to kick his ass." - Lovemore Ndou

We probably won't find out anything new about Alvarez from this match-up as Ndou's lack of size and power, plus his come forward style likely isn't going to be much of a test for the Mexican youngster.  Still, Ndou is easily better than Jose Cotto and isn't as far gone as Carlos Baldomir, so this is a small step up for the 20 year old.