Andre Berto

Andre Berto
Berto in 2010
Statistics
Real name	Andre Michael Berto
Nickname(s)	The Beast[1]
Rated at	Welterweight
Height	5 ft 6 1⁄2 in (169 cm)[1]
Reach	68 1⁄2 in (174 cm)[1]
Nationality	American Haitian
Born	(1983-09-07) September 7, 1983[1] Winter Haven, Florida, U.S.
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	35
Wins	31
Wins by KO	24
Losses	4
Medal record Men's amateur boxing Representing  United States World Championships 2003 Bangkok Welterweight

Andre Michael Berto (born September 7, 1983) is a professional boxer who holds dual American and Haitian citizenship. He is a two-time former welterweight world champion, having held the WBC title from 2008 to 2011, and the IBF title in 2011, as well as the WBA interim title in 2015. As an amateur he represented the United States at the 2003 World Championships, winning a bronze medal in the welterweight division. Berto is known for his punching power, speed, and heart.^[2]

Early life

A second-generation Haitian immigrant, Berto was one of seven children raised in Winter Haven, Florida. He was introduced to boxing by his father after getting beat up multiple times by classmates. Dieuseul, who competed professionally in mixed martial arts and taught the sport to Berto at a school in Winter Haven. For Berto, the sport of boxing became a solace to stay out of trouble in the rough community he grew up in.^[3]

Amateur career

As an amateur, Berto won a bronze medal in the 2003 World Amateur Championships. He was also a two-time National Golden Gloves champion, a two-time National PAL champion, a three-time U.S. amateur championship medalist, and won 22 state titles in Florida.^[3]

2004 Olympics

Berto was an odds-on favorite to breeze through the 2004 Olympic Trials and qualify as a member of the US Olympic boxing squad. Those dreams were dashed in the opening round of the trials, when he was disqualified for throwing Juan McPherson to the canvas. Berto was winning the fight, before McPherson bumped into him before being pushed to the canvas, and was deemed in no condition to continue. The act was ruled a flagrant foul, and Berto was disqualified. A protest was ruled in his favor, as he was declared the winner and advanced to the next round. Berto won that bout as well and prepared for the finals before a follow-up meeting the night before reverted to the initial ruling, eliminating Berto from the tournament. Because his parents emigrated from Haiti, Berto was able to keep his Olympic hopes alive, qualifying for Team Haiti, and subsequently granted Haitian citizenship alongside his American nationality, an exception the island country awarded the Olympian.^[4] Berto lost in the first-round to Xavier Noel of France.^[3]

Professional career

Welterweight

Early career

From December 2004 to October 2006, Berto won 15 fights, with 13 coming by way of knockout. On December 12, 2006, at the Alltel Arena in North Little Rock, Arkansas, Berto stepped up in competition and fought Miguel Figueroa. Berto put together a one-sided destruction of Figueroa, eventually forcing the referee to stop the fight in round six. He was named ESPN.com's 2006 Prospect of the Year. His next fight took place on February 17, 2007, at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, against Norberto Bravo of The Contender. Berto defeated Bravo by first-round technical knockout after Bravo was knocked down three times, triggering the three knockdown rule. On May 19, 2007, Berto defeated Martinus Clay by seventh-round technical knockout.^[5]

On July 27, 2007, at the City Center in Saratoga Springs, New York. Berto fought Cosme Rivera. Berto was in full control until he was down for the first time in his career in round six. He was able to recover and open up a bad cut over Rivera's right eye in the seventh round. Rivera stood his ground in the remaining rounds to test Berto, but Berto won by unanimous decision.^[6] On September 29, 2007, at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Berto defeated David Estrada by eleventh-round technical knockout to win the NABF welterweight title. Rounds three and eight were described by BoxingScene.com as "round of the year" candidates as both men went toe-to-toe with flush power shots. The end came when Berto dropped Estrada with an uppercut that was followed up by a huge right hand. Estrada made it to his feet, but could not defend himself as Berto attacked with more damaging shots that prompted the referee to jump in and stop the fight.^[7]

On February 9, 2008, at the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, California, Berto fought Michael Trabant in his first defense of the NABF welterweight title. Trabant stayed on the defensive for the entire fight with Berto landing a variety of punches from all angles. In the fifth and sixth rounds, Trabant was barely able to land a single punch, as he was frequently taking punches to the head. Trabant told the referee after round six that he was no longer willing to continue with the fight. It was the first time that Trabant had ever been stopped.^[8]

WBC welterweight champion

Berto in 2011

On June 21, 2008, Berto captured the vacant WBC welterweight title left vacant by Floyd Mayweather Jr defeating Miguel Rodriguez in the seventh round by technical knockout at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee. Berto knocked Rodriguez down twice in the seventh round, before the referee stopped the bout with 47 seconds left as Berto continually hurt Rodriguez with right hands.^[9] Berto's first title defense of the WBC welterweight title occurred on September 28, 2008, at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California against Steve Forbes. Berto consistently outpunched Forbes throughout winning the fight by unanimous decision with scores of 118-109 on two of the scorecards and 116-111 on the third scorecard.^[10]

Berto made the second defense of his title on January 17, 2009, at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi, Mississippi against former WBA welterweight champion Luis Collazo. Berto got off to a rough start as he was hurt in the first round and had a point deducted in the fourth round for holding Collazo's arm. In round seven, Berto opened a cut over the left eye of Collazo. Berto won the fight by a controversial unanimous decision with scores of 114-113 on two of the scorecards and 116-111 on the third scorecard in a fight which most thought Collazo might have won.

On Saturday, May 30, 2009, Berto defended his WBC welterweight title against former IBF light welterweight champion Juan Urango and won a lopsided unanimous decision setting up a fight with Shane Mosley.^[11]

Berto was to defend his title against "Sugar" Shane Mosley for a WBC, WBA welterweight title unification bout on January 30, 2010. However, Berto announced that he was withdrawing from his title unification bout against Mosley on January 18, 2010 due to family loss in the Haiti earthquake.^[12] With Mosley subsequently landing a bout with Floyd Mayweather Jr., Berto faced former WBO welterweight champion Carlos Quintana on April 10, 2010 in the beginning Quintana outboxed Berto but eventually Berto's speed and power began to overwhelm Quintana and eventually won by an eighth round Technical knockout, despite injuring his left bicep during the fight.

On November 27, 2010, Berto scored a TKO victory over Freddy Hernandez. Berto successfully defended his WBC welterweight title, stopping an overmatched Freddy Hernandez at 2:07 of the first round putting himself in line for a shot at Floyd Mayweather Jr.^[13] He hammered Hernandez (29-2) with a left hook, then floored him with a straight right during the co-feature fight of the Juan Manuel Márquez-Michael Katsidis lightweight championship bout.

Berto vs. Ortiz

On April 16, 2011, Berto's reign as champion came to an end at the hands of Victor Ortíz. Ortiz defeated Berto by unanimous decision in a fight that was named the The Ring magazine's "Fight of the Year" for 2011 with 4 ruled knockdowns going into the fight Berto was undefeated with a record of 27-0 and the loss stopped him from landing a bout with Floyd Mayweather Jr.^[14]

Berto vs. Zavec

On September 3, 2011, Berto returned after his defeat to Victor Ortíz to face IBF Welterweight Champion and Ring Top 10 Welterweight Dejan Zavec. After 5 rounds of a closely competitive fight, Zaveck's corner stopped the fight as he had been cut. The two men embraced and Berto thanked the Slovenian fans for traveling over to America to cheer their countryman on. Berto called his performance "so-so", becoming a two-time world champion and the new IBF Welterweight Champion.

Berto relinquished his IBF Welterweight title rather than face mandatory challenger Randall Bailey in order to facilitate the rematch with Ortiz because he wanted the opportunity to avenge his only defeat (at the time).^[15]

After testing positive for a banned substance, the rematch against Ortiz planned for June 23, 2012 was cancelled.^[16] It has since been ruled that Berto's positive test was the result of contamination, and Berto has since regained his boxing license.^[17]

Return to the ring

Berto vs. Guerrero

Berto's next fight was scheduled for November 24, 2012, in Ontario, California. The opponent was Ring Top 10 Welterweight and WBC Interim Welterweight champion: Robert Guerrero. Berto was knocked down twice early in the fight but came back well to give Guerrero a tough scrap, but Guerrero managed to narrowly maintain control and won via unanimous decision. Both of Berto's eyes and Guerrero's right eye were closed shut by the end of the fight.

Berto vs. Soto Karass

Following an 8-month lay-off after losing to Guerrero, Berto eventually returned to the ring to face Jesús Soto Karass on July 27, 2013, at the AT&T Center in San Antonio. In a tough, entertaining back-and-forth fight, Berto lost via TKO in the twelfth round after having put Soto Karass on the canvas in the previous round. At the time of the stoppage, one judge had Berto ahead in the fight (105-103), one had him behind in the fight (103-105) and the other judge had the fight even (104-104).

Premier Boxing Champions

On January 22, 2015, it was announced that Berto would face Josesito Lopez on March 13, 2015 as part of the new Premier Boxing Champions series on Spike TV. Berto won the fight, stopping Lopez in the sixth round and acquiring the interim WBA welterweight title in the process.^[18]

Berto vs. Mayweather

On August 4, 2015, it was announced that, after months of speculation, a bout between Berto and Floyd Mayweather in Las Vegas would indeed take place on September 12, 2015. He lost the match to Mayweather by unanimous decision, in what was a rather one-sided affair.^[19] The three judges at ringside scored the contest 120–108, 118–110, and 117–111, while Berto earned a career-high $4 million fight purse.

Berto vs. Ortiz II

Five years after their first slugfest, Berto (30-4) and Victor Ortíz finally met in a rematch on April 30, 2016 at the StubHub Center in Carson, California. Berto was down once in the 2nd round but was able to beat the count and subsequently came on strongly in round 4. Ortiz went down twice in the 4th round and although he, like Berto, was able to beat both counts, he didn't answer to referee Jack Reiss, who kept asking him if he wanted to continue. As a consequent result, the referee would ultimately find himself calling a stop to the bout at 1 minute and 44 seconds into that very same and previously-aforementioned round. Berto stated afterwards that he would be willing to face Ortiz in a rubber match before then going on to call out WBC Champion Danny García.^[20]

Professional boxing record

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
35	Win	31–4	Victor Ortiz	TKO	4 (12), 1:14	Apr 30, 2016	StubHub Center, Carson, California, U.S.
34	Loss	30–4	Floyd Mayweather Jr.	UD	12	Sep 12, 2015	MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.	For WBA (Super), WBC, The Ring, and lineal welterweight titles
33	Win	30–3	Josesito López	TKO	6 (12), 1:02	Mar 13, 2015	Citizens Business Bank Arena, Ontario, California, U.S.	Won WBA interim welterweight title
32	Win	29–3	Steve Upsher Chambers	UD	10	Sep 6, 2014	U.S. Bank Arena, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
31	Loss	28–3	Jesús Soto Karass	TKO	12 (12), 0:48	Jul 27, 2013	AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas, U.S.	For vacant NABF welterweight title
30	Loss	28–2	Robert Guerrero	UD	12	Nov 24, 2012	Citizens Business Bank Arena, Ontario, California, U.S.	For WBC interim welterweight title
29	Win	28–1	Jan Zaveck	RTD	5 (12), 3:00	Sep 3, 2011	Beau Rivage, Biloxi, Mississippi, U.S.	Won IBF welterweight title
28	Loss	27–1	Victor Ortiz	UD	12	Sep 16, 2011	Foxwoods Resort Casino, Ledyard, Connecticut, U.S.	Lost WBC welterweight title
27	Win	27–0	Freddy Hernández	TKO	1 (12), 2:07	Nov 27, 2010	MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.	Retained WBC welterweight title
26	Win	26–0	Carlos Quintana	TKO	8 (12), 2:16	Apr 10, 2010	BankAtlantic Center, Sunrise, Florida, U.S.	Retained WBC welterweight title
25	Win	25–0	Juan Urango	UD	12	May 30, 2009	Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Hollywood, Florida, U.S.	Retained WBC welterweight title
24	Win	24–0	Luis Collazo	UD	12	Jan 17, 2009	Beau Rivage, Biloxi, Mississippi, U.S.	Retained WBC welterweight title
23	Win	23–0	Steve Forbes	UD	12	Sep 27, 2008	Home Depot Center, Carson, California, U.S.	Retained WBC welterweight title
22	Win	22–0	Miguel Ángel Rodríguez	TKO	7 (12), 2:13	Jun 21, 2008	FedExForum, Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.	Won vacant WBC welterweight title
21	Win	21–0	Michel Trabant	RTD	6 (10), 3:00	Feb 9, 2008	Pechanga Resort and Casino, Temecula, California, U.S.	Retained NABF welterweight title
20	Win	20–0	David Estrada	TKO	11 (12), 1:17	Sep 29, 2007	Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.	Won vacant NABF welterweight title
19	Win	19–0	Cosme Rivera	UD	10	Jul 27, 2007	City Center, Saratoga Springs, New York, U.S.
18	Win	18–0	Martinus Clay	TKO	7 (10), 2:15	May 19, 2007	FedExForum, Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
17	Win	17–0	Norberto Bravo	TKO	1 (10), 2:28	Feb 17, 2007	Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, New York, U.S.
16	Win	16–0	Miguel Figueroa	TKO	6 (10), 1:59	Dec 9, 2006	Alltel Arena, North Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S.
15	Win	15–0	James Crayton	KO	5 (8), 0:34	Oct 21, 2006	Don Haskins Center, El Paso, Texas, U.S.
14	Win	14–0	Roberto Valenzuela	TKO	1 (8), 2:19	Aug 5, 2006	Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S.
13	Win	13–0	Sammy Sparkman	TKO	2 (10), 2:50	Jun 17, 2006	FedExForum, Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
12	Win	12–0	Gerardo Cesar Prieto	TKO	3 (4), 1:52	May 17, 2006	Mohegan Sun Arena, Montville, Connecticut, U.S.
11	Win	11–0	Horatio García	RTD	3 (8), 3:00	Apr 14, 2006	Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa, Rancho Mirage, California, U.S.
10	Win	10–0	Jonathan Tubbs	TKO	3 (8), 2:44	Feb 3, 2006	Northern Quest Resort & Casino, Airway Heights, Washington, U.S.
9	Win	9–0	Taronze Washington	KO	1 (8), 2:50	Dec 3, 2005	Mandalay Bay Events Center, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
8	Win	8–0	Maurice Chalmers	TKO	1 (6), 1:36	Nov 4, 2005	Buffalo Run Casino, Miami, Oklahoma, U.S.
7	Win	7–0	William Johnson	KO	1 (4), 1:36	Oct 1, 2005	St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, Florida, U.S.
6	Win	6–0	Anthony Little	TKO	6 (6), 1:36	Jun 9, 2005	Manhattan Center Grand Ballroom, New York City, New York, U.S.
5	Win	5–0	Tim Himes	TKO	1 (6), 2:10	May 6, 2005	Foxwoods Resort Casino, Ledyard, Connecticut, U.S.
4	Win	4–0	Daniel Neal	UD	4	Feb 24, 2005	Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, New York, U.S.
3	Win	3–0	Edgar Galvan	TKO	1 (4), 1:59	Jan 28, 2005	Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, New York, U.S.
2	Win	2–0	Joseph Benjamin	UD	4	Jan 21, 2005	Mohegan Sun Arena, Montville, Connecticut, U.S.
1	Win	1–0	Michael Robinson	TKO	3 (4), 2:15	Dec 4, 2004	Barton Coliseum, Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S.	Professional debut

Titles in boxing

Personal life

In a March 2010 column he wrote for The New York Times, Berto described some of his efforts for Project Medishare in Haiti after the earthquake, as well as relating that he is frequently mistaken for American football star Reggie Bush.^[21] His brother, James Edson Berto, is a professional mixed martial artist. Berto is often called "Mike", his middle name. He is related to Stephanie Jean (better known as Mrs. Gooden).^[3]

References

External links

• Professional boxing record for Andre Berto from BoxRec
• Bio - file interview with Andre Berto at BoxingInsider.com