By Thomas Gerbasi
Andre Berto has always been a fighter. Most of his peers say that they were born to do what they do in the ring, but from Berto’s mouth, it’s the truth.
His father, Dieuseul, competed in UFC 10, his brother Edson and sister Revelina followed in dad’s footsteps, while Andre’s combat sports path was in the ring, not the cage. And though he took his share of abuse from fans and the media over the years for not fighting who they believed he should have at various times in his 11-year pro career, one thing that isn’t in dispute is the fact that when the bell rang and it was time to answer that call, the Florida native fought.
And in a fight, not everyone is Floyd Mayweather Jr., the man Berto meets this Saturday in another heavily vilified matchup. To the public at large, who have apparently voted with their wallets by leaving the MGM Grand Garden Arena at less than sold out capacity at press time, Berto is just a pawn in a game Mayweather is foisting on the people. It’s an easy way for “Money” to pick up his 49th win without a loss and walk away from the sport with another set of millions for his bank account. No mess. No fuss.
I’m not going to be the one to go against the grain and proverbial wisdom and pick Berto to win. The odds are there for a reason, and past history points to yet another victory for Mayweather. Then again, that’s in a boxing match, not a fight, and in a fight, anything can happen. That’s what Berto and his coach, Virgil Hunter, have to be counting on, that something will happen over the course of 12 three-minute rounds to make Mayweather drop his guard, slow his shoulder roll, and let Berto fight.
Because then, it’s not about skill anymore. It’s about who wants it more. Mayweather has been in scraps with Jose Luis Castillo and Marcos Maidana that turned into streetfights and he still found a way to win. He was wobbled by Shane Mosley, pushed to uncomfortable places by Emanuel Augustus, and he still got his hand raised. So while you may not like his out of the ring antics or his “Money May” persona, there’s no dog in him. Yet in the intangible tale of the tape, Berto’s biggest attribute at this point is probably his heart, and he’s showed it time and time again.
“I grew up tough,” Berto told me before his 2014 bout against Steve Upsher Chambers, one that came after more than a year away from the ring due to a right shoulder injury. “We grew up where quitting wasn’t an option. That’s what my dad always instilled in us and that’s how he raised us. Even in the (Robert) Guerrero fight, people asked me the same thing. ‘You got thumbed in your eye and both your eyes are shut from the second, third round, and you kept going. Why?’ I come from humble beginnings and the only thing we know is to fight.”
It’s why the talk over the years about Berto being overprotected by Al Haymon and HBO bordered on the ludicrous because all fingers were pointed at the fighter when all he did was step up and compete against whoever was put in front of him. Berto still heard the talk though, especially when it hit its peak before he fought Victor Ortiz in 2011.
“People feel like I’ve had an easy road, but realistically, everybody has had to sit back and watch me grow in front of the world, in front of the HBO cameras and in front of guys like David Estrada, Carlos Quintana, Stevie Forbes, and Juan Urango,” he told me before the bout. “If you’re not ready and you’re a young kid, these guys can expose you quickly. The public had to watch me grow and they’ve seen me go through my ups and downs and they’ve seen me going into the deep waters with these guys, but they’ve also seen how I’ve responded. I fought Luis Collazo and it was the same thing. I wasn’t in the best of shape and he pushed me to the limit, but then you saw how I responded.”
Berto won a decision that night, one many felt he lost, and today, they go back to the Collazo fight in 2009 and say if the New Yorker gave Berto fits, what will Mayweather do? They may have a point. Berto, like many fighters, will always have a tough time with a slick boxer with a tight defensive shell. And when it comes to Mayweather, no one has figured out that riddle yet.
So why should Andre Berto even show up on Saturday night? And if he does, why not just play it safe, take his shutout loss, and pocket the biggest paycheck of his career? That’s what everyone expects anyway, right? Maybe even Mayweather expects it, and that’s why he’s deciding to end his career not with a fight against Keith Thurman, Amir Khan, Gennady Golovkin or any other number of big names the public would have been happier seeing, but against a fighter who is anywhere from a 32 to 1 to 50 to 1 underdog, depending on who you talk to.
But none of that matters once the bell rings. As the old saying goes, that’s why they fight the fights. And having covered Berto’s career since the 2004 Olympics, where he represented Haiti, one thing was always clear with him. Yes, the money was important, being set up for life after boxing was key as well, and he enjoyed the lifestyle that came with being a pro athlete. But when all was said and done, he wanted to leave a mark on the sport. When we spoke before the Chambers fight, nothing had changed from what he told me a decade earlier.
“As a young kid, I always had the vision to be great,” Berto said. “When it comes to anything, the road isn’t going to be easy, but I think that’s the one thing people fail to realize. They feel that if they’re good enough for something, they should go ahead and get it and it just falls in place. But that’s not always the case. So you’re gonna have to work hard, and you’re gonna have to go through some obstacles for sure, but the ones that go through these obstacles and continue to push forward, those are the ones that actually make it. And that’s the type of guy I am, and that’s the type of spirit I’m blessed to have.”
So fighting after knockdowns, torn shoulders and eyes swollen shut were just part of the gig for Berto. Perfection left the building early on for him. He was never going to be Mayweather, no matter how many times he tried to implement the pound-for-pound king’s defensive tactics. But he could be Andre Berto, he could be the guy who never stopped moving forward, seemingly impervious to pain as he sought out victory. And in those days when he was “overprotected,” he had an entire world full of welterweights eager to expose him, a time that prepared him for what he will face in the biggest fight of his life this weekend.
“I know how that feels when you’ve been knocking all those guys out and then you’re in there with a guy who takes those punches and then hits you even harder and keeps coming,” Berto said before the Ortiz fight. “He doesn’t care about your promoter or about them trying to make you shine in front of the networks. They’re trying to knock your head off, and I know how that feels. You’re either gonna give up or you’re gonna bite down and try to stake your claim. You either got it or you don’t. You can’t train that thing that beats in your chest.”
I once asked him what it’s like when you show up for a boxing match and end up in a dogfight.
“You start to speak to yourself in the ring,” he laughed.
Well, if you see Andre Berto talking on Saturday night, he may very well be on his way to pulling off the upset of the century.