By Keith Idec
Andre Berto realizes he is part of an extreme minority that thinks he’ll defeat Floyd Mayweather Jr. on Saturday night.
Berto believes, however, that he has what it takes to become the first professional fighter to beat Mayweather when they square off for Mayweather’s WBA/WBC welterweight titles at MGM Grand in Las Vegas (Showtime Pay-Per-View; $74.95 in HD; 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT).
The 38-year-old Mayweather (48-0, 26 KOs) is most commonly listed as a 35-1 favorite over the 32-year-old Berto (30-3, 23 KOs), who is 3-3 in his past six fights. Berto, a former WBC/IBF welterweight title-holder, is still convinced his physical skills, combined with the hunger of a discarded underdog, will help him pull off what would be an enormous upset against the best boxer in the world.
“End of the day, for me it’s what I believe and what my team believes,” Berto recently stated to the media. “We know we put in the work, we know we have the ability to come out victorious September 12th. And that’s it. That’s the only confirmation we need.
“I have that rare combination of speed and power. I’m in incredible shape. I’m younger, I’m hungry and we have a great recipe for victory.”
Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
