Berto on Pacquiao's 'Black Fighter' Woes, Hernandez, More
By Lem Satterfield
WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto (26-0, 20 KOs) is not sweating the lack of an African American opponent on Manny Pacquiao's record. Berto heard the recent comments that were made by Bernard Hopkins, who openly wondered why Pacquiao has not fought a top American-born black boxer with a slick style of fighting, like a Floyd Mayweather Jr. or a Shane Mosley.
Hopkins believes that an African American boxer, with a slick style, would likely beat Pacquiao. Berto agrees that Pacquiao has not faced any African American opponents, but he disagrees with the idea that Pacquiao has intentionally avoided black fighters.
was responding to statements made to FanHouse by former undisputed middleweight (160 pounds) king, Bernard Hopkins, that Pacquiao has yet to face an American-born black fighter with a slick style.
"I heard about the statement he [Hopkins] made, and, you know, it's somewhat of a true statement. But at the end of the day, Manny Pacquiao, you can't take anything away from what he's done," said Berto.
"Manny Pacquiao's still a tremendous fighter. But I think that it's just coincidence that he hasn't fought too many African American fighters, or, well, really, the fact is that he hasn't at all. But you know, I don't really think too much about that."
Berto defends his title this Saturday at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas against Mexico City's Freddy Hernandez. The fight is part of an HBO televised tripleheader. Berto is one of the main candidates being considered to fight Pacquiao in 2011. For that reason, among others, he is not overlooking the challenge of Hernandez. Berto is fully aware that an impressive performance on Saturday will put him in position to possibly fight the likes of Pacquiao, Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather Jr.
"I think that a fight like this, in a lot of ways, is a more dangerous fight to have to fight because this is a situation where I have everything to lose and he has got everything to gain. At the same time, these are the types of fights that I really get up for and I'll get up for this just because of that," said Berto.
"This is going to be a really good fight, and we're looking forward to coming out of here with a win. We're looking forward to just moving forward and looking at bigger things in the future. We'll handle business on Saturday night, and then, it looks like the floodgates will open."
Lem Satterfield is the boxing editor at AOL FanHouse and the news editor at BoxingScene.com. To read more from Lem Satterfield, go to AOL FanHouse by Clicking Here.
