Eleven years.

That’s how unusually long Andre Berto has wanted an opportunity to avenge his loss to Robert Guerrero. The former IBF/WBC welterweight champion hasn’t fought since August 2018, a layoff that lasted long enough even he had given up hope of facing Guerrero again.

Yet there they were Thursday, a pair of inactive 40-year-old ex-champs preparing to square off Saturday night in the opener of Showtime’s final boxing broadcast, a tripleheader that’ll air from The Armory in Minneapolis.

His unanimous points loss to Guerrero bothered Berto enough to end his retirement because the Winter Haven, Florida native believes he was “a dead man” when he entered the ring for their fight in November 2012. Berto contended Thursday during a press conference at a hotel in downtown Minneapolis that he was neither mentally nor physically prepared to fight that night and should never have gone through with their 12-round bout at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California.

“You know, this is a fight that of course,” Berto said, “I mean, if there’s anybody that follows me or just know me, I mean, like I said, they always know I stay in shape, you know, I stay working. But like I said, this is a situation, this is a fight that I felt like that I’ve always, I’ve always just needed to get back. You know what I mean? Same thing with the [Victor] Ortiz fight. I felt like and I knew that I wasn’t, you know, a hundred percent like I needed to be going into that fight. And it showed. I wasn’t, wasn’t a hundred percent at all. I shouldn’t even stepped into the ring that night when I fought Robert, and it showed.

“So, I’m on like a, you know what I mean, I’m on a revenge tour right now before I leave this game. So, you know, like I said, you know, Robert’s a great fighter, of course. You know, he did what he did, but like I said, I’m hungry for this one. You know, I still, I still, I still sleep at night – you know what I mean – and just think about situations from that fight back then. And like I said, I gotta get this one back before I leave. So, I’m hungry for it. And sh*t, like I said, we had a hell of a training camp. So, we’re ready to get it.”

Guerrero dropped Berto once in the first round and again in the second round. The southpaw from Gilroy, California caused severe swelling around both of Berto’s eyes that night and beat him by the same score, 116-110, on the cards of judges Max De Luca, Julie Lederman and Alejandro Rochin.

Guerrero (37-6-1, 20 KOs, 2 NC), who won the WBC interim welterweight title by beating Berto, fought Floyd Mayweather in his following fight. Berto also eventually lost to Mayweather, who unanimously outpointed him as well in September 2015.

“Well, we’re older now,” Guerrero said Thursday. “Things change, man. But like my old man always told me, my old man always told me the older the bull, the stiffer the horn. I’m ready to go.”

Guerrero has fought four times since Berto’s last bout, but not since he unanimously outpointed Ortiz in a 10-rounder that took place in August 2021 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Berto (32-5, 24 KOs) hasn’t boxed since his 12-round, split-decision defeat of another former champion, Devon Alexander, at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York.

Their 10-round rematch will open a Showtime telecast scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. ET.

Another 10-round rematch between lightweights Chris Colbert (17-1, 6 KOs), of Brooklyn, and Jose Valenzuela (12-2, 8 KOs), of Renton, Washington, will immediately follow the second Guerrero-Berto bout. In Showtime’s 12-round main event, Cuban southpaw David Morrell Jr. (9-0, 8 KOs) will defend his WBA secondary super middleweight title against Ghana’s Sena Agbeko (28-2, 22 KOs).

What was supposed to be a fourth fight of Showtime’s telecast – a 12-rounder in which WBC flyweight champ Julio Cesar Martinez (20-2, 15 KOs, 1 NC) was scheduled to defend his title against Venezuela’s Angelino Cordova (18-0-1, 12 KOs) – was postponed Thursday because a visa issue prevented Martinez from entering the United States.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.