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Friday, January 29, 2010 | Print Entry
* Dan Rafael
Welterweight titlist Andre Berto, a Haitian-American who called off Saturday's unification fight with Shane Mosley after eight members of his extended family were killed in the Haiti earthquake, went on a humanitarian mission to Haiti to bring aid.
Berto also brought his sister and her daughter back to the United States after their home was destroyed by the quake.
Berto has stayed busy doing his part to help in Haiti. But he's also anxious to get back to boxing, especially after putting in nearly a full training camp in preparation to fight Mosley.
"Now he's gung ho to get back in the ring," promoter Lou DiBella told me the other day. "Andre feels the best way to help Haiti now is to get back in the ring and do his thing, and help raise more money and awareness."
That ring return could come April 10 on HBO at New York's Madison Square Garden, DiBella said.
There has been early conversation about Berto facing former junior welterweight titlist Paulie Malignaggi, whom DiBella also promotes and who is coming off an impressive win against Juan Diaz in their December rematch.
"The idea has been thrown out, but we haven't yet had substantive conversations," DiBella said. "Until [Berto manager] Al Haymon and I can sit down and talk with Andre, nothing is going to happen. But it's an idea that's been kicked around."
DiBella put a hold on the Garden for April 10 a few weeks ago when Malignaggi was raised as a possible opponent for Floyd Mayweather Jr.. It was a fortuitous move, because now it might be used for Berto-Malignaggi.
"Andre wants to do an event that will help Haiti, and there's a huge Haitian population in New York and Madison Square Garden is a very attractive place to a fight," DiBella said. "Wherever Andre fights, it will have a fundraising element to the fight."
One of the reasons Malignaggi is in the picture is because the proposed spring fight with junior welterweight titlist Amir Khan of England now appears unlikely, and Khan is negotiating with Juan Manuel Marquez for a May fight.
"Paulie is not agreeing to be a low-paid B-side to Amir Khan," DiBella said. "If Paulie is going to fight him, Golden Boy can treat him like he should be treated. Khan means nothing in the United States at this point, so we're not going to be treated like we're nobodies, so that limits Paulie's options. But he's a brave kid. He hung with Miguel Cotto and he's willing to take a challenge by fighting Berto. He said he wants that fight."
Among the potential undercard bouts DiBella has discussed with HBO: a junior welterweight fight between Zab Judah and hot prospect Victor Cayo, and Judah against former titleholder Carlos Quintana in a welterweight bout (although given a choice, HBO prefers the junior welterweight bout).
Judah, the former undisputed welterweight champ who is interested in moving back to junior welterweight, has also talked to Golden Boy about a spring fight with Marcos Maidana, the hard-punching interim titleholder. Maidana might also wind up facing Cayo on an HBO card. Maidana and Khan, who are both with Golden Boy, are trying to work out a scenario in which they both take interim bouts while trying to build their mandatory meeting into something bigger than it would be now.
Promoter Gary Shaw, who handles junior welterweight titlist Timothy Bradley, told ESPN.com that he is talking to Golden Boy about a Bradley-Maidana fight for Showtime in the spring.
Even though I don't love the idea of Berto-Malignaggi, it might be interesting, and there sure are a lot of other bouts being talked about. Some of them are bound to happen, meaning we could have a nice spring schedule. At the very least, the spring could be a lot better than the first few months of the year have looked.
* Dan Rafael
Welterweight titlist Andre Berto, a Haitian-American who called off Saturday's unification fight with Shane Mosley after eight members of his extended family were killed in the Haiti earthquake, went on a humanitarian mission to Haiti to bring aid.
Berto also brought his sister and her daughter back to the United States after their home was destroyed by the quake.
Berto has stayed busy doing his part to help in Haiti. But he's also anxious to get back to boxing, especially after putting in nearly a full training camp in preparation to fight Mosley.
"Now he's gung ho to get back in the ring," promoter Lou DiBella told me the other day. "Andre feels the best way to help Haiti now is to get back in the ring and do his thing, and help raise more money and awareness."
That ring return could come April 10 on HBO at New York's Madison Square Garden, DiBella said.
There has been early conversation about Berto facing former junior welterweight titlist Paulie Malignaggi, whom DiBella also promotes and who is coming off an impressive win against Juan Diaz in their December rematch.
"The idea has been thrown out, but we haven't yet had substantive conversations," DiBella said. "Until [Berto manager] Al Haymon and I can sit down and talk with Andre, nothing is going to happen. But it's an idea that's been kicked around."
DiBella put a hold on the Garden for April 10 a few weeks ago when Malignaggi was raised as a possible opponent for Floyd Mayweather Jr.. It was a fortuitous move, because now it might be used for Berto-Malignaggi.
"Andre wants to do an event that will help Haiti, and there's a huge Haitian population in New York and Madison Square Garden is a very attractive place to a fight," DiBella said. "Wherever Andre fights, it will have a fundraising element to the fight."
One of the reasons Malignaggi is in the picture is because the proposed spring fight with junior welterweight titlist Amir Khan of England now appears unlikely, and Khan is negotiating with Juan Manuel Marquez for a May fight.
"Paulie is not agreeing to be a low-paid B-side to Amir Khan," DiBella said. "If Paulie is going to fight him, Golden Boy can treat him like he should be treated. Khan means nothing in the United States at this point, so we're not going to be treated like we're nobodies, so that limits Paulie's options. But he's a brave kid. He hung with Miguel Cotto and he's willing to take a challenge by fighting Berto. He said he wants that fight."
Among the potential undercard bouts DiBella has discussed with HBO: a junior welterweight fight between Zab Judah and hot prospect Victor Cayo, and Judah against former titleholder Carlos Quintana in a welterweight bout (although given a choice, HBO prefers the junior welterweight bout).
Judah, the former undisputed welterweight champ who is interested in moving back to junior welterweight, has also talked to Golden Boy about a spring fight with Marcos Maidana, the hard-punching interim titleholder. Maidana might also wind up facing Cayo on an HBO card. Maidana and Khan, who are both with Golden Boy, are trying to work out a scenario in which they both take interim bouts while trying to build their mandatory meeting into something bigger than it would be now.
Promoter Gary Shaw, who handles junior welterweight titlist Timothy Bradley, told ESPN.com that he is talking to Golden Boy about a Bradley-Maidana fight for Showtime in the spring.
Even though I don't love the idea of Berto-Malignaggi, it might be interesting, and there sure are a lot of other bouts being talked about. Some of them are bound to happen, meaning we could have a nice spring schedule. At the very least, the spring could be a lot better than the first few months of the year have looked.
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