Andre Michael Berto (born September 7, 1983) is a
professional boxer
Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...
who holds dual American and Haitian citizenship. He is a two-time former
welterweight
Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the ...
world champion, having held the
WBC and
IBF
The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...
titles between 2008 and 2011, as well as the
WBA interim
An interim is a period of temporary pause or change in a sequence of events, or a temporary state, and is often applied to transitional political entities.
Interim may also refer to:
Temporary organizational arrangements (general concept)
*Provis ...
title in 2015. As an
amateur
An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...
he won the
National Golden Gloves
The Golden Gloves is the name given to annual competitions for amateur boxing in the United States, where they are awarded a belt and a ring. And the title of nations champion is awarded. The Golden Gloves is a term used to refer to the Nationa ...
tournament in 2001 (at
light middleweight
Light middleweight, also known as junior middleweight or super welterweight,PeBoxRec/ref> is a weight class in combat sports.
Boxing
The light middleweight division (also known as junior middleweight in the IBF or super welterweight in the WBA an ...
) and 2003 (welterweight), and would represent the U.S. at the
2003 World Championships, winning a welterweight bronze medal. He also represented Haiti at the
2004 Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...
, reaching the opening round of the welterweight bracket.
Since his professional debut in 2004, Berto has become known for his toughness, formidable punching power, and fast hand speed. In the late 2000s he was considered a rising star in the welterweight division, as well as a highly regarded young prospect in boxing. He reached the peak of his career in 2011, holding the WBC welterweight title which he had won in 2008 and made five defenses, and was ranked as the world's third best welterweight, behind then-top stars
Manny Pacquiao
Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao Sr. (; born December17, 1978) is a Filipino politician and former professional boxer. Nicknamed "PacMan", he is regarded as one of the greatest professional boxers of all time. He served as a Senator of the Philip ...
and
Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr. (''né'' Sinclair; February 24, 1977) is an American boxing promoter and former professional boxer. He currently owns a team in the NASCAR Cup Series named The Money Team Racing. As a professional boxer he competed b ...
Berto's success was cut short after his first career loss to
Victor Ortiz
Victor Ortiz (born January 31, 1987) is an American professional boxer and film actor. He held the WBC welterweight title in 2011, and was formerly rated as one of the world's top three active welterweights by most sporting news and boxing web ...
in 2011, which won
Fight of the Year Fight of the Year is an award given to the boxing match considered to be the best fight that year. It is awarded by a variety of different institutions. It may refer to:
* ''The Ring'' magazine Fight of the Year – awarded by ''The Ring'' magazi ...
honors by
''The Ring'' magazine. Since then, Berto's career has fluctuated: from 2012 to 2015 he suffered three further losses, but bounced back in 2016 with a win over Ortiz in a rematch.
Early life
The son of
Haitian immigrants, Berto was one of seven children born and raised in
Winter Haven, Florida
Winter Haven is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. It is fifty-one miles east of Tampa. The population was 49,219 at the 2020 census. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2019 estimates, this city had a population of 44,955, making i ...
. Multiple members of the Berto family would become involved in combat sports. Andre's sister Revelina and brother
James
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambiguat ...
are both professional
mixed martial artist
Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...
s. Their father Dieuseul is a retired professional
kickboxer
Kickboxing is a combat sport focused on kicking and punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is practiced for self-defense, general ...
who competed at
UFC 10
''UFC 10: The Tournament'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on July 12, 1996, at the Fairgrounds Arena in Birmingham, Alabama. The event was seen live on pay per view in the United States, and later ...
. Andre was introduced to boxing by his father after getting beat up multiple times by classmates. Dieuseul taught the sport to Berto at his own school in Winter Haven called Tiger's World. For Berto, the sport of boxing became a solace to stay out of trouble in the rough community in which he grew up.
Amateur career
As an amateur, Berto won a bronze medal in the
2003 World championships. He was also a two-time U.S. National Golden Gloves champion, a two-time National
PAL
Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a colour encoding system for analogue television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...
champion, a three-time U.S. amateur championship medalist, and won 22 state titles in Florida.
Prior to the 2003 World championships, Berto defeated future world title challenger
Andre Dirrell
Andre Dirrell (born September 7, 1983) is an American professional boxer who held the IBF interim super middleweight title from 2017 to 2018. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal in the middleweight division at the 2004 Olympics. His younger bro ...
, and future three-weight world champion
Timothy Bradley
Timothy Ray Bradley Jr. (born August 29, 1983) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2004 to 2016. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the WBC light welterweight title twice between 2008 an ...
twice.
2004 Olympics
Berto was an odds-on favorite to breeze through the 2004 Olympic Trials and qualify as a member of the US Olympic boxing squad. Those dreams were dashed in the opening round of the trials, when he was disqualified for throwing Juan McPherson to the canvas. Berto was winning the fight, before McPherson bumped into him before being pushed to the canvas, and was deemed in no condition to continue. The act was ruled a flagrant foul, and Berto was disqualified. A protest was ruled in his favor, as he was declared the winner and advanced to the next round. Berto won that bout as well and prepared for the finals before a follow-up meeting the night before reverted to the initial ruling, eliminating Berto from the tournament. Because his parents emigrated from Haiti, Berto was able to keep his Olympic hopes alive, qualifying for Team Haiti, and subsequently granted Haitian citizenship alongside his American nationality, an exception the island country awarded the Olympian. Berto lost in the first-round to
Xavier Noel of France.
Professional career
Early career
From December 2004 to October 2006, Berto won 15 fights, with 13 coming by way of knockout. On December 12, 2006, at the
Alltel Arena
Alltel Wireless was a wireless service provider, primarily based in the United States. Before acquisitions by Verizon Wireless and AT&T, it served 34 states and had approximately 13 million subscribers. As a regulatory condition of the acquisition ...
in
North Little Rock, Arkansas
North Little Rock is a city in Pulaski County, Arkansas, across the Arkansas River, Arkansas from Little Rock, Arkansas, Little Rock in the central part of the state. The population was 64,591 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. In 2 ...
, Berto stepped up in competition and fought Miguel Figueroa. Berto put together a one-sided destruction of Figueroa, eventually forcing the referee to stop the fight in round six. He was named
ESPN.com
ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN. It is owned by ESPN Internet Ventures, a division of ESPN Inc.
History
Since launching in April 1995 as ESPNET.SportsZone.com (ESPNET SportsZone), the website has developed numerous sections including ...
's 2006 Prospect of the Year. His next fight took place on February 17, 2007, at the
Hammerstein Ballroom
The Hammerstein Ballroom is a ballroom located within the Manhattan Center at 311 West 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The capacity of the ballroom is dependent on the configuration of the room; it seats 2,500 people for theat ...
in New York City, against
Norberto Bravo
Norberto Bravo (born December 4, 1970) is an American professional boxer, and is a contestant on the ESPN reality show '' Contender Season 2''.
Early life
Bravo was born in Tucson, Arizona.
Professional career
In the amateur ranks, Bravo poste ...
of ''
The Contender''. Berto defeated Bravo by first-round technical knockout after Bravo was knocked down three times, triggering the three knockdown rule. On May 19, 2007, Berto defeated Martinus Clay by seventh-round technical knockout.
On July 27, 2007, at the
City Center
A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...
in
Saratoga Springs, New York
Saratoga Springs is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 28,491 at the 2020 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area, which has made Saratoga a popular resort destination for over 2 ...
. Berto fought
Cosme Rivera. Berto was in full control until he was down for the first time in his career in round six. He was able to recover and open up a bad cut over Rivera's right eye in the seventh round. Rivera stood his ground in the remaining rounds to test Berto, but Berto won by unanimous decision.
On September 29, 2007, at
Boardwalk Hall
Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall, formerly known as the Historic Atlantic City Convention Hall, is a multi-purpose arena in Atlantic City in Atlantic County, New Jersey. It was Atlantic City's primary convention center until the opening of the Atlanti ...
in
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497. , Berto defeated
David Estrada by eleventh-round technical knockout to win the
NABF welterweight title. Rounds three and eight were described by BoxingScene.com as "round of the year" candidates as both men went toe-to-toe with flush power shots. The end came when Berto dropped Estrada with an uppercut that was followed up by a huge right hand. Estrada made it to his feet, but could not defend himself as Berto attacked with more damaging shots that prompted the referee to jump in and stop the fight.
On February 9, 2008, at the
Pechanga Resort & Casino
The Pechanga Resort Casino is a Native American casino on the Pechanga Indian Reservation adjacent to the city of Temecula, California. Pechanga Resort Casino is one of the largest casino/resorts in the United States, with more than 5,400 slot m ...
in
Temecula, California
Temecula (; es, Temécula, ; Luiseño: ''Temeekunga'') is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States. The city had a population of 110,003 as of the 2020 census and was incorporated on December 1, 1989. The city is a t ...
, Berto fought Michael Trabant in his first defense of the NABF welterweight title. Trabant stayed on the defensive for the entire fight with Berto landing a variety of punches from all angles. In the fifth and sixth rounds, Trabant was barely able to land a single punch, as he was frequently taking punches to the head. Trabant told the referee after round six that he was no longer willing to continue with the fight. It was the first time that Trabant had ever been stopped.
WBC welterweight champion
Berto vs. Rodriguez
![Andre Berto](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Andre_Berto.jpg)
On June 21, 2008, Berto captured the vacant
WBC welterweight title left vacant by
Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr. (''né'' Sinclair; February 24, 1977) is an American boxing promoter and former professional boxer. He currently owns a team in the NASCAR Cup Series named The Money Team Racing. As a professional boxer he competed b ...
defeating Miguel Rodriguez in the seventh round by technical knockout at the
FedEx Forum
FedExForum is a multi-purpose arena located in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, Downtown Memphis, Tennessee. It is the home of the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association, NBA and the NCAA Division I Memphis Tigers men's basketball, ...
in
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...
. Berto knocked Rodriguez down twice in the seventh round, before the referee stopped the bout with 47 seconds left as Berto continually hurt Rodriguez with right hands.
Berto vs. Forbes, Collazo
Berto's first title defense of the WBC welterweight title occurred on September 28, 2008, at the
Home Depot Center
Dignity Health Sports Park is a multi-use sports complex located on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills in Carson, California. The complex consists of the 27,000-seat Dignity Health Sports Park soccer stadium, the Dignit ...
in
Carson, California
Carson is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the South Bay region of Los Angeles, located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately away from Los Angeles International Airport. Incorporated on February 20, 1968, ...
against
Steve Forbes
Malcolm Stevenson Forbes Jr. (; born July 18, 1947) is an American publishing executive and politician who is the editor-in-chief of ''Forbes'', a business magazine. He is the son of longtime ''Forbes'' publisher Malcolm Forbes and the grandso ...
. Berto consistently outpunched Forbes throughout winning the fight by unanimous decision with scores of 118–109 on two of the scorecards and 116–111 on the third scorecard.
Berto made the second defense of his title on January 17, 2009, at the
Beau Rivage in
Biloxi, Mississippi
Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in and one of two county seats of Harrison County, Mississippi, United States (the other being the adjacent city of Gulfport). The 2010 United States Census recorded the population as 44,054 and in 2019 the estimated popu ...
against former
WBA welterweight champion
Luis Collazo
Luis Collazo (born April 22, 1981) is an American professional boxer who held the WBA welterweight title from 2005 to 2006.
Professional career
Collazo is of Puerto Rican descent, and grew up in Brooklyn, New York.
Collazo won the WBA Wel ...
. Berto got off to a rough start as he was hurt in the first round and had a point deducted in the fourth round for holding Collazo's arm. In round seven, Berto opened a cut over the left eye of Collazo. Berto won the fight by a controversial unanimous decision with scores of 114–113 on two of the scorecards and 116–111 on the third scorecard in a fight which most thought Collazo might have won.
Berto vs. Urango, Quintana
On Saturday, May 30, 2009, Berto defended his WBC welterweight title against former IBF light welterweight champion
Juan Urango
Juan Fernando Urango Rivas (born October 4, 1980), best known as Juan Urango, is a Colombian former professional boxer who competed from 2002 to 2012. He held the IBF junior welterweight title twice between 2006 and 2010, and challenged once ...
and won a lopsided unanimous decision setting up a fight with Shane Mosley.
Berto was to defend his title against
"Sugar" Shane Mosley for a WBC, WBA welterweight title unification bout on January 30, 2010. However, Berto announced that he was withdrawing from his title unification bout against Mosley on January 18, 2010 due to family loss in
the Haiti earthquake. With Mosley subsequently landing a bout with
Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr. (''né'' Sinclair; February 24, 1977) is an American boxing promoter and former professional boxer. He currently owns a team in the NASCAR Cup Series named The Money Team Racing. As a professional boxer he competed b ...
, Berto faced former
WBO welterweight champion
Carlos Quintana on April 10, 2010 in the beginning Quintana outboxed Berto but eventually Berto's speed and power began to overwhelm Quintana and eventually won by an eighth round Technical knockout, despite injuring his left bicep during the fight.
Berto vs. Hernandez, Ortiz
On November 27, 2010, Berto scored a TKO victory over
Freddy Hernández. Berto successfully defended his WBC welterweight title, stopping an overmatched Freddy Hernandez at 2:07 of the first round putting himself in line for a shot at Floyd Mayweather Jr. He hammered Hernandez with a left hook, then floored him with a straight right during the co-feature fight of the
Juan Manuel Márquez-Michael Katsidis lightweight championship bout.
On April 16, 2011, Berto's reign as WBC welterweight champion came to an abrupt end in a fight which proved to be one of the biggest upsets of 2011 at the hands of a moving up in weight form 140 "Vicious"
Victor Ortíz
Victor Ortiz (born January 31, 1987) is an American professional boxer and film actor. He held the WBC welterweight title in 2011, and was formerly rated as one of the world's top three active welterweights by most sporting news and boxing web ...
. Ortiz defeated Berto by unanimous decision in a fight that was named
''The Ring'' magazine's "Fight of the Year" for 2011 with 4 ruled knockdowns going into the fight Berto was undefeated but was facing complaints of being unproven at the highest level and a lack of notable, quality opposition on his record of 27-0-21 Knockouts and the loss stopped him from landing a bout with
Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr. (''né'' Sinclair; February 24, 1977) is an American boxing promoter and former professional boxer. He currently owns a team in the NASCAR Cup Series named The Money Team Racing. As a professional boxer he competed b ...
IBF welterweight champion
Berto vs. Zaveck
On September 3, 2011, Berto returned after his defeat to Victor Ortíz to face
IBF
The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...
welterweight
Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the ...
champion and ''Ring'' Top 10 welterweight
Dejan Zavec. After 5 rounds of a closely competitive fight, Zaveck's corner stopped the fight as he had been cut. The two men embraced and Berto thanked the Slovenian fans for traveling over to America to cheer their countryman on. Berto called his performance "so-so", becoming a two-time world champion and the new
IBF
The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...
welterweight
Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the ...
champion.
Berto relinquished his IBF welterweight title rather than face
mandatory challenger In professional boxing and some other combat sports, a mandatory challenger is an opponent whom a champion must either fight or be forced to vacate their title as champion. A mandatory defence is the opposite of a voluntary defence, where the champi ...
Randall Bailey
Randall Bailey (born September 13, 1974) is an American professional boxer. A veteran of the sport for over twenty years, he is a former world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBO light welterweight title from 1999 to 2000, and t ...
in order to facilitate the rematch with Ortiz because he wanted the opportunity to avenge his only defeat (at the time).
After testing positive for a banned substance, the rematch against Ortiz planned for June 23, 2012 was cancelled. It has since been ruled that Berto's positive test was the result of contamination, and Berto regained his boxing license. Josesito Lopez replaced Berto and fought Ortiz on the scheduled date at the
Staples Center
Crypto.com Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Downtown Los Angeles. Adjacent to the L.A. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street. The arena opened on October 17, 1999; it was ...
in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
. Lopez stopped Ortiz after 9 rounds claiming the vacant WBC silver welterweight title.
Consecutive defeats
Berto vs. Guerrero
Berto's next fight was scheduled for November 24, 2012, in
Ontario, California
Ontario is a city in southwestern San Bernardino County in the U.S. state of California, east of downtown Los Angeles and west of downtown San Bernardino, the county seat. Located in the western part of the Inland Empire metropolitan area, ...
. The opponent was ''Ring'' Top 10 welterweight and WBC Interim welterweight champion
Robert Guerrero
Robert Joseph Guerrero (born March 27, 1983) is an American professional boxer. He has held world championships in two weight classes, including the IBF featherweight title twice between 2006 and 2008, and the IBF junior lightweight title from 20 ...
. Berto was knocked down twice early in the fight but came back well to give Guerrero a tough scrap, but Guerrero managed to narrowly maintain control and won via unanimous decision. Both of Berto's eyes and Guerrero's right eye were closed shut by the end of the fight.
Berto vs. Soto Karass
Following an 8-month lay-off after losing to Guerrero, Berto eventually returned to the ring to face
Jesús Soto Karass
Jesús Soto Karass (born October 15, 1982) is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2018. who has challenged once for the WBA interim welterweight title in 2013. His older brother is José Luis Soto Karass, also a profes ...
on July 27, 2013, at the
AT&T Center
AT&T Center is a list of indoor arenas, multi-purpose indoor arena on the east side of San Antonio, Texas, United States. It is the home of the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association.
The arena seats 18,418 for basketball, and ...
in
San Antonio
("Cradle of Freedom")
, image_map =
, mapsize = 220px
, map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = United States
, subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State
, subdivision_name1 = Texas
, s ...
. In a tough, entertaining back-and-forth fight, Berto lost via TKO in the twelfth round after having put Soto Karass on the canvas in the previous round. At the time of the stoppage, one judge had Berto ahead in the fight 105–103, one had him behind in the fight 103–105, and the other judge had the fight even 104–104.
Career from 2014–2017
On August 19, 2014, after a 14-month lay-off following consecutive defeats where he used most of that time nursing his injured shoulder, it was announced that Berto would fight journeyman Steve Upsher Chambers (24-3-1, 6 KO) on September 6 on
Showtime
Showtime or Show Time may refer to:
Film
* ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film
* ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur
Television Networks and channels
* Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...
in a 10-round bout, a day before his 31st birthday. Virgil Hunter trained Berto for the first time since announcing their partnership. Berto was going into this fight having not won since 2011. Chambers was going into the fight on a 2-fight losing streak. The fight took place at the
U.S. Bank Arena, in
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
on the
Adrien Broner vs. Emmanuel Taylor card. Berto won the fight via unanimous decision with all three judges scoring the fight 99–91, giving Chambers only one round. Berto landed jabs often throughout the fight gaining confidence with right uppercuts and straight right hands to Chambers' head. Chambers did let his hands go in some rounds unloading flurrie but never took control of the fight as Berto seemed to be more comfortable with the pace of the fight.
Berto vs. López
On January 22, 2015, it was announced that Berto would fight
Josesito López
José Manuel "Josesito" López (born July 19, 1984) is an American professional boxer and former world title challenger.
Professional career NABF light welterweight championship
On January 28, 2011 López took out undefeated Mike Dallas Jr. by ...
(33-6, 19 KOs) on March 13, as part of the new ''
Premier Boxing Champions
''Premier Boxing Champions'' (PBC) is an ongoing series of televised boxing events connected to manager Al Haymon.
PBC was initially promoted as an effort to return boxing to mainstream broadcast and cable television, as opposed to premium chann ...
'' series on
Spike TV
Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Media Networks. The network's headquarters are located at the Paramount Pictures studio lot in Los Angeles.
The channel was o ...
. The fight took place at the
Citizens Business Bank Arena
Toyota Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Ontario, California, United States. The arena hosts local sporting events and concerts and is suitable for indoor events, including basketball, ice hockey, ice shows, boxing, graduation ceremonies and con ...
in Ontario, California. The interim WBA welterweight title was at stake. Berto won the fight via TKO in round 6 to claim the vacant title. In an evenly matched fight, both fighters went back and forth the first 5 rounds. Lopez was the busier fighter landing solid punches, while Berto landed sharp Jabs and some hard rights hand. By the end of round 5, Lopez face was cut and bruised. In round 6, Berto landed 3 hard right hands in that dropped Lopez. He beat the count, another right hand put Lopez down again causing the referee to stop the fight at 1 minute and 3 seconds. Berto was booed following the win due to the fight taking place in Lopez's home state. Lopez won most of the early rounds after working on Berto's body. At the time of stoppage, one judge had Berto ahead 48–47, while the other two judges had it 50–45 and 48–47 in favor of Lopez.
Berto vs. Mayweather Jr.
On August 4, 2015, it was announced that, after months of speculation, a bout between Berto and
Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr. (''né'' Sinclair; February 24, 1977) is an American boxing promoter and former professional boxer. He currently owns a team in the NASCAR Cup Series named The Money Team Racing. As a professional boxer he competed b ...
in Las Vegas would indeed take place on September 12, 2015.
Mayweather was able to pinpoint holes in Berto's guard and find a home for the jab early. He landed sharp counters and feint hooks while controlling range for the vast majority of the bout. Berto pushed the pace, but his aggressiveness fell short as Mayweather was highly mobile and closed the distance consistently.
Mayweather hurt his left hand at the end of the ninth round but remained comfortable throughout the rest of the fight, winning via unanimous decision 117–111, 118–110, and 120–108. Mayweather dominated the fight, landing an impressive 56%
32/410punches thrown, compared to Berto's underwhelming number of 17%
3/495punches landed. Mayweather earned a purse of $32 million and Berto earned a career-high $4 million.
Early industry sources reported the fight drew 550,000 buys. Later sources indicated the number could have been as low as 400,000 buys, generating $28 million. This was the lowest number of buys Floyd had generated in over 10 years. The fight also gathered a crowd of 13,395, also a decreased figure compared to Mayweather previous fights.
Berto vs. Ortiz II
Five years after their first slugfest, Berto and
Victor Ortíz
Victor Ortiz (born January 31, 1987) is an American professional boxer and film actor. He held the WBC welterweight title in 2011, and was formerly rated as one of the world's top three active welterweights by most sporting news and boxing web ...
finally met in a rematch on April 30, 2016, at the
StubHub Center
Dignity Health Sports Park is a multi-use sports complex located on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills in Carson, California. The complex consists of the 27,000-seat Dignity Health Sports Park soccer stadium, the Dignity ...
in
Carson, California
Carson is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the South Bay region of Los Angeles, located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately away from Los Angeles International Airport. Incorporated on February 20, 1968, ...
. Berto was down once in the 2nd round but was able to beat the count and subsequently came on strongly in round 4. Ortiz went down twice in the 4th round and although he was able to beat both counts, he didn't answer to referee Jack Reiss when asked if he wanted to continue. The bout would be called at the 1:44 mark. Berto stated afterwards that he would be willing to face Ortiz in a rubber match before then going on to call out WBC champion
Danny Garcia.
Berto vs. Porter
On February 13, 2017, it was announced that a deal was close to being made between Berto and former welterweight world champion
Shawn Porter
Shawn Christian Porter (born October 27, 1987) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2008 to 2021. He is a two-time former welterweight world champion, having held the IBF title from 2013 to 2014 and the WBC title from 2018 ...
(26-2-1, 16 KOs). On March 5, it was officially confirmed the fight would take place on April 22, 2017, at the
Barclays Center
Barclays Center is a multi-purpose list of indoor arenas, indoor arena in the New York City Boroughs of New York City, borough of Brooklyn. The arena is home to the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association and the New York Liberty o ...
in New York City with
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
confirming Showtime would televise the bout. Halfway through the press conference, promoter
Lou DiBella
Louis John DiBella Jr. (born May 17, 1960) is an American boxing promoter and television/film producer.
Education
DiBella is a graduate of Regis High School (New York City). He then continued his education at Tufts University before pursuing ...
confessed that he received a phone call from
WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman and he reported the fight would be a final eliminator. On March 4,
Keith Thurman
Keith Fitzgerald Thurman Jr. (born November 23, 1988) is an American professional boxer. He is a former unified welterweight world champion, having held the WBA title from 2015 to 2019 (promoted to Super champion in 2017), and the WBC title fr ...
defeated
Danny Garcia to become the new WBA and WBC unified welterweight champion.
In front of 9,118, Berto failed to earn a world title fight when he was dropped and stopped in round 9. Berto suffered his fifth defeat in his last nine fights. Porter used power shots to the body of Berto to wear him down over the rounds. Berto was dropped in round 2, the same round Porter suffered a bad cut from clash of heads. After round 4, Porter was cut above both eyes and Berto was cut above the left eye, all due to clash of heads. At the time of stoppage, Porter was ahead on all scorecards, 79–72 and 78–74 (twice). Porter was the busier fighter, landing 175 of 448 punches thrown, whilst Berto landed 81 of 254 thrown (32%). Many experts called the fight dirty due to constant clash of heads and blood pouring from both fighters. Berto said, "I have to give him credit, but he's a rough fighter. He has great skills, but at the same time, he's going to be rough and try to handle me any way he can. I got a lot of head butts, and he did, too. Shawn is a tough competitor. We had a good, competitive fight until the head butts got to be a little too much for me. But I thought it was a really good fight before that."
Porter earned $1 million whilst Berto got the higher amount of $1.2 million for the fight. The fight averaged 468,000 viewers on Showtime.
Career from 2018–2019
Berto vs. Alexander
ESPN's Dan Rafael announced on April 28, 2018, that a deal had been reached for Berto to fight former 2-weight world champion
Devon Alexander
Devon Alexander (born February 10, 1987) is an American professional boxer. He is a former world champion in two weight classes, having held the unified WBC and IBF light welterweight titles in 2010, and the IBF welterweight title from 2012 t ...
(27-4-1, 14 KOs) on the
Errol Spence Jr.
Errol Spence Jr. (born March 3, 1990) is an American professional boxer. He is currently a unified welterweight world champion, having held the IBF title since May 2017, the WBC title since September 2019, and the WBA (Super) since April 2022. ...
vs.
Carlos Ocampo undercard on June 16 at
The Ford Center at The Star
Ford Center at The Star is a 12,000-seat indoor stadium located in Frisco, Texas. Its main use is as the Dallas Cowboys' practice facility. It is also used for Whataburger's Friday Night Stars, an event every Friday showcasing Frisco Independent ...
in
Frisco, Texas
Frisco is a city in Collin and Denton counties in the U.S. state of Texas. It is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex and about from both Dallas Love Field and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Its population was 200,509 at the 2 ...
, however the fight did not take place. On June 25, the fight was slated to take place on the
Mikey Garcia
Miguel Angel Garcia Cortez (born December 15, 1987), best known as Mikey Garcia, is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2006 to 2021. He held multiple world championships in four weight classes from featherweight to light w ...
vs.
Robert Easter Jr.
Robert Easter Jr. (born January 26, 1991) is an American professional boxer who held the IBF lightweight title from 2016 to 2018. As of November 2020, he is ranked as the world's eighth best active light welterweight by BoxRec.
Amateur career
...
lightweight unification card at the
Staples Center
Crypto.com Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Downtown Los Angeles. Adjacent to the L.A. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street. The arena opened on October 17, 1999; it was ...
on July 28 on Showtime. The fight would instead main event its own card on August 4 at the
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum (or simply the Nassau Coliseum) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Uniondale, New York, east of New York City. The Long Island venue is approximately east of the eastern limits of the New York City Borough of ...
in
Uniondale, New York
Uniondale is a census-designated place (CDP), as well as a suburb in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, New York (state), New York, on Long Island, in the Town of Hempstead, New York, Town of Hempstead. The population was 32,473 at the 2020 ...
on
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
. Berto was dropped earlier on but rallied on in the second half of the fight to win a controversial split decision. One judge scored the bout 114–113 for Alexander, but the remaining two judges overruled, both scoring 115–112 in favor of Berto, giving him the win. Alexander had the better workrate of the two in the opening rounds and dropped Berto in round 3 after catching him with a left hand to the head. Replays showed the two shots landed on the back of Berto's head. The knockdown stood because Berto had rotated his head before the punches landed. Alexander began to tire around midway and Berto started taking over. In round 7, after trading on the inside, Berto suffered a cut near his right eye. Berto was at his best in round 12 using both hands. Alexander fought back and both boxers traded close as the fight came to an end. Websites, Boxing Scene and BadLeftHook had Alexander the winner and felt although Berto caught up in the later rounds, he did not do enough to win the fight. Alexander thought the fight was close, but should have taken the decision. Berto stated he was not interested in a rematch as he was at the point in his career where he only wanted paydays. The fight averaged 1,193,000 viewers and peaked at 1,266,000 viewers.
Personal life
In a March 2010 column he wrote for ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', Berto described some of his efforts for Project Medishare in Haiti after the earthquake, as well as relating that he is frequently mistaken for
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
star
Reggie Bush
Reginald Alfred Bush Jr. (born March 2, 1985) is an American former football running back who now serves as an on-air college football analyst for Fox Sports. He played college football at USC, where he earned consensus All-American honors twi ...
. Berto's late father Dieuseul was a retired professional kickboxer who competed at
UFC 10
''UFC 10: The Tournament'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on July 12, 1996, at the Fairgrounds Arena in Birmingham, Alabama. The event was seen live on pay per view in the United States, and later ...
, while his sister Revelina and brother
James Edson Berto
James Edson Berto, also known as Edson Berto (born July 5, 1983), is a Haitian-American professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Featherweight division. A professional competitor since 2004, Berto has formerly competed for Be ...
are both professional mixed martial artists themselves. Berto is often called "Mike", his middle name.
Berto and his
Dutch Shepherd Nino appeared on the reality series ''
Canine Intervention''.
Professional boxing record
Pay-per-view bouts
References
External links
*
Andre Berto Q&Aat BoxingInsider
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berto, Andre
1983 births
Living people
Haitian male boxers
American sportspeople of Haitian descent
American sportspeople in doping cases
Boxers at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Boxers from Florida
Doping cases in boxing
National Golden Gloves champions
Olympic boxers of Haiti
Sportspeople from Miami
World Boxing Council champions
International Boxing Federation champions
People from Winter Haven, Florida
American male boxers
AIBA World Boxing Championships medalists
World welterweight boxing champions
Light-middleweight boxers