Andre Berto: The Good Fight

  On June 2008 at the FedEx Forum Arena in Memphis Tennessee, two warriors faced off to become WBC Welterweight Champion of the World. Miguel Rodriguez was forced to sing the Memphis City Blues while Andre Berto orchestrated an ending to the bout in the seventh round by technical knockout.   Andre Berto is the […]

 

On June 2008 at the FedEx Forum Arena in Memphis Tennessee, two

warriors faced off to become WBC Welterweight Champion of the World. Miguel

Rodriguez was forced to sing the Memphis City Blues while Andre Berto

orchestrated an ending to the bout in the seventh round by technical knockout.

 

Andre Berto is the newly crowned WBC Welterweight Champion of the

world and today’s most sought out fighter to watch as he shines his flawless

record: 22 wins, 19 KOs, 0 losses. Andre has been setting his claim to his

position in boxing history by punishing his opponents with the tools of fast

feet, a good chin, a whip snapping right, vicious left hook and a deadly

uppercut becoming a dominating force within the ring.

 

Throughout his amateur career he won a bronze medal in the 2003

World Amateur Championships. He is a two-time National Golden Gloves champion, two-time

National PAL Champion, three-time U.S. amateur championship medalist, and won

22 state titles in Florida. Due to his parents’ Haitian decent, Andre was able

to represent Team Haiti in the 2004 Olympics after being disqualified and given

a flagrant foul in the U.S. Olympic Trials for throwing Juan McPherson to the

canvas.

 

Andre Berto has fought his way through the ranks of fighters. His

first 13 of 15 bouts were knockouts. He was deemed ESPN.com’s “Prospect of the

Year,” he has fought Norberto Bravo of The

Contender, David Estrada NABF Welterweight Title and defended his title

this year against Michael Trabant.

 

AllHipHop.com: Congratulations on winning the WBC

Welterweight Championship. How does it feel to be the Champ?

 

Andre Berto: Thanks! I appreciate it man. It feels good to be the

Champion! It was a lot of hard work. I’m just reaping the harvest right now. I

planted the seeds…and I had a good harvest, I can’t complain.

 

AllHipHop.com: Your father

and brother are fighters. You come from a fight family. How has that shaped you

as man?

 

Andre Berto: It matured me. At early age I was blessed with a

vision early in life. I’ve always just wanted to prove myself as a young kid so

I set goals early on in life. I wanted to prove to my father, my family and

myself that I’m one of the best to come out of Florida. I stayed focused and I

wanted to be the perfect example of hard-work in the end. Be perfect!

 

AllHipHop.com: In your last

fight you punched with an accuracy rating over 50%. Your athletic ability is

superb! What is a day training Andre Breto like?

 

Andre Berto: I workout like a beast! I take training and staying

healthy to the extreme. I put myself through hell with explosive exercises,

roadwork. I had got some 30 once (two pounds) gloves specially made for me. I

throw thousands of punches with them. Spare rounds with the 30 ounces (two

pounds) while other fighters are using 16 ounces. I do this until the workouts

become regular and everything becomes easier for the fight but I stayed and

remain healthy.

 

AllHipHop.com: There is a

legacy of a series of Florida fighters 

professionally in the ring. Have you worked with any of them? If so

please explain?

 

Andre Berto: Oh yeah, Winky Wright and Jeff Lacey, they both

basically took me under their wing when I was in the amateurs. I was a young

boy about 14 or 15 years old. Those were the superstars to me. They would bring

me into there training camps so I can see how they got down. They saw the

potential in me, but I saw Winky, Jeff Lacey and Roy Jones they’re the big guys

in Florida when I was coming up. 

 

AllHipHop.com: Tell me

about your team. What was the partnership with Damon Dash like?

 

Andre Berto: Damon reached out to me when I was coming out of the

2004 Olympics and I wanted to do something that has never been done. I wanted

to do something different so I basically built the first Hip-Hop and

Boxing promotions team in history made of Lou Diabella and Damon Dash as

co-promoters. They created Dash/Diabella promotions. I had one of boxings top

promoters and one of the Hip-Hop promoting superstars involved with my fights 

 

AllHipHop.com: Who are your mentors in life?

 

Andre Berto: I live by example. Growing up I’ve seen fighters that

are superstars and they’re given everything handed to them basically but they

end up f###### it up doing other things. So I try to surround myself around

certain people. I’m big on the business end of it. When it comes to mentors my

father has been my inspiration on who I am and what I do. My manager Al Heyman

has really, really mentored me. Al Heyman has conquered the music promotion

game and has conquered the boxing game.

 

Guys like Puffy, Russell Simmons and Damon Dash. These guys are

really hands on with everything that they do. They understand the business. That’s

basically what I’m trying to do. I am a fighter but at the end of the day I

want to understand the business in and out so that I don’t end up broke like

other talented fighters once their careers are over. Guys like this is who I

look up too. They push everything to the side. They work hard and love

everything that they’re doing.

 

AllHipHop.com: Do you have

any final thought for youngsters?

 

Andre Berto: There’s a whole world out there past those streets,

past your city, past your state if you really want to get it. I’ll let you know

all about it. I’m from a small city and I stayed focused and grinded it out and

I was able to do big things. I was able to accomplish things that I never

thought I would be able to do. Just be

that example. Be that example that all your homeboys will in the end look up to

and say, “If he can do it so can I.” Live by example and stay

healthy!

 

As a personal trainer to

the stars, Chris Sainsbury is certified through NASM (National Academy of

Sports Medicine), ISSA Nutrition (International Sports Science Association) and

ACE (American Counsel Exercise) and also specializes in boxing, mad dogg spin

cycling and marathon running. Find out more Chris and his Worldwide Greatest

Fitness company at myspace.com/greatest_fitness.