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| I want to thank Andre Berto for taking time out of his busy schedule to do this interview. Thanks Andre – Phil: I’ve seen you listed as both a welterweight and a junior middleweight. Is there a weight that you are more comfortable fighting at? Berto: Yeah right now I’m comfortable at welterweight. I started off at junior middle but I worked my way down to welterweight so I’m going to stay there for a while. Phil: Not to take anything away from your other opponents but did your 6th round TKO of Miguel Figueroa prove that you are ready to take on the worlds best welterweights? Berto: Yeah I believe that fight did basically make a statement. You know a lot of people have been hearing about me but I was just basically able to really show that I could compete on the big show of HBO and tell the nation that I was definitely here to make a statement in the welterweight division. You know we’re just going to take our time and do what we do and eventually everything else will fall into place. Phil: If you had your wish would you prefer to get more experience against top opponents or given the chance would you go right after that title shot? Berto: Right now……right now I believe I’ll probably just try to get the experience. You know the titles; they’re not going anywhere, it’s better just to groom myself a little more to get to the title shot. Yeah that’s probably what I’d prefer but I mean, you know that any direction that comes I believe I’ll be ready for it. If the title shot comes a lot sooner I believe I’ll be prepared for it also. Phil: You are already considered one of boxings most highly regarded prospects. Are you surprised that the boxing world has embraced you so early in your career? Berto: Yeah I’m definitely surprised but yet at the same time I’m thankful. You know there’s a lot of fighters out there man, they’ve been fighting for years and they haven’t gotten the respect and the love from these boxing fans. So I’m just glad that I….and I feel blessed that I have a style that people just embrace it, my whole demeanor and everything. So yeah I’m just happy. I’m just happy and I’m blessed. So I’ll just try to continue giving them what they need, you know what I mean. Phil: There’s no doubt that you are a very exciting fighter to watch, yet your boxing skills are solid. Berto: Yes Sir! Phil: As the level of your competition increases will there be pressure just to win the fight or do you feel that you’ll continue to knockout the majority of your opponents? Berto: I believe the Kayos will continue to come. I think with better competition I’ll be able to step up and look better myself. I think I’ll look better the better competition I fight. So I think everything will continue to come. The knockouts will continue to come. So I’ll continue to go out there and just do me and just do me in general and however the outcome is it’ll come out. You know we always train to go 12 or 13 rounds if we have to. So if it ever tends to go the distance it’s going to be an exciting 12 round fight. There definitely isn’t going to be any lying back for one second in the fight so it’s going to be exciting. Phil: You are currently riding a 12 fight knockout streak. Your next opponent Ben Takie is a seasoned veteran who has faced some very tough fighters in Kostya Tszyu, Sharmba Mitchell and Ricky Hatton. Although Takie came up short in those fights he wasn’t knocked out. Will your knockout streak continue against Takie? If so what does it mean if you were able to do something that none of those guys could? Berto: I guess you’re going to have to see. You know he’s a real tough guy, type of guy who can take a lot of shots and keep on ticking. He has a lot of experience being in there with a lot of those guys but at the same time I feel that he’s never been in there with a fighter quite like me. But the opponent actually just got switched over. Ben Takie just pulled out. So I’ll be fighting Norberto Bravo from the contender. He fought on this seasons contender show so we’ll have to switch it up for him. Phil: Oh, I hadn’t heard that. So no Ben Takie? Berto: No we’re not fighting him. I heard he had a……I guess the word is he had some reason. He’s over in Africa and he’s trying to get back over and he had some problems doing that. So he won’t make it here in time. Phil: Well if I was scheduled to get in the ring with you I might have some problems come up too. Berto: Ha, Ha, Ha. Phil: Now that you’re fighting Bravo does your training regiment change based on opponent or is it the same thing every time out? Berto: Same thing every time out. Man I don’t switch it up at all. We just keep the pace going, keep training hard. You know stay with the conditioning, stay with the strength training, stay with the same regiment. Just go full force and just stay relentless. At this point there’s no room to kind of slack off in this sport. You know in this game right now there’s no room at all. Right now I’m in the position where every fight is important. So if they put me in there Ben Takie or they switch up and put me in there with…….Kermit the Frog, I’m going to make sure that I’m 100% ready and try to put on a good show. Phil: You were able to escape a tough childhood and make something of yourself without getting caught up in drugs or any of the other vices the streets have to offer. What would your advice be to any young fighters or young people in general who are coming up in a similar situation to yours? Berto: I mean really just open your eyes. Everything else out there is pretty simple. Just open your eyes and just look. Just look at the world in general. You know I was extremely blessed just to be able to understand how to live life. Plus I had a father to talk to me and council me, he just made me understand. You know I used to see a lot of things. All the drug dealers, I mean I grew up with these guys and I’ve basically just lived by example. I’ve seen the things that they did and I’ve seen what the consequences were. So it’s just second nature not to do it. I just basically want to say that I’ve seen so much and I’ve seen so many of my friends go down the wrong road. A lot of guys who had crazy potential as athletes and guys like that just go down the wrong road and choose the other side. They decide to go left instead of right and I just wanted to be an example to show everybody you know. I’m right here, from the same hood you’re from but I stay focused and just work hard at my craft. You can definitely be somebody great and get out of here and be an example to everyone else. That was real big for me. Phil: What is the most valuable lesson that you’ve learned in your young professional career? Berto: Just to stay patient. Be patient and be focused. I believe that’ s the most important you know. Because even though you’re blessed with certain talent all those blessings don’t come directly. Everything doesn’t come as fast as you want it to come but just stay consistent and stay focused and just stay humble and eventually everything else will just fall into place. So, just keep working hard and stay focused. That’s it. Phil: Are there any current or former boxers that you idolized while coming up in the fight game? Berto: Everybody, I am a boxing fiend. From De La Hoya, to Foreman all the way back to Jack Johnson, Joe Louis and Sugar Ray Robinson. I idolized all of those guys. I just love watching all the different styles. All those fighters, the way they fought and the way they prepared themselves to get ready to fight. Because this game here it definitely might seem all physical, but it is mostly all mental. So I was into a lot of fighters growing up. Phil: Outside of boxing what does Andre Berto enjoy doing in his free time? Berto: Oh man, free time… I travel a lot. When I come back home I’ll play some football, play some basketball, kick it with all my people I grew up with and just relax, really. I mean, I have a lot of folks here back home I like to just kick it with. I like to spend a lot of time with them really, and at the same time I like to spend a lot of time by myself and just basically look at my life. I like to sit back and just look at things and how I can change it for the positive. So I just like to spend a lot of time by myself and just relax and chill really. I’m not too wild and crazy out there, I like to have a good time, but I’m not too wild and crazy out there. I’ve already done a lot, so I just like to chill. Phil: What will the world be saying about Andre Berto at the end of 2007? Berto: Hopefully they keep saying that this kid right here is the future. I’ve got a lot of expectations right now just from that one performance on HBO. Right now I’m just trying to live up to it and continue to do what I do, you know what I mean. Hopefully 2007, at the end of 2007, everyone will be saying this kid here’s the future, he’s the truth. So I’m going to just keep trying to pound these guy’s heads and keep putting on big shows and make everyone happy. So when they leave the fight they’ll definitely be talking about it the next day at work. That’s the plan. Phil: In your opinion, who are the top three pound for pound fighters in the world? Berto: Right now… right now I’ve got to say Floyd Mayweather definitely. You know just because he is undefeated and he has been doing his thing. I know not too many people like him but he does have skills. My man Manny Pacquiao, definitely. He’s definitely and exciting fighter. He’s not scared to back down from nothing, he brings it for sure. And probably…Winky Wright. So, Mayweather, Pacquiao and Wright. Phil: Where would you rate yourself on the pound for pound list? Berto: I’ve still got a ways to go. That’s the way I feel. I mean, I’m not really sure. You know, I am working my way up and I don’t think I can give myself a rating right now. I’m working my way up. You know, last year was like my rookie season. So this year I really get to taste some of the field, you know. So I am not going to give myself a rating right now. I’m going to still work my way up and hopefully by the end of 2007 people can rate me a little bit. Phil: Is there anything you would like to say to your fans? Berto: Thank you for continuing to support me. I’m going to continue working hard for them. Keep supporting me, keep being behind me. You’re definitely seeing the future of boxing. So keep pumping and if you can’t be there definitely tune in on HBO and just keep supporting me. I would like to thank Andre Berto for taking the time to talk with us at Overhandright.com. Andre, I wish you the best of luck in your upcoming fight with Norberto Bravo and continued success in climbing the welterweight rankings. Also I want to thank Meredith Greenberg for making this interview possible. Phil Santos Overhandright.com Boxing News & Interviews Phil@Overhandright.com 2-7-07 |
| ANDRE BERTO EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW |
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| Writers & Contributors: Phil Santos Jim Amato John Martinez Ted Sares Bill Calogero Photographers: Barry Arpin Barry Chew Stacey Santos |
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