By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse
WBC welterweight (147 pounds) champion, Andre Berto, of Winter Haven, Fla., will end a near 11-month ring absence on Saturday night when he defends his crown against southpaw, former world champion, Carlos Quintana, of Puerto Rico, before what should be a partisan crowd at the Bank of America Center in Sunrise, Fla.
But when the 26-year-old Berto (25-0, 19 knockouts) steps into the ring opposite the 33-year-old Quintana (27-2, 21 KOs), he will not only be re-asserting the promising career of a man many see as the heir-apparent to greatness in the division.
A Haitian-American, Berto will also be continuing the disaster relief efforts he has been involved in since Haiti, his parents' island nation, was rocked by an earthquake in mid-January.
In the wake of the tradgedy which killed as many as eight of Berto's relatives, the distraught fighter pulled out of a scheduled Jan. 30 bout with 38-year-old, WBA welterweight super champion, Shane Mosley (46-5, 39 KOs), who will now face 32-year-old, unbeaten, Floyd Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) on May 1.
Berto emersed himself in the cause of Haiti, devoting much of his attention toward saving lives and generally lifting the will and the well-being of those who dwell there, and to whom procedes from saturday night's card -- billed "Fight For Haiti" -- will be directed.
According to Berto's promoter, Lou DiBella, ringside tickets, sold at $250, go at two for the price of one as do those priced at $100. Out of the $500 VIP tickets, $100 is tax deductible and goes toward Hatian relief. Out of all of the other seats in the arena, "10 percent is tax deductible, and 10 percent goes to Haitian relief," said DiBella.
"We've taken several trips to Haiti and had a chance to give out 10,000 pairs of shoes to children the last trip. We've had a chance to sponsor a few orphanages, and this was before the earthquake even happened," said Berto, reached at his training quarters near his hometown of Winter Haven.
"It was a tough time because so many things were going on in my personal life when it came to the Haiti situation," said Berto, whose workouts take place between two and three hours from Sunrise. "But that's a situation that happened, and something that I can't take back. I've been away from the ring for a while, and I'm excited to be back."
Berto said that he is ready to transition back into the sport against Quintana, the only man to defeat Paul Williams (38-1, 27 KOs).
Quintana is coming off of December's junior middleweight (154 pounds), third-round, technical knockout of Jesse Feliciano (15-8-3, nine KOs), of Las Vegas.
Quintana had dethroned Williams as WBO welterweight titlist in February 2008, but was knocked out in the first round of their rematch four months later.
Quintana rebounded from that setback with October's fourth-round stoppage of Joshua Onyango, which was also contested at 154 pounds.
"You have to be concerned, as a part of the Andre Berto team, that it's been a long layoff and a very emotional time for him, and you have to hope that his focus is on Carlos Quintana, where it needs to be," said DiBella, Berto's promoter.
"From everything that I've heard, and been told, he's had a great camp. One of my other fighters, Willie Monroe, who will be fighting on the undercard, has been one of Berto's main sparring partners," said DiBella. "Willie's a tough kid, and Willie said that Berto's sharp as hell and expects Berto to do very well."
Quintana's only other loss was by fifth-round knockout against former world champion Miguel Cotto in December of 2006.
"I think that this is his toughest fight. I think that Quintana is slick, he was aable to clearly out-box Paul Williams, and I think that that's a big credential to have beaten Williams," said DiBella. "I really look at this as a fight that could really elevate Andre Berto to the top eschelon of the welterweights."
Quintana is the third straight southpaw Berto will face, and the "eighth or ninth" he has fought overall, he said.
In January of 2009, Berto scored a unanimous decision over former WBA king, Luis Collazo, a left-hander from Queens, N.Y. against whom Berto swapped turns being rocked in a battle of wills, power and speed.
In his last fight in May, Berto earned a unanimous decision over then-IBF junior welterweight (140 pounds) champion, Juan Urango (22-3-1, 17 KOs), a left-hander from Cooper City, Fla., by way of Colombia.
"I've been fighting guys that guys just don't want to fight because they're awkward southpaws and tough guys. Luis Collazo was a completely different southpaw than Urango, and Urango is a completely different southpaw than Carlos Quintana," said Berto.
"Collazo was more of a technician, very smart and picked his shots. He wanted to make sure that he made the right moves. Urango was just one of those strong, straight-forward bulls who was coming to just knock you out with strong punches," said Berto. "Carlos Quintana, he's a smart, southpaw as well, but he likes to use his movement with a long reach, and he likes to use the angles and catch you off balance with his punches."
Berto said that his sparring partners have been able to emulate Quintana's style to the point where "they have same movement," and, "have been giving me exactly what I need, so it's been going good."
"I'm kind of getting used to the whole southpaw look, but I know that Quintana's definitely coming to make a statement, and he's going to be hungry for the title. Quintana's a sharp southpaw who is sneaky and smart, and if you make too many mistakes, he'll definitely make you pay," said Berto.
"But I'm 100 percent focused on this fight. Being out of the ring for a while, there may be a little ring rust, maybe not," said Berto. "But Quintana doesn't care about anything else that's going on. He's just coming to take what I have. I've had a tremendous training camp, but I know that he'll be coming with his best."
But so will Berto, who will be looking to duplicate the atomosphere of his match up with Urango that took place at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Hollywood, Fla., before what was a crowd partisan to Berto.
"Being on the stage, and on HBO, and bringing it down to South Florida, everybody was excited, everybody came out and supported me. It was a tremendous night of boxing, and I know that it's going to be even bigger this weekend," said Berto.
"That's [Quintana] the only thing everybody around here has been talking about, and I've been getting tons of calls from Miami, Fort Lauderdale and the Sunrise areas, and so everybody is excited," said Berto. "It's going to be a special night, not just for me, but for the people of Haiti, because ticket sales are going to the cause of Haitian relief, so it will be a win-win situation."
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
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