Andre Berto - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Andre Michael Berto is a Haitian-American professional boxer

Professional Boxing

Professional boxing, or prizefighting, emerged in the early twentieth century as boxing gradually attained legitimacy and became a regulated, sanctioned sport. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse which is divided among the fighters and promoters as determined by contract...

. On June 21, 2008, Berto became the WBC

World Boxing Council

The World Boxing Council was initially established by 11 countries: the United States, Argentina, United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Philippines, Panama, Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil plus Puerto Rico, met in Mexico City on February 14, 1963, upon invitation of the then President of Mexico, Adolfo...

welterweight champion by defeating Miguel Rodriguez by seventh round technical knockout. He lost his WBC welterweight title on April 16, 2011 to Victor Ortiz

Victor Ortíz

Victor Ortiz is an American professional boxer of Mexican descent and the former WBC welterweight champion.He was previously in the light welterweight division, where he held the USBA & NABO title....

via unanimous decision. Berto bounced back in his very next fight on 4th September 2011, to defeat Jan Zaveck and became the IBF welterweight champion, until he vacated it.

Personal life

Raised one of seven children in Winter Haven, Florida

Winter Haven, Florida

Winter Haven is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. The population was 26,487 at the 2000 census. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2007 estimates, the city had a population of 32,577, making it the second most populated city in Polk County...

, Berto was introduced to boxing by his father after getting beat multiple times by him. Dieuseul, who competed professionally in mixed martial arts

Mixed martial arts

Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...

and taught the sport at a school in Winter Haven. For Berto, the sport of boxing became a solace to stay out of trouble. His brother, James Edson Berto

James Edson Berto

James Edson Berto is a Haitian professional mixed martial artist and the former Real Fighting Championship Lightweight Champion who has fought for the EliteXC and Strikeforce promotions and is known for his incredible leg lock variations, all but one of his submission wins are by way of Heel...

, is a professional mixed martial artist. Berto is often called "Mike", his middle name.

Amateur career

As an amateur, Berto won a bronze medal in the 2003 World Amateur Championships. He was also a two-time National Golden Gloves champion, a two-time National PAL

Police Athletic League

The Police Athletic League is an organization in many American police departments in which members of the police force coach young people, both boys and girls, in sports, and help with homework and other school-related activities. The purpose is to build character, help strengthen police-community...

champion, a three-time U.S. amateur championship medalist, and also won 22 state titles in Florida.

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 back 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

Xavier Noël

Xavier Noel is a French welterweight amateur boxer who won silver at the 2004 European Championships and participated in the 2004 Summer Olympics.-Career:...

of France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

Professional 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 Arena

Verizon Arena is an 18,000-seat multi-purpose arena in North Little Rock, Arkansas, directly across the Arkansas River from downtown Little Rock. The arena opened in October 1999...

in North Little Rock, Arkansas

North Little Rock, Arkansas

the city was 62.55% White, 33.98% Black or African American, 0.41% Native American, 0.59% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.18% from other races, and 1.26% from two or more races...

, 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

ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN and a division of ESPN Inc. Since launching in 1995 as ESPNet.SportsZone.com, the website has developed numerous sections including: Page 2, SportsNation, ESPN 3.com, ESPN Motion, My ESPN, ESPN Sports Travel, ESPN Video Games, ESPN Insider, ESPN.com's...

’s 2006 Prospect of the Year. His next fight took place on February 17, 2007, at the Hammerstein Ballroom

Hammerstein Ballroom

The Hammerstein Ballroom is a two-tiered, 12,000 square feet ballroom located within the Manhattan Center Studios on 311 West 34th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States of America. It is known for its elegant appearance and excellent acoustical design...

in New York City, New York, against Norberto Bravo

Norberto Bravo

Norberto Bravo is a Mexican-American professional boxer, and is a contestant on the ESPN reality show "Contender Season 2". As was revealed on the show in a web clip, Bravo suffers from colorblindness...

of The Contender
The Contender (TV series)
The Contender is a reality television series that follows a group of boxers as they compete with one another in an elimination-style competition, while their lives and relationships with each other and their families are depicted. Produced by Mark Burnett, the show is hosted by Sugar Ray Leonard,...

. 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 in Saratoga Springs, New York

Saratoga Springs, New York

Saratoga Springs, also known as simply Saratoga, is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 26,586 at the 2010 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area. While the word "Saratoga" is known to be a corruption of a Native American name, ...

. Berto fought Cosme Rivera

Cosme Rivera

Cosme Rivera is a professional boxer. Rivera had a Draw in his professional debut on Jan. 1, 1993 vs. Cachorron Diaz in Mexico....

. 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

Boardwalk Hall

Boardwalk Hall, formally known as the Historic Atlantic City Convention Hall, is an arena in Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States...

in Atlantic City, New Jersey

Atlantic City, New Jersey

Atlantic City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, and a nationally renowned resort city for gambling, shopping and fine dining. The city also served as the inspiration for the American version of the board game Monopoly. Atlantic City is located on Absecon Island on the coast...

, Berto defeated David Estrada

David Estrada

David Estrada is a Guatemalan-American boxer who is from Chicago.-Amateur career:Estrada started his amateur career in Chicago. He won several titles, including the Chicago Park District Championship in 1993, the PAL National Championship in 1997, and the Texas State Golden Gloves Championship in...

by eleventh round technical knockout to win the NABF

North American Boxing Federation

The North American Boxing Federation is a not-for-profit regional sanctioning body that awards regional boxing titles. It is a boxing federation within the World Boxing Council .-History:...

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

Pechanga Resort and Casino

Pechanga Resort and Casino is an Indian Casino on the Pechanga Indian Reservation in Temecula, California. Pechanga Resort and Casino is the largest casino in the state of California, with 3,400 slot machines and approximately of gaming space.-History:...

in Temecula, California

Temecula, California

Temecula is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States with a population of 100,097 according to the 2010 United States Census, making it the lowest populated American city over 100,000 population. It was incorporated on December 1, 1989...

, 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 title

On June 21, 2008, Berto captured the vacant WBC

World Boxing Council

welterweight title by defeating Miguel Rodriguez in the seventh round by technical knockout at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....

. Berto knocked Rodriguez down twice in the seventh round, before the referee stopped the bout with 47 second left as Berto continually hurt Rodriguez with right hands. Berto's first title defense of the WBC welterweight title occurred on September 28, 2008, at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California

Carson, California

Carson is a city in Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 census, Carson had a total population of 91,714. Located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately 14 miles away from the Los Angeles International Airport, it is known as a suburb of the city....

against Steve Forbes. Berto consistently outpunched Forbes, 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, Mississippi

Biloxi is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, in the United States. The 2010 census recorded the population as 44,054. Along with Gulfport, Biloxi is a county seat of Harrison County....

against former WBA

World Boxing Association

The World Boxing Association is a boxing organization that sanctions official matches, and awards the WBA world championship title at the professional level. It was previously known as the National Boxing Association before changing its name in 1962...

welterweight champion Luis Collazo

Luis Collazo

Luis Collazo is a boxer in the welterweight division. His boxing record is 31-4 . He is a former WBA welterweight champion.- Professional career :...

. 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.

On Saturday, May 30, 2009, Berto defended his WBC welterweight title against Juan Urango and won a lopsided unanimous decision.

Berto was to defend his title against "Sugar" Shane Mosley

Shane Mosley

“Sugar” Shane Mosley is an American professional boxer from Pomona, California who has held world titles in three weight divisions.-Amateur career:Mosley was an amateur standout, capturing various amateur titles, including:...

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

2010 Haiti earthquake

The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake, with an epicentre near the town of Léogâne, approximately west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. The earthquake occurred at 16:53 local time on Tuesday, 12 January 2010.By 24 January, at least 52 aftershocks...

. With Mosley subsequently landing a bout with Floyd Mayweather Jr, Berto faced former WBO

World Boxing Organization

The World Boxing Organization is a sanctioning organization currently recognizing professional boxing world champions. The organization is recognized as one of the four major world championship groups by the IBHOF alongside the International Boxing Federation, the World Boxing Council and the...

welterweight champion Carlos Quintana

Carlos Quintana (boxer)

Carlos Quintana is a Puerto Rican professional boxer. As an amateur Quintana represented Puerto Rico. He debuted as a professional in 1997. On February 24, 2006, he participated in his first professional championship fight, defeating Raul Bejerano for the World Boxing Organization's Latino...

on April 10, 2010 and won by an eighth round knockout, despite injuring his left biceps during the fight.

On November 27, 2010 he got a TKO victory over Freddy Hernandez

Freddy Hernandez

Freddy Hernandez Gomez is a Mexican boxer in the Welterweight division. He is the current WBC Latino Welterweight Champion.-Pro career:...

. Berto successfully defended his WBC welterweight title, stopping Freddy Hernandez at 2:07 of the first round. He hammered Hernandez (29-2) with a left hook, then floored him with a straight right during the co-feature fight of the Juan Manuel Marquez-Michael Katsidis

Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Michael Katsidis

Marquez vs. Katsidis This fight has been considered to be the best fight of the year. Marquez has slowed to the point that he almost seems to prefer getting into slugfests where he can still use his excellent counter-punching accuracy, while Katsidis has never been one to turn down a blood-drenched...

lightweight championship bout.

Berto vs Ortiz

On April 16, 2011 Berto's reign as champion came to an end at the hands of Victor Ortiz. Ortiz defeated Berto by unanimous decision in a fight of the year candidate with 4 ruled knockdowns.

Berto vs Zaveck

On September 3, 2011, Berto returned after his defeat to Victor Ortiz

Victor Ortíz

to face IBF

International Boxing Federation

The International Boxing Federation or IBF is one of four major organizations recognized by IBHOF which sanction world championship boxing bouts, alongside the WBA, WBC and WBO.- History :...

Welterweight

Welterweight is a weight class division in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like kickboxing, taekwondo and mixed martial arts also began to use it for their own weight division system...

Champion Jan Zaveck. 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

International Boxing Federation

The International Boxing Federation or IBF is one of four major organizations recognized by IBHOF which sanction world championship boxing bouts, alongside the WBA, WBC and WBO.- History :...

Welterweight

Champion.

Professional boxing record

| style="text-align:center;" colspan="8"|28 Wins (22 knockouts), 1 Loss, 0 Draws
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|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Record
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Victor Ortiz

Victor Ortíz

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Dejan Zavec

Dejan Zavec is a Slovenian professional boxer who held the IBF Welterweight Champion title from December 2009 until September 3, 2011, when he lost it to Andre Berto. He boxes under the name Jan Zaveck. His professional record includes 33 fights: 31 wins , 2 losses, and 1 no-contest...

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Victor Ortiz

Victor Ortíz

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Freddy Hernandez

Freddy Hernandez Gomez is a Mexican boxer in the Welterweight division. He is the current WBC Latino Welterweight Champion.-Pro career:...

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Carlos Quintana

Carlos Quintana (boxer)

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Juan Urango

Juan "Iron Twin" Urango is a professional boxer in the junior welterweight division.-Pro Career:...

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Luis Collazo

Luis Collazo is a boxer in the welterweight division. His boxing record is 31-4 . He is a former WBA welterweight champion.- Professional career :...

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Steve Forbes
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Miguel Angel Rodriguez
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Michel Trabant
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David Estrada

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Cosme Rivera

Cosme Rivera is a professional boxer. Rivera had a Draw in his professional debut on Jan. 1, 1993 vs. Cachorron Diaz in Mexico....

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Martinus Clay
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Norberto Bravo

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Miguel Figueroa
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James Crayton
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Roberto Valenzuela
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Sammy Sparkman
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Gerardo Cesar Prieto
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Horatio García

Whoratio García is a professional Mexican-American boxer in the Light Welterweight division.-Pro career:...

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Jonathan Tubbs
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Taronze Washington
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Maurice Chalmers
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William Johnson
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Anthony Little
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Tim Himes
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Daniel Neal
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Edgar Galvan
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Joseph Benjamin
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Personal

In a March 2010 column he wrote for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

, Berto described some of his efforts for Project Medishare in Haiti after the earthquake, as well as relating that he is frequently mistaken for New Orleans Saints

New Orleans Saints

The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are members of the South Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League ....

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

star Reggie Bush

Reggie Bush

Reginald Alfred "Reggie" Bush II is an American football running back for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League. He was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the first round of the 2006 NFL Draft...

External links

Bio - file interview with Andre Berto at BoxingInsider.com

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