Andre Berto: 'I'm Just a Young Animal'

Last month, WBC welterweight (147 pounds) champion Andre Berto had what he called "a career defining fight" against former world champion Carlos Quintana, who he stopped in the eighth round.

In doing so, Berto rose to 26-0, with his 20th knockout, vanquishing a southpaw for the third consecutive time and overcoming an injury in the process.

While Berto is generally considered to be a understudy to division front-runners Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, the 26-year-old rising star doesn't necessarily accept that role.

Berto took time to discuss his position with FanHouse in this Q&A.

Can you discuss what you overcame against Carlos Quintana, which was a fight that came in the aftermath of the earthquake that killed family members in Haiti, and which included your bicep tear of your left arm suffered in the second round?

Andre Berto: Just basically everything. I mean, I was just coming back after some time going through what I went through with my family and everything. Personally, mentally, and just all the way around the board.

It wasn't just a confirmation for my fans, to let them know that I was back. It was a confirmation for just myself, that mentally, I was ready to come back, and that mentally, I was going to be back on the right path.

Would it be accurate to say that it was among, if not, the most defining fights of your career considering you were facing a former world champion who was, in fact, the only man to have beaten Paul Williams?

Definitely. I believe that that night was a career defining fight for me because I was battling, you know, more than just Carlos Quintana that night. It's risky for any type of fighter to get in there with a fighter like the Carlos Quintana, who was a former world champion and who has great skills.

Not to mention that he is a southpaw. But I was carrying a lot of weight emotionally and personally on my back like I did. And to get in there and to do what I did, and at the same time, to tear my bicep like I did in the second round, I had to go to other options.

I had to overcome a lot of obstacles to get that win. So definitely, it was a great win for me.

Can you discuss what it took to endure some of Carlos Quintana's veteran tricks, such as hitting on the break, spinning behind you and rabbit punching?

Yeah, he was just using those tactics. I'm not mad at him for it. Those are the old tactics that a lot of the veterans use. That night, though, they were going to have to throw a bulldog in there with me because my mentality that night was different.

For my last few fights, I've kind of gone in with a seek-and-destroy type of mentality like I used to when I first turned pro. I felt that it didn't matter what he did, I just felt like I was going to be better when it came to power. It was just my motivation to get the job done.

Can you talk about the moment that you injured your bicep?

I had kind of tweaked it a little bit in camp. And during the fight, when I was throwing a left hook to the body, and actually, I think I hit Quintana in his hip. And then I felt it tear. I went back to the corner and I told my corner that I think that I ripped it.

I think that I really, really hurt it. And they looked at it, and we saw the separation, you know, in my bicep. We started rubbing it out a little bit, and my trainer was like, 'Hey, you've got another arm, so you know, use that.'

It was like, 'You've got that right hand, and just block it out of your mind. Just put your left arm out there as a distraction, but don't throw it. Just go out there and you've got to finish this fight as soon as possible,' is what he kept telling me.

He said, 'We've got to finish this fight.'

So in what ways did the injury force you to modify or adjust your game plan?

I really just, a lot of people kept yelling at me to 'Put your left hand up,' because I was holding it low. But I couldn't. So I really just kept throwing it up as a distraction somewhat as a jab or just to sort of blind him with that left hand as I threw it up. It was just to set up that right hand, and I just had to adjust to it quickly.




What questions do you feel you answered about yourself that night?

I believe that every time that I step in there, and every time that I fight, there are going to be questions to be answered. I believe that I've shown that I can go in there against top competition, and that I've shown that I can come back through adversity and dominate.

I just believe that me being in such a talent-rich division, there's always going to be questions that are out there about whether I can stay in there with the top guys like the Floyd Mayweathers and the Shane Mosleys and the Manny Pacquiaos.

So those questions are just going to have to continue to be answered as I go.

Do you think that questions such as, 'Is Andre Berto a pay-per-view fighter?' are fair to be asked of you at this point in your career?

Some people say that they're not fair questions, but that's just the way that it is right now. When LeBron James first got into the league, they automatically compared him to everybody because he had so much hype on him coming out of high school. They compared him to everybody.

Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, they were comparing him to everybody, and he got a lot of criticism over those first couple of years, so that he had to continue to keep proving himself over and over again. It's something, that, for me, I probably won't be able to shake until I go in there and face those big guys and dominate.

So I've just accepted that. Of course there's something about me that a lot of those guys are concerned about. I'm just a young animal, at the end of the day. They know, and everybody that's been in there with me knows, that there are guys who have never been stopped, and I've been the first to do that.

They know that at the end of the day, that if they end up fighting me, they're going to go home with some bumps and some bruises. But at the same time, a guy like Paul Williams, just like myself, he wants the big fights and he wants to go after some of the big names.

I feel like they're putting a lot of gatekeepers in there with me. You don't see a lot of the world champions fighting three tough southpaws in a row, but that's something that I've accepted and something that I just went ahead and did just so that I can keep proving myself.

But you know, in due time, everything will fall into place.

Is there a prognoses for recovery and a potential date for your return from your bicep injury?

I believe that it will be some time in August or September that I'll be fighting again. But right now, I'm still rehabbing my bicep right now. If everything continues to go well, I should be ready to go some time in the fall.

How is your rehabilitation going?

It's just going better and better. I've been doing a lot of stretching, a lot of bicep curls, and doing everything possible just to rebuild that bicep back strong within the year. I want to get it better and then give it time to be rested and healed. They said that it's going to take seven, eight weeks with just no punching the bags.

Just getting a lot of bicep curls in and doing a lot of stretching and massaging. Just taking it easy with it. I have a rehab therapist out here in Los Angeles, and I have a rehab therapist back in Atlanta, so I'm back and forth and working on it. Everything's coming back better, and the strength is coming back.

Everything's going pretty good.

Given the landscape, with Manny Pacquiao holding the WBO, Shane Mosley the WBA, and Jan Zaveck the IBF, what would your game plan be if you were able to map out your next two or three fights?

Really, I'd fight just about anybody. I'd love to get another title. I'd love to fight Manny Pacqauiao. I believe, you know, Shane Mosley, he's still a star. He's got a huge name. You know, Jan Zaveck's got a belt, and I'd love to get another title. And at the end of the tunnel, definitely, any and everybody wants that Floyd Mayweather fight.

We'll see what happens.