Andre Berto pulling out of Jan. 30 fight with Shane Mosley
by Scott Christ on Jan 18, 2010 5:02 PM EST
in Boxing News Analysis
31 comments
WBC welterweight titlist Andre Berto will be pulling out of his January 30 fight with WBA titlist Shane Mosley. Berto, who has a lot of extended family in Haiti, has been focused heavily on the terrible tragedy that the nation is now facing in the wake of the massive earthquake that has devastated its people. Word is that Berto simply isn't mentally prepared to fight.
411mania.com's Ramon Aranda tweeted about the withdrawal, which had been floating around the rumor mill much of the day. Aranda has a full story up now on 411mania.
This was something that had been in my mind ever since we started getting a clear picture of the toll that the disaster had on Haiti. Andre has done a lot of charity work for the nation in the past, and continues to do so. I wondered if this might affect the fight, and it understandably has.
This was to be the biggest fight of the young Berto's career, but these fights will be there later down the line, too. Berto's Twitter has spoken zero of the fight since the earthquake hit, and he's been entirely focused on trying to rally support for Haiti and its people.
In short, it's no surprise that Berto has decided to withdraw from a bout of this magnitude while being at less than 100% mentally.
Here's wishing Andre the best as he continues to support the cause in Haiti. We look forward to his return to the ring, hopefully soon.
This would also seem to fully open the door for Mosley to face Floyd Mayweather Jr., but that's a story for another time. For now, all best wishes to Andre Berto and his work. It's a hell of an admirable reason to pull out of a fight.
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Respect to Berto. He has his priorities straight here.
by taco pal on Jan 18, 2010 5:06 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
Super official
Now Dan Raf has a similar story up on ESPN.com reporting the same exact thing. Mosley-Floyd coming up soon hopefully or is there some kind of postponement clause in the agreement here?
http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=4837075
This would also seem to fully open the door for Mosley to face Floyd Mayweather Jr
My first thought. I think a Berto fight would still make sense win or lose for Shane.
"True strength is not always shown through victory. Stand up, try again and display strength of heart."
Rickson Gracie
as soom as the tragedy in haiti happened i thought of berto and the possibility of him pulling out … theres no way he can be mentally 100% with what has happened. and now we better get the bout thats been almost 10yrs in the making … ssm pbf in march or may!!!!!
I am really bummed about no Mosley-Berto because that fight was great, but I totally understand Andre withdrawing. It was the smartest thing to do.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Jan 18, 2010 5:24 PM EST up reply actions
I wonder if there's any chance HBO keeps the TV date
And runs a couple of the undercard fights as a BAD? I suspect it’s too late to find any kind of respectable replacement for Mosley.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
yeah
And I doubt Mosley wants to risk anything with a Floyd fight on the horizon instead. I doubt they’ll keep the date. It’d be neat if they would. Johnson-Mack, Perez-Rodela and Harris-Matthysse would be a fun BAD.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Jan 18, 2010 5:26 PM EST up reply actions
Totally understandable, though disappointing for us fans.
First things first. Look after your family, Andre. The sport will be here when you get back.
Although detractors decry (MMA) as a brutal, bloody form of human cockfighting, aficionados know it is a brutal, bloody, totally fucking awesome form of human cockfighting. -The Onion
by The Kittitas Kid on Jan 18, 2010 6:01 PM EST reply actions
Its Time for FMJ to step up to the plate...
… and prove his critics wrong about his gutts.
I commend berto
Life is bigger than sports. And there is no way he could have been in the right state of mind.
I wish berto the best, and hope things get better for him.
Here’s the thing tho.
Obviously this opens the door for Mosley-Mayweather. And that would be THE fight on March 13.
I wonder if top rank goes back to the negioating table now, or just deals with going head to head with what, to me, seems to be a bigger fight commercially.
Wonder if floyd ask shane for blood tests lol.
"After this, I'm gonna kick Bob Arum's ass."
-George Lopez
by thebitb on Jan 18, 2010 6:12 PM EST via mobile reply actions
March 13, 2010 - Mayweather vs Mosley
Trumps Pacquiao vs Clottey. I wonder if they would do that though.
It would still be foolish to split the PPV
As diminished profits would be the result.
"Honey i forgot to duck" - Jack Dempsey
by Drunken cutman on Jan 19, 2010 6:44 AM EST up reply actions
Whatever happened to winning one for the Gipper, in this case, dedicating a victory for the people in Haiti? Hell, I’m not in this kids head so it’s not for me to say. But to me it sounds like a mentality that wasn’t ready to fight anyway. Who was it that played football the day his father died….Brett Favre wasn’t it?
So if your country was obliterated and they were scooping up bloated bodies with bulldozers you'd say..
the fight must go on???
Every fighter has a game plan until he get's punched in the mouth.
-Mike
Yes, absolutely. He could frame the fight in context of the disaster, that the Haitian spirit cannot be defeated, etc. Look up Marcel Cerdan’s record: he fought all during WWII while his country was occupied. I’m not saying anything against Berto….I"m not in his shoes. Just saying he could have used this opportunity to dedicate a fight to all Haitians during this time of disaster.
by FrankinDallas on Jan 18, 2010 9:01 PM EST up reply actions
That is just ridiculous.
Just from his semi-famousness, he is famous to boxing fans but not sports fans in general, he can raise money and help Haitians more with out fighting. After all this is a sport that if you are not right mentally you can get seriously hurt or worse.
It depends on where his mind is at, really
If he can’t focus to train, he can’t focus to train. Period. I mean, Marcel Cerdan wasn’t rallying people for Vichy France while he was in training camp either.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
that's a little selfish
So, you dis the guy cause you didn’t like his reaction to this catastrophe. Wow, just wow!
Disappointing yet understandable
Boxing is a job, a much more high paying high profile job than many of us have, but a job nevertheless. Family comes before work, and from what I understand his sister and niece were left homeless by this tragedy. Absolutely take care of your family. No doubt I would do the same.
Total Respect To Andre
He would not be near his best mentally.He seems like a great guy and this tragedy has effected him personally.
I was looking forward to the fight but there are many things much more important than boxing and he is most definitely doing the right thing.
by Matt (Yorkshire) on Jan 18, 2010 6:34 PM EST reply actions
Berto is doing the right thing.
As much as it sucks to be a boxing fan, he’s easily doing the right thing by pulling out of this fight.
If he did it everybody would have second guessed if Mosley would have won.
This is a chance for Mosely and Mayweather to do something noble: donate a portion of the proceeds from their fight to Haiti. If Mayweather wants to bring back some goodwill after what happened to his fight with Pacman this would be a great start.
Mayweather actually does a good deal of charity work
and I think if this is brought up to him he would do it in a heart beat. For all is acting on camera he seems to be a really good and caring guy to those less fortunate then himself off camera.
Your idea is actually a great one and something i hope they do.
GODDAMMIT
I can’t fault the guy because this is a noble cause. But seriously, why did this have to happen? Its just unfortunate because this was a great fight.
Poor Moseley, can’t get anyone to fight him.
How funny would it be if Mayweather-Mosley happened
It’s just VERY fortuitous that this is what happened (assuming everything signs up as expected).
Mosley and Clottey sign to fight each other
Pavlik delays Williams fight, HBO cancels Mosley-Clottey because it’s too close
Clottey set to fight on Pavlik-Williams undercard against Carlos Quintana
Pavlik further delays Williams fight, Top Rank pulls from the card, and pulls Clottey with them
Mosley and Berto sign to fight each other
Superfight between Mayweather and Pacquiao implodes
Pacquiao signs to fight Clottey
Earthquake in Haiti, Berto pulls out of fight
Mayweather signs to fight Mosley
So Mosley and Clottey go from fighting each other, through a series of events completely outside their control, end up fighting the two biggest draws in the world.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
Shane was saved. Mad props to Andre, though. He’s the future and I hope all goes well for him.
Twitter: @FlyByKnite
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