Team Berto ready to move forward after loss to Robert Guerrero

Andre Berto is recovering well and has no internal injuries following Saturday's grueling, savage battle with Robert Guerrero on HBO, which ended in Guerrero's hand raised via unanimous decision in Ontario, California.

And his team, notably trainer Tony Morgan, says that it's just something they have to get through and move on from:

"I think that all of the pressure got to Berto from what he had gone through over the last year or so, because (Guerrero), to me, is nowhere near Berto's level. But you couldn't tell nobody that that night. We just have to get up, brush ourselves off and move on. There's nothing else that we can do."

Personally, I think Guerrero is quite clearly near Berto's level, but I also do assume that Morgan and I have different feelings on Andre Berto, and that's understandable, of course.

Berto (28-2, 22 KO) did start terribly, trying out a new Mayweather/Toney-style shoulder roll defense that he simply wasn't good at, resulting in a pair of knockdowns in the opening two rounds. After that, it became a vicious phonebooth fight, with plenty of dirty tactics all over the place, and Guerrero was just better-equipped for that.

Berto, though, did pretty well for a guy who hadn't fought in 14 months and stepped right back in with a very good fighter. Of particular note was Berto's resilience. Any criticisms of Berto the HBO-pushed creation from years ago are fair enough, but I have a hard time getting too up in arms about the idea that he'll likely be back in a main event fight his next time out, too. He's fallen short against probably his two best opponents (Guerrero and Victor Ortiz), but in both fights he showed real heart.

Golden Boy's Richard Schaefer expects Berto to be back in the main events, too:

"I think that Andre Berto has a lot to be proud of. He will be back, and he will be back, bigger, better and stronger. I am convinced that he will be fighting for a world title again in 2013. ... There is no quit in him. Even though he obviously had dramatically impaired vision, he just kept going, and that's a true warrior and a true modern day gladiator."

It will be at least spring before we see Berto back in the boxing ring, and there will surely be plenty of options for him. Backed by Haymon and Golden Boy (or at least we assume GBP will continue to promote him), Berto won't have to scrounge for a good fight. And if the fight itself is as good as his last three have been, I'd say we have a bona fide action hero.