Andre Berto, the WBC welterweight champion, has title unification match against Shane Mosley in Las Vegas on Jan. 30. But with that fight just two weeks ago, Berto can’t really focus his full attention on preparation or what lies ahead of him in the ring that night.
That because Berto has been gripped by the calamitous events in Haiti, which was struck by a 7.0 earthquake on Tuesday night. Berto, whose parents were born in Haiti, was the only member of the 2004 Haitian Olympic team.
Berto has several relatives in Haiti on his mother and father’s side of the family and his oldest sister, Naomi, and her daughter are also there.
“I’ve been trying to make contact since (Tuesday) night,’’ Berto said. “I finally made contact (Wednesday) with some distance cousins. None of the news has been good. There’s no electricity and no telephone service. Things are very bad there.’’
Berto said his uncle’s home collapsed in the quake, killing eight people inside and critically injuring one of his cousins. He still hasn’t made contact with Naomi, and her young daughter.
“My family that’s down there can’t make there way to where she is because of the damage that the earthquake has brought,’’ he said. “My Mom and Dad have been trying all day to get in touch with her and they can’t. We can’t get in touch will all the relatives. It’s very tough right now.’’
This is very difficult ordeal for Berto because he just recently began to fully embrace his Haitian heritage. He feels helpless as he sits around his home in Winter Haven, Fla., watching the tragedy unfold on television and waiting for information and communications from relatives and friends. Between waiting he has to try to train for the most important fight of his life.
“He’s a mess, but he knows what it means if he can win this fight,’’ said Lou DiBella, Berto’s promoter. “He’ll be able to focus attention on Haiti with the star power that comes from beating Mosley. I never suggested that he pull out and he never suggested that he pull out. He’s trying to channel the energy. He feels like he’s fighting for a bigger cause.’’
Berto mother, Wilnise, was born in Port Au Prince, and his father, Dieuseul, was born in the countryside outside of the capitol city. Berto was born in the United States, but used his Haitian heritage to get a spot in the 2004 Athens Game when he failed to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Boxing team.
When the countries marched into Olympic Stadium for the opening ceremonies, Berto carried the Haitian flag and was the lone athlete from poor island nation. Since turning pro, Berto, 26, has been trying to find ways to help the poor in Haiti. He made his first visit to Haiti last March as one of the Board of Directors of the Carma Foundation, a charitable organization founded by Melky Jean, the sister of singer Wyclef Jean. The organization tries to improve the health of poor women and children in Haiti.
He made a humanitarian tour of some of the poorest areas of the country, handing out shoes and food and even giving some of the youngsters boxing lessons. He also got a chance to meet some of his cousins that he had never met and met his oldest sister, Naomi, for the first time.
As his voice cracked with emotion earlier this week, Berto talked about how important it was for him to make his first visit to Haiti and how much it touched him. “I got a chance to see the poverty stricken areas and we gave away 10,000 pairs of shoes and some food,’’ Berto said.
“We had a fundraiser (in Washington D.C. in October) to send eight kids to school in Haiti. It’s a poor country, but you could still see people who were happy and proud.
“This hurts me even more what has happened there and what the people are going through because I was there a few months ago and I got a chance to hear, see and touch some of the people and feel the love that they had for me. It’s a tough thing to deal with.’’
The building that housed the Carma Foundation offices collapsed during the earthquake and is now just rubble, Berto said. Berto said he spoke to Melky Jean Wednesday night and she told him that her brother, Wyclef, was in Haiti trying to organize relief efforts on site.
But he said it is difficult because there is no electricity and no telephone service. Between training for his match against Mosley, Berto spent this week trying to organize relief efforts.
He has been working with Congressman Kendrick Meek of Miami to find a way to get relief supplies to Haiti. Berto said if anyone wants to help him raise donations and supplies they should contact him at his website www.andreberto.com
“ This is something that is very hard for me to deal with,’’ Berto said. “But it is something that I have to deal with.’’ So it will be with a heavy heart that Berto steps into the ring against Mosley in a couple of weeks. But know that he will be fighting for a bigger cause.
0 Comments