Home »

[bana2166]

Winter Haven's (Florida) Haitian-Olympian Andre Berto to Fight Friday Night on ESPN. The fight will be shown on ESPN at 9 p.m - April 14, 2006

Andre Berto celebrates after his knockout of William Johnson in Tampa last Oct. 1. Berto, who has kept busy with bouts, fights on ESPN Friday night. JOE RANZE/For The Ledger

By DURWARD BUCK

Ledger Correspondent

WINTER HAVEN -- Unbeaten welterweight Andre Berto of Winter Haven expands his boxing horizon Friday night.

He is scheduled to meet Horacio Garcia in an eight-round main event in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

The fight will be shown on ESPN at 9 p.m.

"He's fighting all over the place," said manager-trainer Tony Morgan. "He's had fights in New York, Connecticut, Massachusets, Missouri, Oklahoma, California, and even one in Tampa."

Garcia enters the bout with a 15-5 record. The Californian has 11 knockouts.

Berto is 10-0 with eight knockouts.

"Garcia is a very hard puncher," Morgan said. "We're probably not going to try to punch with him; we'll box him."

Rancho Mirage is a large casino with aspirations of taking some of the pro fighting glamour from Las Vegas.

Berto will weigh around 150.

He and Morgan arrived in California on Tuesday to train and prepare for the fight.

He has been averaging around one fight every two months, Morgan said, and doesn't plan on cutting back.

There were concerns that the 22-yearold, a graduate of Winter Haven High School and a student at Polk Community College, would not be able to train at home at the Police Athletic League facility where he developed his skills. "We didn't have any trouble finding people to work him out," Morgan said.

Andre Berto, of Winter Haven, lands a punch on William Johnson in their October fight at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa. Berto, a welterweight, is 10-0 as a pro, with eight knockouts. JOE RANZE/For The Ledger

They include Paulba Leone, a super middleweight who lives in Winter Haven, Tyrone Summerall, an up-and-coming heavyweight; Tracy Smith, another heavyweight, Joe La Preto, and Efran Mejia, a talented 140-pounder.

"Mejia had been working in construction, but if he decides to come back to boxing full time, he's going to make a sensational pro," Morgan said. "He is a very strong puncher."

It has been Morgan's practice in training the PAL amateurs, as well as Berto, to prepare them for more rounds than they are scheduled to fight. When Berto was fighting three rounds, he was trained to go six.

"Oh, yeah, we always like for him to go over. He can coast for eight rounds, because we've made him go 10. We take those guys in the gym and put them in the right with him one at a time and try to wear him down. That's not easy to do because he trains so hard."

Morgan said Berto already has another bout set for June. Depending on the outcome of tonight's fight, he could fight again as early as May.

"We want to stay busy, we don't want him to get stagnant."

Morgan said Berto is a far better fighter today than he was in 2004 when he fought for Haiti in the Olympic games, and is better than he was a year ago as a pro.

"He's starting to settle down more," Morgan said. "He's able to adjust in a fight. If his punching is not working, he can box. If his boxing is not working, he can punch. He's just developing. He listens. And he learns."