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Boxer Andre Berto at 147's pounds a RISING STAR

Date: 14 Feb 2007

Shane Mosley had a bright future as a welterweight five years ago. He abandoned the division to chase the money at the junior middleweight division. But after he beat Luis Collazo in a 12-round welterweight World Boxing Council interim title match in Las Vegas on Saturday night it looks like Mosley?s future in the welterweight division is brighter than ever.

And that is good news for Andre Berto, the most promising young welterweight in the game. Berto will fight along side Paulie Malignaggi and Sechew Powell in a triple header in New York on Saturday night as part of an HBO "Boxing After Dark" broadcast.

Because Mosley, who is 35, has said that he plans on being around until he is 42 ? pulling a Bernard Hopkins without the retirement announcement. Mosley-Berto is a match that is well worth waiting for. And it could come in the next couple of years. With the state of boxing that is where we are ? anticipating great matches and wiling away the months with less than spectacular fare.

That isn?t to say that Mosley?s match against Collazo wasn?t intriguing. It certainly was going in. Collazo had fought Ricky Hatton in Boston last June. Hatton was moving up to welterweight at the time. Collazo showed him that he didn?t belong at 147 pounds. He rocked Hatton in the 12th round and could have stopped Hatton if he had pressed forward.

Mosley showed Collazo that Mosley really belongs at welterweight. Collazo said he re-injured his left hand in the third round of the fight. But somehow I don?t think it would have mattered. Mosley demonstrated the speed, quickness, power and movement that helped him twice defeat Oscar De La Hoya. There shouldn?t be any shame on Collazo?s part that he lost to Mosley. He?s in good company.

Collazo can now be talked about in the same conversation with Paul Williams, Antonio Margarito, Miguel Cotto and Zab Judah as top flight welterweights.

It?s the same conversation that Berto is trying to get into.

Berto is a 23-year-old prospect with 14 KOs on his unblemished 16-0 record. His promoter, Lou DiBella, has had trouble getting Berto fights that will stretch his experience level, particularly when it comes to getting rounds. Berto has power in both hands, which makes him as dangerous as any welterweight out there.

When DiBella scours for opponents he doesn?t like to send out tapes to the opponents so they can scout Berto. Most of the time they say, "No thanks." The ones who accepted typically wished they hadn?t.

Berto was supposed to fight veteran trial horse Ben Tackie on Saturday night. But Tackie pulled out of the fight. Tackie, who has fought Kostya Tszyu, Sharmba Mitchell and Ricky Hatton, would have been the perfect opponent to test Berto and give him some rounds.

Instead Berto will fight Norberto Bravo, whose claim to fame was that he boxed on the NBC TV boxing reality show ?The Contender?? last season. Tackie and Bravo fought to a draw a couple of years ago. Bravo doesn?t have an impressive record (23-12-3 with 13 KOs). So there is no guarantee that Berto can get rounds out of Bravo.

?I was a little disappointed (that Tackie pulled out),?? Berton said. ?But I kept the same mindset about training and I didn?t slow down.??

Berto hasn?t gone the distance in a fight since he got out of the four round stage. His second and fourth fights went the scheduled four rounds. Berto is anxious to test himself with regards to going the distance beyond four rounds.

?We train to go 12 or 14 rounds,?? Berto said. ?I want to show people that I?m going to go full steam late in the fight, that I?m not slowing down for anything. I want them to see that in the ninth or 10th

round that I?m just as good and strong as I am in the first round.??

The good thing about Berto is that he is still hungry, though his profile has risen. He has fought on the undercard of a couple of shows headlined by middleweight champion Jermain Taylor and broadcast on HBO.

Berto was probably one of the best boxers in America that didn?t make the U.S. Olympic team. His parents are Haitian and he used that to represent Haiti. He was the only athlete from Haiti in the 2004 Games in Athens. He lost in the first round. But it wasn?t because he couldn?t fight. He had a style that was more suited for the pro game than the amateurs.

Berto was raised in a battling family. His father competed in mixed martial arts tournaments in Japan in the 1980s. So there was always some type of sparring going on in the Berto household. But Andre decided that he was going to keep his feet on the ground and opted for boxing.

It was a great move for Berto. Now, he can almost see his hard work come to fruition.

?By the end of this year I would like to go from No. 1 prospect to No. 1 contender,?? Berto said. ?We?ll see how it goes, but that?s my goal. By the end of the year people should know my name in the boxing world like they talk about Paul Williams and Miguel Cotto.??

And I can?t wait for the ageless Mosley to meet the young, upstart Berto in a battle for welterweight supremacy.