Andre Berto Speaks on TMT, Lou Dibella, and His Promotional Situation

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    Before his fight with Robert Guerrero was official, the rumors of what Andre Berto’s next move in and out the ring were plenty.  Those rumors ranged anywhere from who his next opponent would be, a possible move up in weight, and the uncertainty of who his promoter was.

    Andre Berto was a guest of ThaBoxingVoice.com’s radio show and shed light and cleared up some of those rumors. “There were a lot for rumors, a lot of different fighters. I just sat back and hearing all of them, nothing was solidified, just rumors and talk. The Guerrero fight was the only thing that came to fruition,” Berto told ThaBoxingVoice.com.

    Among his potential opponents, the two names that were mentioned with Berto were those of Cornelius ‘K9’ Bundrage and Timothy Bradley. A fight with Bradley would have been at the 147 lb welterweight limit, while a fight with Bundrage would have meant a move up in weight for Berto to the 154 lb Jr. Welterweight limit. One may have wondered if 147 was a stretch for him to make. Berto explained, “As far as the fights, it was mainly Bradley, Bundrage, and Guerrero, no other names were mentioned. But weight to me isn’t an issue. I fought at 156 and 152 in the amateurs and started my career at 154. But I can still make 147 pretty easily, but neither weight class is hard for me to make.”

    Berto has long been promoted by Lou Dibella and his company Dibella Entertainment. But at one point, Dibella and Golden Boy had stated claim in being the promoter of note for Berto. Berto wanted to clear up any misconceptions about his promotional status. “For this fight, its Golden Boy promotions, it’s not Lou Dibella. I’m still friends with Dibella and his whole camp. They’ve done a wonderful job with me. But this fight is Golden Boy. I am not under contract with Lou Dibella. Right now it’s just a one fight situation with Golden Boy. No long term contracts have been signed. We got Al Haymon directing us in the right area and right direction.”

    There was one point not too long ago that even rumors of Andre Berto joining rapper 50 Cent’s TMT (The Money Team) Promotions were pretty strong. Since then the falling out of 50 Cent and friend and would be partner Floyd Mayweather, Jr. has ended with both men seemingly going their separate ways. Berto did indeed meet with 50 Cent, but according to him was merely to weigh his options. “The situation with T.M.T., there was never contracts or anything. 50 cent, you know he’s good peoples; we chopped it up about a lot of different things. Pretty much that’s what it was. We had a lot of good conversation about ventures inside and outside of boxing.”

     

    For Full Audio of this interview click here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thaboxingvoiceradioshow/2012/11/05/andre-berto-mikael-zewski-jamie-kavanagh