WBC welterweight champion Andre “The Beast” Berto was devastated when he heard Tuesday’s tragic news that Haiti had been struck by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake.
Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive estimated that the country’s most severe earthquake in over 200 years would likely leave “more than one hundred thousand dead.”
Berto (26-0, 19 KOs), a two-time National Golden Gloves champion who won 22 state titles in Florida, was born in Miami.
Nevertheless, as a proud Haitian-American, Berto represented Haiti at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.
Berto, who is scheduled to defend his crown versus “Sugar” Shane Mosley (46-5-1, 39 KOs) on January 30, said his uncle’s home collapsed in the quake and he has been unable to contact his sister or niece since the disaster occurred.
“My family that’s down there can’t make their way to where she is because of the damage that the earthquake has brought,” said Berto, 26. “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 with all the relatives. It’s very tough right now.”
Berto visited Haiti for the first time last March when he served as one of the Board of Directors for a charitable organization called “Carma Foundation.”
“I got a chance to see the poverty-stricken areas, and we gave away 10,000 pairs of shoes and some food,” said Berto, who captured his crown in June 2008 when he defeated Miguel Rodriguez by seventh round technical knockout.
“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.”
Berto has become a very popular fighter in the Boston area because Massachusetts has the third largest Haitian population in the United States and is home to approximately 70,000 to 80,000 Haitians.
Haitians initially began moving to the Bay State in the 1950’s primarily due to its employment opportunities and quality education system.
The largest contingent of Haitians is located in the Boston neighborhoods of Mattapan, Dorchester, Hyde Park and Roxbury.
“This is something that is very hard for me to deal with,” said Berto. “But, it is something that I have to deal with.”
Boxing is simply a sport.
Tuesday’s tragedy is significantly more important than what amounts to a game played in a ring.
Still, many individuals in and around Beantown are grieving alongside Berto and those same people will be cheering for “The Beast” in two weeks time when he faces Mosley.
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