(Photo credit: Hogan Photos) By Dan Ambrose: Trainer Virgil Hunter expects to see a much different Andre Berto (28-3, 22 KOs) on Saturday night in his tune-up fight against Steve Upsher Chambers (24-3-1, 6 KOs) on Showtime at the U.S. Bank Arena, in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
Berto has changed his physique by trimming down a lot of the muscle he was carrying around on his upper body, and Hunter says his stamina is a lot better now that he’s taken off the useless muscle he was carrying.
Berto won’t be using the shoulder roll and he won’t be standing with his back against the ropes like we’ve seen in his last 4 fights. Hunter believes that Berto is going to make a statement with this fight, and show boxing fans that he still has a lot left in the tank at 31. Hunter wants Berto to beat Upsher in impressive fashion and then take one more tune-up fight before going after one of the world title belts at 147.
“I expect to see a fruition of his work Saturday. I’m excited for him,” Hunter said to Fighthype. “I expect to see a different Berto because of the understanding of what he’s doing. Fans and critics will say, hey, maybe this might be interesting down the road.”
The thing with Berto is that even if Hunter does improve his poor stamina, which is doubtful, Berto still has problems with muscle and tendon tears that might continue to plague him. He’s twice suffered arm injuries in the last three years, and he’s only fought 4 times in the past 4 years. Berto hasn’t been active, and he’s struggled against the likes of Victor Ortiz, Robert Guerrero and Jesus Soto Karass. Those are guys that Berto should have been able to defeat with ease.
A victory over Upsher really won’t give a clear picture of what Berto has left in the tank. He’s going to need to fight someone better than that for boxing fans to get an idea of what he has left. Fans will know from watching Berto tomorrow night whether he can beat a B level fighter anymore.
If he loses to this guy then it’s really hard to see where Berto can go from here. Hunter can give him all the pointers in the world and it likely won’t improve him enough to where Berto will ever recapture another world title.
“Physically, we changed him. He is going to be somebody they have to reckon with,” Hunter said.
It’s going to be interesting to see if Berto will be able to fight better without the heavy muscles that he carried around on his upper body. He was always so fast but he would tire out quickly after 5 rounds, and then struggle. The muscle tears to his biceps were some of the biggest problems he had. I’m not sure if he’s going to be able to avoid those kinds of issues.
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