Former WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto revealed today that he’ll be fighting Robert ‘The Ghost’ Guerrero in their long-awaited rematch on November 25th on the undercard of the David Benavidez vs. Demetrius Andrade card at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas.
Berto has wanted to avenge his loss to Guerrero for a long time, and he’s finally getting a chance. Given that Robert hasn’t fought in two years and is well past his prime, a win over him now would be bittersweet for Berto, as would prove nothing.
Guerrero already beat him in his prime and losing a second time could leave Berto with haunting memories as he heads into retirement.
The 40-year-old Berto (32-5, 24 KOs) didn’t say whether his fight with the former two-division world champion Guerrero (37-6-1, 20 KOs) would be included on the Showtime PPV portion of the card, but it’s difficult to imagine that it’ll make it onto the paid area of the event.
Younger boxing fans won’t know who Berto & Guerrero are, as both of their careers pretty much fizzled out after their 2012 fight, which was won by ‘The Ghost’ by a twelve unanimous decision.
After that loss, Berto fought only seven more times, posting a 4-3 record before bowing out in 2018 with a 12 round split decision win over Devon Alexander.
Showtime PPV undercard:
Jermall Charlo vs. Jose Benavidez Jr
Subriel Matias vs. Shohjahon Ergashev
Hector Luis Garcia vs. Lamont Roach
“I haven’t announced yet, so this is the exclusive. November 25th, me and Robert Guerrero,” said Andre Berto to Fighthype. “Being a young fighter at the time and going through my first loss to [Victor] Ortiz, mentally, it took a toll on me,” said Berto about why he lost to Guerrero in 2013.
“I think it happens to a lot of young fighters that are dominant. After they take that first loss, it’s kind of hard to get over their hurdle. It’s kind of hard for them to find their identity again,” said Berto.
The reason Guerrero beat Berto in 2012 had nothing to do with Andre’s recent defeat at the time at the hands of ‘Vicious’ Victor Ortiz.
Berto lost because he was tinkering with the Mayweather shoulder roll style, and he wasn’t proficient enough to fight a top-level fighter like Guerrero, who took full advantage of the situation by dropping twice in the first two rounds.
“Just going into that fight [with Robert Guerrero], I was just flustered because from going from feeling invincible to feeling like, ‘Something is wrong. I need time to fix it.’ So now I’m coming in there with the right mindset like I needed to,” said Berto.
It sounds like Berto is having a hard time coming to terms with his loss from eleven years ago against Guerrero, which is why it’s a bad idea for him to fight him again now.
If Berto loses on November 25th, he could be wracked with regrets into his old age, replaying the memories of the fight repeatedly, wishing he’d not taken the fight.
“I was trying to change things up, trying to change my style, and trying to change my diet at the time,” said Berto. “I’m trying to find something to fix it. It just went all bad. Guerrero caught me with a few good shots early.”
If Berto second-guesses one of his losses, he needs to revisit his defeats against Jesus Soto Karass, Shawn Porter, and Floyd Mayweather Jr. because those are all equally bad.
“I went into that fight extremely nervous because mentally, I wasn’t in the right place, and I paid for it that night. I don’t have any more excuses for it. Those are things that happen in life,” said Berto about his fight with Guerrero in 2012.
“You have to be able to go over those hurdles and try to come back right. I was a young, undefeated hot shot, living the life [until fighting Virgil Ortiz in April 2011]. I was really heavy with all the celebrities.
“I had a lot of money at the time. I was living it up with all the attention that you can ask for as a young fighter. You want everybody to know you and everybody to see. You want everybody to know your name.
“Once you go through that first loss and go through that time. All those people that you wanted attention from and all the media outlets, all those celebrities. Those same people see you go through that.
“That makes it harder for the young guys to deal with. I had to go through a lot of growing pains of this life period. A lot of other fighters, I don’t see them come back from it. The fight game is really fickle.
“They’ll love you, and then they’ll hate you and say you’re a bum. They’ll say this and say that. It gets to a fighter to evaluate life and understand why you’re doing that,” said Berto.
