Monday afternoon, Andre Berto sent out a statement letting the general public and media know that he was bowing out of his Jan. 30 fight with Shane Mosley.
"I am mentally and physically exhausted and therefore I have no choice but to withdraw from my bout on January 30," said Berto, a Haitian-American who has lost family in the earthquake that rocked the country of Haiti last Tuesday.
Berto (25-0,19 KO) was to defend his WBC welterweight title for the fourth time, but for obvious reasons was distracted from his schedule.
"I have been focusing on my family and the Haitian people who are facing an inconceivable battle for survival while still trying to continue to prepare for an opportunity I have dreamt of since childhood,” Berto continued. "I lost several family members to the earthquake and, after two days without word, was relieved to learn that my sister, Naomi, and her daughter, Jessica, survived, but were left homeless. I have seen the pain in my parents’ eyes as they attempt to understand what has happened to our homeland and recognize a place they once called home."
Berto did the right thing by not going forward with the fight while dealing with such weighty and stressful issues. He is just one of many that are going through this kind of situation, and my heart goes out to all of them.
Mosley vs. Mayweather?
In the game of boxing, fans and media don’t sit long before pondering the future of fighters. I think most would agree that now a showdown between Floyd Mayweather Jr.(40-0, 25 KO) and Mosley (46-5, 39 KO) makes the most sense.
The Associated Press reported that Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer responded immediately Monday to the notion that a Mayweather-Mosley matchup could be in the cards.
"I'm going to do whatever I can to pull it off," Schaefer said. "I'm cautiously optimistic we can put something together. It would be a great fight, a long-anticipated fight."
Sugar Shane and Money May have been chasing each other around for the past few years (depending on who you listen to of course), both have been left at the boxing altar, and each has trouble selling tickets without a high-profile opponent. It would be an awesome fight, and it could also help repair some of the damages inflicted to boxing fans by the flameout of the proposed Manny Pacquiao-Mayweather fight.
Pacquiao has been able to move on much easier than Mayweather. Let’s face it, Pacman fighting a Bozo the Clown bop bag would sell.
Pacquiao is obviously not challenging a bop bag by any means when he takes on Joshua Clottey on March 13. He is taking on a sturdy welterweight with tremendous skill, great defense and a style that could give Pacquiao all sorts of fits.
Mayweather, on the other hand, has only sold big numbers when facing big-name fighters, and there is no bigger name available than Shane Mosley. A match between these two pound-for-pounders would also move Mayweather off of the March 13 date, which in turn does away with head-to-head pay-per-view shows. This is the second-biggest fight that can be made in boxing. It needs to get done, and it needs to get done without any hiccups. Otherwise, Mayweather may lose any goodwill that fight fans have left.
Boxing fans aren't going to forget that the two best pound-for-pound fighters in the world still need to square up, but a couple of good opponents in Mosley and Clottey will pass the time just fine until the biggest fight in boxing gets made.
