22504: loveayiti:SEARCHING FOR GOLD (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: love haiti <loveayiti@hotmail.com>


Published Saturday, June 26, 2004
SEARCHING FOR GOLD

Winter Haven Boxer Will Compete in Athens for Haiti

By DURWARD BUCK
Ledger Correspondent
WINTER HAVEN
As though hit with a stiff punch to the jaw, Andre Berto was stunned.
The 20-year-old Winter Haven resident did not react immediately when an
arbitrator's decision stripped him of the opportunity to compete for a slot on
the U.S. Olympic boxing team for this summer's Games.
Right after the decision in Cleveland on Feb. 27, Berto flew to Houston to spar
with professional welterweight champion and friend Winky Wright of St.
Petersburg.
"When I got off the plane and saw all the boxers and all the people there who
are my friends, I just broke down," said Berto, known to friends as Mike but in
boxing circles as Andre because that's the way his boxing entry forms were
filled out.
"I cried my heart out," he continued. "It was the most stressful week of my
life. After preparing for this for 10 years, they told me I couldn't fight in
the trials. It was a double-elimination tournament, so why didn't they let me
keep on fighting?"
The question need not be asked anymore.
Berto is going to be able to live out his Olympic dream after all. He just
won't be doing it with the U.S. team.
Following his disqualification from the U.S. team, Berto's camp sought help
from Haiti. Berto, who is a Polk Community College student, is the son of
Haitian immigrants, father Dieuseul and mother Wilnise. His parents moved from
Miami to Winter Haven when he was 10.
Because his parents were born in Haiti, Berto was granted dual citizenship as
an American and Haitian. He traveled to Tijuana, Mexico, to fight in the
42-country Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament -- this time as a member of
Haiti's team.
The 152-pound welterweight earned a spot in the Olympics by reaching the
tournament finals in early March.
In a twist, Vanes Martroysian, a 19-year-old standout from Armenia who earned
U.S. citizenship so he could box for the United States, defeated Berto, 24-21,
in the final of the Americas qualifier.
That matters little now.
Berto, who beat Martroysian in the second round of the U.S. team trials in
February before the result was erased, is scheduled to go to Athens, Greece, in
August as Haiti's one-man boxing team.
Ranked No. 1 in the United States as an amateur welterweight, Berto was a heavy
favorite in the U.S. team trials. But his ranking didn't carry any weight with
the referee, who disqualified him with 27 seconds left in his opening match
against Juan McPherson of Cleveland.
This set off a wild series of appeals, counter-appeals, two more appeals and
finally the binding decision by an arbitrator in Federal Court -- the one that
led to Berto's disqualification and the tearful breakdown in Texas.
"It was 10 years of training and fighting down the drain," Berto said.
It was the most talked-about fight at the trials.
"We drew the toughest guy we could have in the first fight," said Tony Morgan,
Berto's trainer and coach at Winter Haven's Police Athletic League gym.
Morgan said the 5-foot-9 Berto won the first three rounds of the four-round
fight by a significant margin.
"McPherson's corner knew his only chance was to take Mike out, and he was
standing when the bell rang for the fourth round," Morgan said. "He came
charging across the ring, but Mike met him with a solid right hand that really
hurt him. McPherson clinched, but the ref broke it up.
"Then with 30 to 40 seconds left, Berto caught him again with a hard right to
the head and McPherson clinched around Berto's waist and walked him clear
across the ring, with Berto trying to shake him off. Berto finally spun him off
and McPherson fell on the ring -- on his butt -- and lay motionless.
"The guy's corner was yelling for him to stay down," Morgan said. "The ref
called it a foul and disqualified Berto. He could have taken away points, but
he didn't."
After looking at a video of the fight, Morgan filed a protest and won it. Berto
fought again the next day, beating Martroysian in a decision.
But McPherson's representatives filed a counter-protest -- a puzzling decision
because the mild concussion he sustained in the fight prevented him from
getting into the ring again for at least 30 days. The issue was finally settled
by the arbitrator.
However, the arbitrator couldn't stop Berto from chasing his dream when Haiti
came to the rescue.
"It was like I had another breath, a new life," said Berto, who will be the
first boxer from Polk County to compete in the Olympics. "I think of it as such
a blessing."
The "blessing" has Berto refocused. The Olympics are fast approaching and he is
in training.
He wakes up each day at 7 a.m. and runs 2 miles at a brisk pace. He eats
breakfast, then works out with weights for two hours.
After a noon lunch, he begins again. He hits bags, does concentration drills
with big mitts, does movement and agility drills and then spars. All in all,
the training lasts five to six hours daily.
At the end of a day, he'll watch either a movie or a boxing video until 9 p.m.
Then it's bedtime.
The training intensifies in the final month before a fight. The running will
increase to three miles a day and six miles once a week.
He'll continue to spar with Wright for as many as nine rounds.
The reward is worth the price, Berto says. And the pride is boiling over with
his parents, friends and, of course, the country he is representing.
Haitian Olympic Committee President Gady Prophete was eager to have Andre Berto
represent his country.
"They are so happy," said Dieuseul Berto, who has acted as an interpreter for
his son's camp and Haitian organizers. "They have never had a boxer like this
before."
Berto certainly has credentials. He is a United States Golden Glove champion
and was a semifinalist in the World Cup Boxing Championships.
Despite their success as a duo, Morgan and Berto have a friendly disagreement
over just how much success they've had.
"His record book, with all his fights in it, was lost," Morgan said. "I'd say
he has won around 100 fights and lost 10."
Berto says with a smile: "I think it is more than that -- maybe 120-10."
Whatever the numbers are, one thing is for sure -- Berto has come a long way.
He was a kid who was so aggressive at age 10 that his family took him to a
psychiatrist because he was getting into so much trouble at school.
His fiery temper was channeled into sports, especially boxing.
As for his home life, the Berto family practices many of its Haitian
traditions.
"In my home we speak French, Creole and English," Berto said. "In high school I
took Spanish," he added, laughing.
He should probably consider brushing up on some Greek because that's where the
next great moments of his life are likely to take place.
"I always have loved the Olympics, and I watched them when I was younger and I
dreamed of one day going," Berto said. "But I never really thought it was
actually going to happen. It was just a dream."
It's not just a dream anymore.
Leading his new dream list: standing on the gold medal stand at the birthplace
of the Olympic Games.

The expense of getting Berto to Greece with his contingent of coaches, trainers
and family, could be as high as $50,000. How much of that to be provided by
Haiti is unknown. Morgan is making the rounds of businesses and supporters in
trying to raise money. Contributions can be sent to the Winter Haven Police
Athletic League.
(863) 293-2725
203 Avenue R NE, Winter Haven, FL 33881


BERTO BITS

In 2003, Berto won the National Golden Gloves title in Las Vegas and was named
the "Golden Boy," as the event's outstanding boxer.
He represented the United States in the World Championships in Thailand and won
a bronze medal, losing in the semifinals to 32-year-old Cuban, Lorenzo Aragon
Armenteros, a four-time Olympic medalist. There were 300 entries in the world
event. Berto was the only U.S. team boxer to get past the first round.
"Because he was the only one left, they started calling him the `lone soldier'
over there," Morgan said.
Here are some other facts about Olympic boxer Mike Berto:

There is some debate about how many fights he has been in, ranging from 100 to
130. But either number is small compared to the 600 bouts some Olympic fighters
have had. The average number probably lies between 250 and 300.

Success in athletics is not new to the Berto family. Father Dieuseul has
competed in noholds-barred fights, called shoot-fighting. Cleveland Berto,
Andre's 21-year-old brother, was a state wrestling champion at Winter Haven
High School and is now at San Francisco State on a wrestling scholarship.
Another brother, Edson, 23, has competed in full-contact boxing. Rochelle
Berto, 8, is a three-time state karate champion. He also has a 14-year-old
sister, Revelina, a freshman at Winter Haven.

During the month when he was in intense training for the Olympic qualifier,
Berto ate five meals per day, mostly protein. His roadwork could encompass up
to 8 miles a day.

Berto is a manager at 14K, a jewelry store in Winter Haven where he has worked
since he was 13.

The power of his punches are becoming widely known. In 2001 he was invited to
the U.S. Olympic Center in Colorado and was measured on the heavy punching
back. Berto had the hardest punches ever recorded in his weight class on the
bag, according to trainer Tony Morgan.

Before his 18th birthday, Sept. 13, 2001, Berto had won three national titles.

A sophomore at Polk Community College, he is majoring in business.

His tastes in music include the Creole-styles performed in Haiti, including
Wyclef Jean, who has the most popular single there.

His father runs two martialarts schools in Winter Haven along with brother
Edson. His mother, Wilnise, works at Disney World.
.
The expense of getting Berto to Greece with his contingent of coaches, trainers
and family, could be as high as $50,000. How much of that to be provided by
Haiti is unknown. Morgan is making the rounds of businesses and supporters in
trying to raise money. Contributions can be sent to the Winter Haven Police
Athletic League.


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