On Saturday, April 10th at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla., WBC World Welterweight Champion Andre Berto will defend his title against former WBO champion Carlos Quintana. This is Berto’s first bout since last May when he successfully defended his title with a 12-round decision over Juan Urango. The card is being billed as “Fighting For Haiti” which is being promoted by DiBella Entertainment and sponsored by Champs Sports, Where Sports Lives, will be televised “LIVE” on HBO World Championship Boxing beginning at 10:30pm (ET) / 7:30pm (PT). The telecast will be available in HD-TV for those viewers who can receive HD..
The co-feature will showcase WBA Junior Featherweight champion Celestino Caballero (33-2, 23 KO’s), who will be moving up to take on unbeaten WBA #2 contender Daud Yordan (25-0, 19 KO’s). Caballero is the 
former Unified Junior Featherweight champion. Yordan is the WBO Oriental Featherweight champion, his title won’t be on the line. Two time Olympic gold medalist from Cuba, Guillermo Rigondeaux (5-0, 4 KO’s) will also
appear on the undercard.
Berto (25-0, 19 KO’s) now faces Carlos Quintana (27-2-0, 21 KO’s), who was born and still resides in Moca, Puerto Rico. Quintana is a hard throwing southpaw who likes to challenge fighters by coming straight at them. Berto,
who also punches hard and is lightning quick, has to be careful and dictate the fight from the start. In February of 2008, Quintana was a huge underdog, and upset then-WBO champion Paul Williams. Quintana lost the rematch. Since 2005 he has fought three unbeaten fighters scoring two victories, with the only loss coming to Miguel Cotto.
“He’s a tough veteran,” Berto said. “If you give him too much room or a little too much confidence he will take advantage of that. You have to impose your dominance early.”
Berto knows he can’t take Quintana for granted, though he was surprised by the Williams loss, which he saw in person. However, Berto feels there is much to gain in the welterweight division with a victory on April 10th.
“I’m in a tough situation. Realistically I train hardest when a lot of people expect me to win. He’s a spoiler and he did the same with Paul Williams and I have to make sure I stay sharp and do a good job and dispose of him,”
said Berto.
“Andre Berto and Carlos Quintana represent two of the very best fighters in the world,” said DiBella. “They are willing to risk it all to fight each other. And for the winner another boxing great, the likes of Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather, Jr., or Shane Mosley could await.”
Berto was scheduled to face veteran “Sugar” Shane Mosley, the WBA welterweight champion in January 2010, but the earthquake in Haiti, forced him to withdraw from the bout. Berto went to Haiti to provide aide and find
his sister and ensure her safety.
“My brother Cleveland and I made a trip there a couple of weeks after the earthquake,” Berto said. “We lost eight family members in the earthquake, but my family is in good spirits and they continue to support me. The devastation that affected Haiti impacted the world. It is inspiring to see so many people show support and lend a helping hand.”
Tickets for “Fighting For Haiti” are on sale now through Ticketmaster (1.800.745.3000) or visiting, www.ticketmaster.com and BankAtlantic Center Box Office (1.954.835-7000) www.bankatlanticenter.com. Tickets are priced at $250, $100, $65, and $35. VIP Ringside tickets are available for private sale for $500 by calling DiBella Entertainment (1.212.947.2577) www.dbe1.com.
ALFREDO, You could be right. Quintana showed what he’s capable of in the 1st Williams encounter AND.. showed us how UN-wise he could as well in their 2nd fight. I don’t know why he went after Williams in that initial (and only) round , especially when they worked on staying away in the early going, working laterals and then timing Williams leads as the fight wore on. THAT was the plan but…. well… we all know the rest of the story.
I don’t doubt that Quintana can upset Berto but I feel that Berto will also somehow benefit from the “home field” advantage, which could very well ultimately be the difference and determinating factor.
Quintana would beat Berto after letting him to taste his lefthook and upper. You will see!
I see Berto pulling this one out of the fire. Jose “Cano” Bonilla, Quintana’s trainer, is a friend of mine. He used to train Edison Miranda, and has a stable of some impressive prospects. Although he and Miranda have parted ways they remain in contact and on really good terms. Miranda frequently calls Bonilla and the gym and has loads of friends in the city of Carolina here on the island where he lived for about 5 years. Now… I don’t expect Berto to look awefully impressive. I see him struggling at times. Quintana looked good the other day in the gym and a couple of days before. Looking lite on his feet and elusive after offensive spurts/combos. Not bad at all. If he can mount up a fairly good lead in the first half he might be able to carry the momentum into final rounds, hold off Berto’s down the strech. Berto just doesn’t hit hard enough for me to consider him a big kayo threat. Expect Quintana to take chances. Berto will have to stay offensively busy, and just might… barely.
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