(SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS) – Welterweight Andre Berto (Winter Haven, Fla.) arrived in San Antonio this afternoon for his July 27th match-up with Jesus Soto Karass at the AT&T Center. Berto and his team broke training camp on Monday following seven weeks of preparation in the Bay Area. The former two-time World Champion is stepping into the ring for the first time with a new coach in his corner, 2011 Trainer of the Year Virgil Hunter, and he’s looking forward to his first fight of 2013. Andre Berto arrives at the host hotel in San Antonio
“We had a tremendous training camp for this fight, and I am ready to put on a great show for all the fans on July 27. My new team took me out of comfort zone, which is something that I needed. It was a very technical training camp and helped remind me who I am as a fighter and everyone will see those skills when I step into the ring on Saturday night,” Berto said. “Make sure to come out to the AT&T Center or tune in on SHOWTIME because it’s going to be a hell of a card.”
Berto is returning to the ring for the first time since November when he faced off with Robert Guerrero in a fight of the year candidate. The 29-year-old Haitian Olympian relocated to the Los Angeles area in January and completed his full preparation for the upcoming fight in northern California with Hunter and his team. Hunter and Berto, who have known each other since Berto’s early amateur days, began working together in late spring.
Saturday’s fight will be Berto’s second in the Lone Star State and his first since a fifth round knockout win over James Crayton in El Paso in 2006. The 29-year-old Berto is looking forward to competing in front of the great fight fans in San Antonio, which has become one of the great hotbeds for the sport. He got a taste of the fantastic boxing atmosphere after traveling to San Antonio at the end of May for the press conference and enjoyed all the fans that he got the opportunity to meet at the event.
The first Haitian Olympian in the sport of boxing, Berto has built an extensive professional resume, winning both the WBC and IBF welterweight belts in his eight years in the paid ranks. Known for his combination of lightning-quick hand speed and thunderous power, Berto’s fights have become must watch TV. With the new skills he has added to his arsenal of the last seven weeks, Berto plans to start a new winning streak on Saturday night.
“Knockout Kings II,” featuring former Two-Time Welterweight World Champion Andre Berto facing tough Mexican veteran contender Jesus Soto Karass in a 12-round main event for the vacant NABF Welterweight Championship, takes place Saturday, July 27 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. The event is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and Leija & Battah Promotions and sponsored by Corona and AT&T. In the 12-round co-featured attractions, Weslaco, Texas’ undefeated rising star Omar Figueroa Jr. squares off against Tokyo’s Nihito Arakawa for the vacant WBC Interim Lightweight World Championship in a fight promoted in association with Teiken Promotions and undefeated power-puncher Diego Chaves faces fellow unbeaten knockout artist Keith Thurman for Chaves’ WBA Interim Welterweight World Championship in a fight promoted in association with KO International. The tripleheader will be broadcast live on SHOWTIME® at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT and will be available in Spanish via second audio programming (SAP).
Tickets priced at $200, $100, $50, $25 and $10, plus applicable taxes, fees and services charges, are on sale now and are available for purchase at the AT&T Center box office, online at www.ticketmaster.com at www.ticketmaster.com and ATTCenter.com all Ticketmaster locations, by calling (800) 745-3000 or through Leija & Battah Promotions by calling (210) 979-3302 or emailing m@leijabattahpromo.com.
A 2004 Haitian Olympian and two-time former welterweight world champion, Berto boasts a 28-2 record (22 KOs). The 29-year-old welterweight comes from a true fighting family, led by his father, Dieuseul Berto, who competed in mixed martial arts and shared the love of combat sports with his children. Berto’s brother, Edson and sister, Revelina, currently compete in MMA and older brother, Cleveland is a former state wrestling champion. Outside the ring, Berto focuses his philanthropic efforts on work in Haiti and founded the Berto Dynasty Foundation in 2010 to assist in earthquake relief. BDF is currently in the process of creating a boxing gym and youth center for youth in the island nation.