Oh stop laughing. You knew this was coming. Today, it was revealed just who might be next in line for the highest paid athlete in all of sports. Photo by Steve Marcus/Getty Images
A few weeks ago we dropped “49 Bricks” naming Andre Berto as lead accomplice in the Floyd Mayweather farewell Brink’s truck heist in September. We knew things were suspect when Berto went into a “Donkey Kong”-like rage about Floyd during a Fighthype interview with lollipop Ben Thompson, who probably couldn’t stop drooling during the questioning. Check out the set-up (mind you, I’m paraphrasing for effect, but click on the article it’s a lot of fun).
BT: Sooooooooo…. Were you surprised when Mayweather mentioned you as a possible opponent for his September fight? It seemed like that announcement kind of came out of the blue.
AB: That’s the way Floyd works. Anybody that he feels has that potential of being next up, if they get beat, you know, that’s who he takes on. I’m not really surprised because I believe me and his situation runs a little bit deeper than boxing, you know what I’m saying. Me and him, we carry a little personal situation here and there, so I’m not too surprised by it.
BT: You’ve had some crazy twists and turns in your career, but now five years later, you’re in position to get that shot at Floyd again. Does it feel like it’s all coming full circle?
AB: I’m a different animal right now, you know what I mean. I’m focused, I’m older, I’m hungrier. If [Floyd] trying to bump, let’s go ahead and bump, but if you ain’t, keep my name up out your mouth, man.
BT: Wooooooo…Dre ain’t playing. It sounds like you don’t plan on showing your next opponent any respect, whether it’s Floyd Mayweather or not.
AB: Listen, man, if they want to make it happen, we can make it happen. If you don’t want to make it happen, stop saying my name, man. And please, tell this nigga please stop getting these people, stop telling his friend, or whoever they are, all his people, to call my phone and ask me questions about his bitch too. Tell him stop doing that shit. I hear his voice on the other line. I hear him breathing on the other end of the phone. I know these people that you getting to call me. Most of them are friends of mine, so I know what they doing because they informing me what’s going on. Stop calling me about your bitch, man. And at the end of the day, he knows which one I’m talking about.
Yeah.
We can only assume he’s talking about Ms. Jackson here, as the two were close. Knockin boots close? I don’t know. But- something told me that this wasn’t orchestrated for nothing and that Berto was “a go” for September. The rumored CBS deal for September 12 was all but confirmed by ace L.A. Times scribbler Lance Pugmire via his solid sources, who also cited Berto as the guy in the blue corner that evening on “FREEBOXING4ALL wonderland.
For mugging Berto, Floyd will pocket a cool $30-35 million per his original Showtime deal, minus all the PPV perks, in a “give-back” here-ya-go to fans still angry every time they look at their remote controls for his PG-13 recital with Manny Pacquiao. I don’t know about you (so many people are pissed off about the prospect of this bout) but I’m fine with this fight. Expect some sort of confirmation in the coming days as Mayweather has already opened camp.
“TBE”: TAMES BERTO EFFORTLESSLY
Mayweather hasn’t really scored a definitive stoppage since his intense December 2007 maiming of Ricky Hatton. And if you’re a diehard fan of Mayweather you’ll absolutely love this fight because Floyd is all wrong for Andre Berto. Oh yes, he’ll fight very bravely and lose very badly. Virgil Hunter will lose his voice and damn near his mind trying to convince a Berto – who keeps coming back to the corner looking 3 years older after every round – that he’s in the fight.
He’s not.
Berto’s muscle-bound frame and high drama associated with Floyd, whether real or imagined, will result in an action fight because no matter what Hunter has done with “Kong”, it will lead to him falling into a lot of “Money” and drowning. That can’t be so bad can it? Stay tuned for the official announcement.
