Boxer eager to lend hand

"Turn on the TV!" his friend said.

Berto watched in shock as images of the devastation in Haiti flashed on the screen.

As Berto, a 26-year-old boxer who represented Haiti at the 2004 Olympics, learned of the 7.0-magnitude earthquake, his first concern was for family members — his older sister, Naomi, his uncle John, several cousins. Had they survived? Could they even be accounted for?

Berto, whose charitable foundation has an office in the decimated capital of Port-au-Prince, began to worry about friends and associates in Haiti, about the nation as whole.

"I couldn’t believe what I was seeing," he said Thursday. "I’m watching CNN, and it was worse than I even imagined."

Berto, who has been in Winter Haven, Fla., training for his Jan. 30 welterweight unification title fight against Shane Mosley at Mandalay Bay, has spent the past couple of days trying to sort out everything since Tuesday’s quake.

Boxing no longer seems so important.

"My first instinct was to get on a plane," Berto said. "I wasn’t thinking about the fight. But I realized that there wasn’t much I could do even if I went over there. So I’ve been concentrating my efforts from here."

Berto’s sister is alive, he said. But her house, like so many others, was destroyed. His uncle is alive, too, but in critical condition. Several of Berto’s cousins were killed by the earthquake.

The fight with Mosley is still on for Jan. 30. But Berto said he’s not looking that far ahead.

"I’m trying to hold things together," he said. "But it weighs so heavy on the heart."

The gym offers little sanctuary. Berto, 25-0 with 19 knockouts, said his mind constantly wanders while he prepares for the biggest fight of his life.

He has not heard from Mosley. But Berto said he’s not looking for sympathy.

He is, however, looking for help for the Haitian people. Berto is trying to use his celebrity to enlist donations of clothes, food, medical supplies or money.

He hopes people soon will be able to contribute to the relief effort through his Web site, andreberto.com.

"Many people want to help," Berto said. "Our foundation has been trying to help the people of Haiti long before the earthquake. I was last there last March, and we did a lot of good things.

"The sad thing is it takes a couple of hundred thousand people to die for the world to help."

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913.