By: Hans Themistode
Injuries are apart of any sport. Unfortunately for former two time Welterweight champion Andre Berto (32-5, 24 KOs), he is all too familiar with this headline.
Berto’s August 3rd showdown with once beaten contender Miguel Cruz (18-1, 12 KOs) will be placed on hold as he was forced to withdraw from the contest with a torn bicep. Unsurprisingly enough, Berto was still willing to enter the ring with the injury until he found out the severity of it.
“Saturday was the last day of sparring and I was trying to finish and keep going strong,” said Berto. “I threw a left hook and I felt a squeeze and a pop. I started yelling and cursing, because I knew what happened. I’ve had injuries before. Even though it was bad, I thought it was something that I could get a cortisone shot and fight with. But the MRI showed that the tendon was torn from the bone and I need surgery as soon as possible.”
Surgery and recovery for Berto will begin immediately. Fortunately this injury is not as severe as his previous shoulder affliction which took place back in 2013. It took Berto roughly 14 before he was able to step back into a ring.
“This injury and the surgery won’t be as bad as the shoulder,” Berto said. “The shoulder was a lot of different muscles and tendons that were torn. I had a sling on for six weeks, and I was immobilized for so long that I had frozen shoulder syndrome and I had to go through three or four weeks with therapy to just get it to moving. It took eight or nine months with the shoulder. If I do it right with this injury, I’ll be good in two or three months.”
The former two time champion has battled recent inactivity. In 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018 he has entered the ring just once. It seems as though 2019 is shaping up to be another injury riddled year for the former champion.