Berto and Morgan – The Welterweight Division’s Dynamic Duo By Thomas Gerbasi (Jan 13, 2009) Send this page to friend Give us your feedback July 27, 2007. The end of round six. It’s sink or swim time – not only for Andre Berto, who had just been knocked down for the first time as a professional by veteran Cosme Rivera, but for the man who guided him to this point, trainer Tony Morgan. Then 18-0, Berto had been in control throughout the bout against Rivera, a former world title challenger and the type of gritty opponent you have to get by if you’re going to make any noise in this sport. And Berto, a 2004 Olympian for Haiti, had done his part until getting drilled on the chin by a left uppercut and dropped by the Mexican. “He was stunned, but he recovered quickly,” recalled Morgan, maybe the calmest member of Team Berto after the prized prospect hit the deck. The fighter rose immediately, took his eight count, and then the bell ended the round seconds later. Berto returned to his corner, and while anyone can toss a towel over his shoulder and call himself a trainer, these are the times when the true trainers earn their money. “Damn, I just got knocked down on national television,” said Berto as he sat down on the stool. “Hey,” said Morgan, refocusing his fighter, and at the same time making sure Berto’s head was clear and in the fight. “This is what’s gonna make you or break you right here – go out there and show these people you’re a champ.” Then came the split glove. “I’ve heard so many stories that I ripped the glove,” said Morgan, almost with a chuckle, “but the glove was ripped a round and a half before that. The commission tried to make me change it in between rounds and I told them I wouldn’t. Then he got dropped and I was like ‘all right, I’ll change the glove.’ (Laughs) Realistically, I shouldn’t take too much credit for it because Danny Milano, our cut guy, actually said ‘Tony, don’t you think now’s a good time to change the glove?’” In an Angelo Dundee-esque twist, Berto’s glove was changed, he got a few extra moments to get his legs back under him, and when the fight resumed in round seven, the fight continued at the pace it had before the knockdown. End result? Berto wins a clear 10 round unanimous decision and improves to 19-0. Three wins later, and Winter Haven, Florida’s Berto was a world champion. Sure, there are those critics who discounted his win over Miguel Rodriguez for the vacant WBC crown last June, but there is no denying the talent and future prospects of the 25-year old, who defends his crown for the second time this Saturday against Luis Collazo. It’s a talent Morgan saw early on, when Berto wasn’t even in high school yet. At the time, Morgan had his own athletic dreams, ones that led him to the Winter Haven PAL. “I was always a tough guy,” said Morgan, 36. “I whupped as much ass on the street as anybody, and when I walked into the gym and saw these little kids kicking grown men’s asses, I was like ‘wow, I found my niche.’ I could do any sport – I was great at baseball, great at basketball, but I came into boxing and I got my ass whupped.” Morgan was trained at the time by renowned boxing trainer Jack Leonard, who was also looking after another budding prizefighter named Andre Berto. Morgan remembers his first impressions of the future champion. “He was an unorthodox little kid,” he said. “He was real strong and real fast – he looked like a fast Ricardo Mayorga – he was a crazy man. (Laughs)” Eventually, the two began training together under Leonard with the rest of the amateur team in the gym. But in 1995, the 78-year old Leonard suffered a heart attack. Suddenly, Morgan was thrust into the role of coach and mentor for the PAL team. “He (Leonard) got sick and I was the only one with a car and a credit card, so I could get the hotel room and stuff for the kids,” said Morgan. But the first fight Morgan took the team to, he was faced with a life-altering decision. “I was supposed to fight, but the amateur commission was giving us a hard time – they said ‘well, you can’t work the corner and fight.’ I wanted these kids to fight – I knew how hard they worked, so I sacrificed myself and worked the corner for them.” The rest is history. Morgan went from fighter to trainer, just like that. “It kinda turned out better,” he muses. “I was a good fighter, but I wasn’t a great fighter, so I guess everything happens for a reason.” He chuckles. “Some people say those who can’t do, teach.” Well, Morgan has been a helluva teacher. With Berto ever since those early days, Morgan has taken his charge through a stellar amateur career that produced two National Golden Gloves titles and a 2004 Olympic berth, as well as 23 pro bouts without a loss. But after Berto’s knockdown against Rivera, critics started to question the fighter’s defense, his choice of opponents, and his tendency to get more HBO dates than most fighters at his level of development. And Morgan, like many trainers in the same position of having brought a fighter up from the amateur days to a championship, has faced criticism as well, with some saying Berto would be better served having a “name” trainer in the corner instead of the one that got him there. Of course, none of this talk is coming from Berto, and Morgan brushes it off as a symptom of society these days. “It’s society as a whole,” said Morgan. “Everybody goes with the big name, the big face, and it’s everywhere. And what it really is, is sad. There are so many guys like me, who have done so much work, but never get the praise that they deserve. And truthfully, if nobody ever interviewed me, I don’t care. Somewhere inside, I know what I did, and I’m proud of that. I’ve never had to prove anything to anybody but myself. I’m by far my biggest critic, and by far Berto’s biggest critic. When people say he didn’t look that good, I’m saying he looked terrible. And he’s like that himself and I think that’s what keeps him hungry because we always strive to do better, and we strive for perfection every time out.” And what the critics may not see is that there is a bond between the two that can’t be built in an eight week training camp with a big “name”. “People say ‘he’s never been a world champion, how can he train a world champion? Well, I did,” said Morgan. “Of course, you have to have a special person who has special drive like Andre. And you as a trainer and a coach have to have a special drive and a special want. I think it’s timing and destiny, and we never stopped working hard. We were always dead-ass broke going into 20 dollar hotel rooms in the amateurs where you walked up and they said ‘how long do you want it for?’ Me and Berto are standing there and we’re like, ‘All night, what are you talkin’ about how long do we want it for?’ (Laughs) But that’s what we could afford. I put everything on my credit card, jacked it up, and I’m still paying it off. But it was a passion, and when it becomes a passion I think you can do anything because you’re fighting for what’s inside of you, and you’re not fighting for fame or anything else. That’s real.” So how do you keep the wolves at bay if you’re Tony Morgan? You keep winning, and just like Berto puts in a full training camp to get ready for Saturday night, Morgan does the same, with his work starting as soon as opponents’ names start getting tossed around. “First of all, I need to know exactly who we’re fighting and when we’re fighting,” said Morgan of his own preparation process. “When they first call, they’ll usually shoot us two or three names. In this case we had to take this one because we won a vacant title, so the bylaws of the WBC are that you have to defend it twice in a certain amount of time. So when they told us that and it was Collazo, I said, this is what we’ve got, so this is what we’ve gotta do. Left-handers are never my favorite, but you do what you gotta do. Once I get that, I try to devise a winning game plan. It’s all mental preparation at first for me. I’ll call either our management group or our promotional group, and tell them to send me some tape. I need to see wins and losses of this kid. They shoot me the tapes, and I go from there, putting together the plan, how long I think it’s gonna take. I see how far Berto’s out if he’s put on a bunch of weight, which he doesn’t do anymore, so I’m happy for that, so camps are a lot shorter. I don’t have to do a two month camp. I can do it in six weeks or so.” Then it’s off to the gym for the next month and a half until the first bell rings. For Berto and Morgan, that’s the payoff, and luckily for the duo, they not only accept – but encourage – the role of being the hunted and not the hunter anymore. “We got the WBC belt, so I think everybody’s gunnin’ for us,” said Morgan. “I told Berto we’ve got to be at our best every time because every fight is a world championship fight. So whoever we fight, it’s like the last fight we’re ever gonna be in. And what I like about Andre is that he still keeps that same momentum. He’s still hungry. He’s not satisfied and I hope he never gets satisfied because it’s easier for me to train a guy that’s like that than a guy that’s been there and who don’t give a s**t about nothin’ and just wants money.” Because it’s not about the money – that’s a given now. What it’s about is building a legacy in the fight game. Whether it happens is a tale that will only be told in time. But if you ask Tony Morgan, he already knows how this story ends. “People have yet to see the best of Andre Berto,” he said. “He can fight with anybody out there; I know that for a fact. As far as skill, he’s as fast as anybody out there, he’s as strong as anybody out there, but he still has things to learn. I know that, he knows that, and I think that’s what keeps us doing well. When we start getting to these really big fights, people are gonna say ‘damn, I didn’t expect that.’ “I expect it.” Now available, Thomas Gerbasi’s latest boxing compilation: Fightin’ to Writin’ – More Ring Ramblings. 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