GL: Can you us some thoughts on Norberto Bravo replacing Ben Tackie as your opponent for February 17? "I was really looking forward to fighting Ben Tackie so I was a little disappointed when I heard Bravo would be replacement. I was looking at Tackie as that step up fight, but I'm going to continue to work hard and beat whoever they put in front of me and now it looks like it's going to be Bravo."

GL: What do you think about him as a fighter?

Andre Berto: "I've only seen him fight once or twice on the Contender, that's about all."

GL: Since you were looking forward to fighting Tackie, is there any chance of this let down translating through to your performance?

Andre Berto: "Nah, not at all. I'm taking it one fight at a time and I'm looking to improve with each performance. I don't know much about this guy and I was looking forward to Ben Tackie, but this fight is still just as important to me now it's going to be Bravo instead of Tackie, I'm still looking forward to putting on a great show."

GL: Will you look to reschedule with Tackie for a later date?

AB: "Definitely. Right now I'm going to take care of this here business on February 17, but then we're going to see if we can get his name back in the loop. We just want to keep taking step-up's. We know who we have to go through and we know what we've got to do to get into the good position that we need to be."

GL: What's your prediction for this fight?

AB: "It's goingt to be a good tough fight, but only one contender is opening up the show on February 17 and that's your boy Andre Berto."

GL: Is there anything you'd like to say in closing?

AB: "I know everyone is going to be caught up in Las Vegas for the All-Star weekend, but February 17 everyone needs to tune in to HBO to watch the future stars of boxing shining bright from New York City."

M

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