In this video interview with FightHype, Shawn and Kenny Porter talk about the current state of negotiations with Andre Berto. This fight has been supposedly been in the works for a few months now but Team Porter is getting fed up with what they perceive as stalling tactics from Berto, not to mention Berto’s antagonizing posts on social media. Here’s some excepts from the interview…

Kenny Porter on their frustration with Berto negotiations:

“We wouldn’t be sitting here in front of you today if we weren’t given the call that said we were going to be fighting Andre Berto. And we would not continue with any type of communication with the people we’re involved with, which is the exact same people he’s involved with [Al Haymon], to make a fight that’s not gonna happen.

“It’s very simple, as you say, cut and dry. If you don’t want the fight, Andre, say you don’t want to fight Shawn Porter. Because the money’s on the table, the fight is a main event, it’s gonna be in a major market, it’s gonna be on a nationally televised venue, you know, everything is in place.

“At this point in time we’re not even concerned about the money because we know that the money is there. The money is there for you, the money is there for Shawn. For you or anyone else who’s in position that you’re in, to pretend like you don’t know this fight has been in the works for months now, and the only thing that’s held this fight from being announced was you.

“And then you’ll go back on social media and you’ll say ‘I don’t know what they’re talking about’…no, that’s not true. You know exactly what we’re talking about. If you say yes to the fight, they can say yes to the date, and they can say yes to the venue. That’s the only thing we’re waiting on at this point…

On if he thinks it’s just a stall tactic from Berto:

“I don’t think the guy wants to…I know the guy doesn’t want to fight. Point blank and simple. Now, no disrespect to the man, love the kid, love the young man, love to watch him fight. I’ve always been a big fan of his. But fight night is fight night. Everything else, put that to the side, and let’s make a fight.

“So we can’t get Keith Thurman at this point, we can’t get Danny Garcia at this point, Manny Pacquiao is not available for us for whatever the reason there are. The Vargas’ of the world aren’t available for us. Peterson is fighting Avanesyan. Who’s left, Berto? Who’s left?!

“You take this fight, you win this fight Berto, then you move on to something bigger and better. That’s our expectation, to move onto something bigger and better. The winner of the Keith Thurman fight, make it happen…[Berto] can’t get a main event fight with anyone else at this point in time. He can’t get a seven-figure fight with anyone else at this time. He can’t get into a fight that’s big enough to be a title eliminator when it’s over with at this point in time. It can’t happen.

“So, make this fight happen, there’s absolutely no problem on our side with making the fight happen, none whatsoever. So the only thing that needs to be said on your end is ‘yes.’ Stop frontin’ about ‘well, the business ain’t being taken care of.’ You received a phone call. You changed the way the phone call was relayed to you to ‘I’ve been told everybody now is going to have to fight everybody.’

“Translation to that is: you were told you were gonna have to fight [Shawn Porter] if you wanted a main event, on a major network, in a big fight. That’s what you were told. That’s the translation…

“Taking it to social media and [saying you would] hit [Shawn] in the mouth for free, don’t do it for free, hit him in the mouth and get paid for it…”