Former two-division world champion Andre Berto believes Soiled Boxing’s hybrid ruleset was designed to ensure non-stop action.

The Soiled Boxing Championship returns on April 10 with DBX6 at the James L. Knight Center in Miami as an emerging hybrid format combining customary boxing striking with MMA-style fighting.

The concept, co-founded by Jon Jones and Mike Perry, began to attract attention in combat sports circles, combining a boxing attack with confined clinch work and controlled ground finishing intended to maintain the momentum of the fight.

As the organization prepares for its newest event, WBN spoke with Berto about how he first encountered Soiled Boxing and why the format immediately caught his attention.

Andre Berto on discovering Soiled Boxing

Berto, who took on the job of commentating Soiled Boxing’s January show, explained that his introduction to the promotion came through a close friend who became involved with the league as an investor.

“He was actually a really good friend of mine. He met with one of the co-founders of Soiled Boxing. He explained the whole concept to him, and this guy was a friend of mine and a gigantic investor, but he didn’t know much about the fight space. He just knew it was fresh and different, so he called me,” Berto told World Boxing News exclusively.

“He told me that he met the guy who started this fresh league and he wanted to meet me and him. I was in Miami, we had this meeting and he explained the whole concept to me and invited me to the next DBX event so I could see the concept in real life.

“I obviously know a lot about boxing, but I come from an MMA background. My family – my dad fought in the UFC and my brother and sister are gigantic MMA fighters – so I just wanted to see if what he was telling me would become a reality.

“So I finally went to my first event.”

Why Soiled Boxing is built to last

What caught Berto’s attention was the way the rules are structured to remove the slower moments that can sometimes make a fight complex in both boxing and mixed martial arts.

“I think it’s great. I think it’s frigid, fresh, fresh. I think the idea of ​​taking away all the lifeless, stagnant parts of UFC and real boxing and creating your own kind of sport is pretty frigid.”

“It’s not as gruesome as a bare-knuckle fight because you’re wearing little gloves. It just puts you in full action. It’s a miniature ring, no grappling. You can fight on your feet, you can grab, you can clinch, you can put your elbows up.”

“If you knock someone down, you can finish them off, but you only have five or six seconds to finish them off or they’ll put you back on your feet.

“So he’s geared towards non-stop action. That’s why I think they’ve had so many amazing knockouts.”

Could boxers have an advantage?

A hybrid ruleset naturally raises questions about which players can benefit most from this format.

According to Berto, experienced boxers could maintain a natural advantage given how much of the action takes place on the feet.

“Maybe a little bit, because honestly, I think if you’re a very good boxer, you can definitely have an advantage.

“Because, like I said, it’s all on your feet – no grabbing, no holding. The only thing that’s different is you can throw elbows in the clinch.

“And sometimes we boxers, when we’re in training camps or even during fights, we may feel like throwing an elbow, but we can’t. So I don’t think it’s too far from the principles of boxing.”

The DBX6 will arrive in Miami on April 10

The next Soiled Boxing Championship event will take place on April 10 at the James L. Knight Center in Miami and will be broadcast live and free on the promotion’s YouTube channel.

The main attraction of the event will be a clash for the interim heavyweight title between undefeated DBX fighters, Michael Garcia and Rob “The Wolf” Perez.

In the co-main event, Montavious Ware will face Luis Saldana, and on the main card, Miami fan favorite Bryan “El Gallo” Duran will face Tristan Gallichan.

Berto expects Perez to bring plenty of personality to the main event.

“I don’t know much about the other guy, but I’ve seen Wolf fight and I hear he talks a lot of trash and gets under his opponent’s skin quite well.

“But my assessment of Wolf the last time I saw him – I mean, he had a devastating knockout that night. I know that just from his presence and his energy.”

“The DM keeps telling me, ‘I hope you come to this fight. I’m going to kill him, I’m going to kill him.’

“So I think he’s going to go out there and really try to put on a show. He’s very expressive. He wants that attention. He wants people to know that he’s going to be the next star of DBX.”

About the Author

Phil Jay is the editor-in-chief of World Boxing News (WBN) and a boxing veteran with over 15 years of experience. Read the full biography.