DiBella dodges disasters at every turn

Lou DiBella has survived the natural disasters fairly well so far. What remains to be seen is if he can avoid a man-made one.

After a week in which he was walking on a bridge during an earthquake and then lost precious family memorabilia during Hurricane Irene, the voluble boxing promoter hopes to avoid another disaster when Andre Berto, one of the stars of his stable, meets Jan Zaveck for the International Boxing Federation welterweight title Saturday in the main event of an HBO-televised card in Biloxi, Miss.

A loss by Berto would be his second in succession, following an April beatdown at the hands of Victor Ortiz, and would dump him well down the list of divisional contenders.

Before he worries about that, however, DiBella has to concern himself with recovering from Hurricane Irene. His New York City home was flooded, with six to nine inches of water in the basement, as well as what he estimated at about $25,000 worth of damage. His telephone and electricity are out and, he said, not expected to be restored any time soon.

A large tree limb shot through the roof of his carport, though it barely missed damaging his Mercedes convertible. But what he's been most worried about has been sports memorabilia and family photos he had stored in the basement. Most of that has been damaged by the flood water.

He had a sump pump in the basement, but it didn't work because the electricity was out.

"This tree branch shot through the air like a javelin and went through the carport, but it was about three inches away from the convertible," DiBella said. "You know how they say when you get a stab wound, it missed a major artery? Well, I felt that way because it just barely missed the car, and it was OK. That was the first thing I saw. Then I looked around the house and it didn't seem like there was a lot of damage on the outside and I was like, 'Yes, I beat this [expletive] thing.' I was celebrating.

"But there was so much water in my basement, when I flashed the flashlight, the water was clear, and it was still. So, in looking at it, it looked like there was nothing there."

He was pleased, thinking that he'd caught a huge break. He went back upstairs, but as he thought about it, he realized he should examine the basement more carefully.

When he did, he was heartbroken.

"I went back down an hour later, and when I put my foot down, and my foot was covered [in water] above my ankle, and my tattoo was submerged, and I knew I had some problems," he said.

He lost some Muhammad Ali memorabilia, as well as a slew of family photos and pictures of himself with fighters and other celebrities documenting his time as the No. 2 man in the boxing department at HBO.

His parents and sister have homes in the area, as well. His parents lost a tree and his sister's car was smashed by a downed tree. But as disappointed as he is about his lost items, he was thrilled it wasn't worse.

"Everyone is safe and everyone is OK and that's really all that matters," he said. "The photos are gone, but you know what? At the end of the day, I still have the memories of those things. They'll never be lost. They'll be with me.

"We've got a lot of cleaning up to do. The power lines are down for miles around my area and I doubt that the power is coming back on any time soon. I'm going to have to dump out everything in my refrigerator before I leave [to go to the Berto fight]. So, all in all, I can't complain too much."

He's wondering if there is a curse on him. On Tuesday, he went out to ride his boat and was walking across a short aluminum bridge when an earthquake struck. Four days later, it was the hurricane.

It left him weary, for sure.

"What's next? Locusts?" he said, laughing.

He could laugh, because none of his loved ones were injured and because he knows he'll be able to resume a normal life soon. He may push back the Berto-Zaveck news conference in Biloxi from Wednesday to Thursday to give him time to catch up at home before leaving.

But he's already beginning to shift to promoter mode. Berto has taken a lot of heat since the loss to Ortiz, largely because it's perceived by many that he's had an easy path to the top and has gotten a lot of HBO dates because of his influential manager, Al Haymon.

DiBella, though, notes that he's faced Ortiz, Luis Collazo, Carlos Quintana and Juan Urango, all of whom have or had world titles. He noted that Zaveck will be a tough opponent and pointed out that neither of the division's big two, Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Manny Pacquiao, would give him a bout.

"Berto is a highly entertaining guy and, by the way, he's not a boring fighter," DiBella said. "He doesn't dance around the ring. Anyone who wouldn't rather see Andre Berto in the ring than an awful lot of people doesn't want to be entertained. Has he had a few softer touches? Yeah, but why is that? Who the [expletive] has been available to him? The kid will fight anyone and he comes to fight every time. What more could you want?"

It might be easier to promote the fight if you weren't hit with two natural disasters in a four-day span, but that's the hand DiBella was dealt.

"I've got a good, entertaining fight to promote and we've already done a good job promoting it, and I got through this [the hurricane] reasonably OK, so to me, it's a good thing and I'm ready to move forward," he said.