Boxers Who Love Twitter, Part 1: Andre Berto, Daniel Jacobs, Brian Viloria

I've come to the conclusion that boxers as a whole aren't exactly on the cutting edge when it comes to technology.

Perhaps that comes with the territory in a profession where one has to devote long periods of time to intense training before each bout. But even some of the most famous fighters in the sport don't have much of an internet presence, and in a sport where so much revolves around the ability to market each boxer as an individual attraction, that borders on inexcusable.

The younger boxers, the up-and-coming stars, seem to understand the importance of the latest technologies a little more than their older brethren, which is to be expected. Tops on the list of those technologies is everyone's favorite craze du jour, Twitter.

I know because I'm on there too (under my real name, @Nick_Tylwalk - shh, don't tell anyone!). It's interesting getting to see what some of these fighters are thinking, unfiltered by anyone else. Yes, it might not be the real boxers on the other end of the keyboard all the time, but some of them clearly enjoy tweeting too much to let someone do it for them.

I don't pretend to know every boxer who has a Twitter account, and I find new ones all the time. I do enjoy following some of them more than others, so I figured I'd give a shout out to some who are worth the time.

Andre Berto - @AndreBerto

Berto doesn't tweet every single day, but when he does, he's a madman. He'll give his thoughts on other fights, significant events from outside of boxing (like when Michael Jackson passed) and he also responds to news stories about him - like when the ESPN article broke the story that he might be fighting in Turkey. Andre also periodically asks his followers for updates on other fights that he can't see for one reason or another.

It's not like Berto has given up on interviews with established media, but like some athletes in other sports, he clearly feels there is some value for interested parties to get the scoop directly from him, and he's said so before. He's also recently become infatuated with Ustream, possibly the Next Big Thing for athletes, but I don't find Berto TV to be quite as insightful as his Twitter feed.

Daniel Jacobs - @DanielJacobsTKO

The Golden Child started off a little slower than Berto but now he's Tweeting with increasing regularity. He speaks from the heart when he gets worked up over something, like when he started getting defensive about criticism of his upcoming opponent, Ishe Smith.

If you're from Brooklyn, you'll definitely appreciate the frequent love Jacobs sends out to his home borough. He's also discovered Ustream, and thinks he may be the first boxer to ever stream live video of himself from his dressing room. I'm waiting for someone to tweet or stream video on their way to the ring!

Brian Viloria - @BrianViloria

Now here's a guy who really loves his Twitter. Starting with a good morning tweet almost every day, Hawaiian Punch lets everyone know about everything that's going on with him, including what he's eating, who he's hanging with and how the Lakers are doing - in other words, exactly the kind of stuff that people who hate Twitter usually cite as reasons.

Still, it's worth sifting through some extraneous posts because of what you'll learn about how fighters balance boxing, business and personal time. You'll also gain a greater appreciation for what training for a fight really entails, because Viloria gives lots of training updates.

Posted by The Franchise