Andre Berto pulls out of title fight against Shane Mosley

Unbeaten WBC welterweight boxing champion Andre Berto, saying he’s “mentally and physically exhausted” from the devastation in his parents’ earthquake-stricken home country Haiti, announced Monday he was withdrawing from his welterweight unification title bout against Shane Mosley, scheduled for Jan. 30 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

“I lost several family members to the earthquake and after two days without word was relieved to learn that my sister, Naomi, and her daughter, Jessica, survived but were left homeless,” Berto said in a statement. “I have no choice but to withdraw from my bout.”

Berto (26-0, 19 knockouts) was born in Florida but boxed for Haiti in the 2004 Olympics.

“[Mosley] understands now is the time [for Berto to] support his family,” said Mosley’s promoter Richard Schaefer.

With Berto withdrawing, Schaefer said he was trying to finalize a highly anticipated showdown between Mosley and Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Schaefer’s company, Golden Boy Promotions, already reserved the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on May 1 for a bout that was originally supposed to be an alternate date for a Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight, but that event was scrapped due to a dispute over drug-testing procedures.

“[Mayweather-Mosley] is one of the three fights that boxing fans most want to see,” Schaefer said. “Mayweather-Mosley is a fight like Leonard-Hearns, and we’re getting to work on making it happen.”

Mayweather’s advisor, Leonard Ellerbe, said earlier Monday that because the Pacquiao bout didn’t happen, Mayweather still “wants to fight the biggest fight possible, no matter who it may be. He’ll line all these guys up and beat them one by one.”

Mosley, 38, hasn’t fought since January 2009 when he won the WBA welterweight title with a ninth-round technical knockout of Antonio Margarito.

Mosley tried to push Pacquiao into fighting him, but got nowhere. “He was scared of me,” Mosley said last year.

Mosley and Mayweather spent the last decade on the short list of boxing’s top pound-for-pound fighters. Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) and Mosley (46-5, 39 KOs) have long talked of staging a fight, but other foes continually beckoned as they racked up belts in eight different weight divisions (five by Mayweather).

lance.pugmire@latimes.com