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Is Cotto Really Ready?
By Damon “Latinbox” Gonzalez
Tampa, Florida – Super welterweight Miguel Cotto’s training
camp has come to a close this Memorial weekend, finishing
off his training for the June 5th
Top Rank
promoted showdown with Yuri Foreman at Yankee Stadium. Nine
members of the Tampa media waited outside of the Fight
Factory on Friday to witness Cotto’s final preparations only
to be told at the last minute by Cotto’s public relations
representative Brian Gonzalez that access to the training
camp will be closed, no reason given. It has been my
observation in camp that this has not really been much of
different than the Clottey or Pacquiao camps.
Cotto has drawn much interest working on different things
with Emanuel Steward in camp. He started his first few weeks
sparring with Dominique Dolton who rightfully went after
Cotto with a Yuri Forman style. Cotto did not like the
pressure that Dolton had presented to him; he pretty much
went into a shell and ate a lot of shots. I question the
spirit and determination in Cotto. He decided not to spar
with Dolton as he did in the same with Gato Figueroa in the
Pacquiao camp, when he let him go because of the hard
beating he was taking in sparring. A few days later Cotto
chose instead to spar with the two minors, the Bonas
brothers, Jacob (16 years old) and Joseph (17 years old),
fighters that aren’t close to his level.
This seriously raises questions about Cotto going into this
fight on June 5th. Can Foreman with the quicker hands jump
on him or will he just give him too much respect in the
ring? Cotto, after a camp like this one, is sure not
deserving the respect if Foreman were to give it. Cotto has
been seen doing the cardio drills holding on to his iPod,
not keeping his hands up, acting as he is not either giving
his full effort or not caring.
On paper this is a fight to win for Cotto. He has never lost
in New York, but he appears to be a different fighter than
the warrior Cotto fans once knew. Foreman has a lot of
advantages in this fight but lacks the knockout power that
always makes Cotto extremely dangerous.
Pete Fernandez, owner of
Fight Factory, states “They bring in a trainer like
Emanuel Steward here and Cotto did not give 100% to him.” If
Miguel Cotto loses on Saturday, fingers should not be
pointed at the Hall of Fame trainer Emanuel Steward. All
blame falls on the shoulders of Miguel Angel Cotto. The same
Cotto that rattled off 32 wins in a row, but has now gone
2-2 in the last four bouts. Cotto has a shot to win this
bout, his power will give him that; however it is this
writers opinion that he needs to focus more and devote
himself to the pugilistic art if he wishes to regain the
dominance he once held.
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