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Miguel Cotto finds peace inside Tampa gym

Tribune photo by Eddie Daniels

WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto uprooted his training camp from Caguas, Puerto Rico, moving it to Tampa’s Fight Factory in preparation for Saturday’s fight against IBF welterweight champ Joshua Clottey at Madison Square Garden. He parted ways with uncle/trainer Evangelista Cotto and has trained with Joe Santiago (left) since April.

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By EDDIE DANIELS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 10, 2009

TAMPA - Through a shroud of chaos, Miguel Cotto has found peace.

Much ado was made of his April break up with uncle/trainer Evangelista Cotto as they prepared for Saturday night's matchup against IBF welterweight champ Joshua Clottey at Madison Square Garden.

Much ado about nothing? Not exactly.

According to published reports, Miguel and Evangelista came to blows inside a Caguas, Puerto Rico gym. After having to be separated more than once, reports say Evangelista tossed a brick through the passenger-side window of Miguel's Jaguar.

Days later, Miguel Cotto, the WBO welterweight champion, packed up his camp, minus Evangelista Cotto, and traveled more than 1,200 miles away with new trainer Joe Santiago.

It's here in Tampa where Cotto found that peace.

"Since I've been here, I've been more focused on my work," Cotto said following a recent training session inside The Fight Factory on Spruce Street. "I'm here just for training. To rest and train, real training."

The fight will air live on HBO's World Championship Boxing at 10:35 p.m. ET.

The Fight Factory is the baby of local trainer and co-owner of Starfight Productions, Pete Fernandez. When Fernandez was contacted by one of Cotto's attorneys, he was pleased to open his doors and allow it to serve as Cotto's training base.

"They came down and looked at the facilities and fell in love with it," Fernandez said. "And the rest is history."

When Cotto (33-1, 27 KOs) steps in the ring against Clottey (35-2, 20 KOs), he'll face a fighter with more than adequate defense and punching power. Even more, both enjoy punishing the body.

During their training camps, it was reported Clottey said he didn't believe this fight would go the full 12 rounds. He predicted a knockout of Cotto.

When Cotto was asked about it, his response was simple: "I train for 12 rounds. I train for the whole fight. He has it in his mind the fight is going to be less than 12 rounds; if he thinks he's going to beat me and if he trained for less than 12 rounds, he's going to get a big surprise."

Since then, Clottey, a Ghana native and Bronx resident, has said he isn't worried about the KO.

"I have never said anywhere that I am going to knock Cotto out," Clottey said during a conference call. "I am not thinking about that. I used to think about that. If I think about knocking him out, I will go wide. I will go too much wide and I don't like that. That will give me less of a chance to knock him out in the fight. I think about me getting into the ring and do what is good.

"I never said that I am going to knock Cotto out. If I get in the ring and knock Cotto out, that is a miracle because I respect Cotto so much. The one thing I respect about Cotto is that he is giving me a chance. I respect that so much. He decided to give me the chance. I want to thank him and Bob Arum for giving me the chance. But I never said I am going to knock him out, no."

What is clear, the fight will be interesting.

"We're going to put two warriors, two real fighters [in the ring]," Cotto said. "Two guys who like to fight and bring people good events. I think it's going to be a war, a real good fight and a fight to remember."

In his most recent fight in February, Cotto collected a fifth-round technical knockout of Michael Jennings. That victory, seven months removed from Cotto's loss to Antonio Margarito, earned him the vacant WBO strap.

Margarito has been involved in a storm of his own since that Cotto fight last July. In January, he was caught with what appeared to be plaster in his hand wraps moments before stepping into the ring against Shane Mosley. Margarito was made to re-wrap his hands and eventually was knocked out in the ninth round by Mosley. The WBA welterweight belt Margarito took from Cotto, was relinquished with the loss to Mosley.

In February, the California State Athletic Commission suspended Margarito's boxing license for at least a year. His trainer, Javier Capetillo, was also dolled a one-year suspension.

In light of that, one would think Cotto would be adamant his loss to Margarito is tarnished and should be called into question.

"I prefer to think he beat me in a clean way. I don't want to think he used these kinds of things with me, too," Cotto said. "The only person who can tell you if he used [plaster] or not, is him or his trainer. I prefer to think he fought with me in a clean way. The fans can judge."

As for the new sense of calm and "good vibes" in the Cotto camp, Santiago witnessed an immediate difference in his fighter as they prepared for his latest bout.

"Everything's here. Whatever we need, we have it here," Santiago said as Fernandez translated. "It's good that he's in a good atmosphere."

Reporter Eddie Daniels can be reached at (813) 259-7066.

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