BOXING: Santiago deftly managing Camp Cotto
Published on: 26th October, 2009
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Joe Santiago is like a longtime bench coach of a Major League Baseball team who suddenly finds himself running the show after the manager has been fired.
Santiago had been an assistant trainer for welterweight champion Miguel Cotto for seven years. But he was promoted to chief trainer when Cotto and his uncle/trainer, Evangelista Cotto, got into a fist fight in April in Puerto Rico, where Cotto was training for his title defense against Joshua Clottey in June in NewYork.
Out went Uncle Evangelista, in as skipper was Santiago.
So far, so good for Santiago, even though getting Cotto past Clottey was no easy task. Cotto suffered a bad cut over his left eye from a head-butt in the third round, but fought through it on his way to a split-decision victory.
Next up for Cotto will be Manny Pacquiao on Nov. 14 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
It’s the most anticipated fight of the year, and former bench coach Santiago will have his hands full. A victory would make Cotto as popular in his native Puerto Rico as Pacquiao is in his beloved Philippines.
“It’s huge,” Santiago said. “Everybody knows what Pacquiao has done and we know what Miguel is capable of doing. It would not only be huge for me and Miguel, but for everybody in Puerto Rico.”
Cotto has done quite a bit as well. He is 34-1 with 27 knockouts. He has victories over tough fighters like Randall Bailey, Ricardo Torres, Carlos Quintana, Zab Judah, “Sugar” Shane Mosley and Clottey. Cotto is 14-1 in title fights in the junior welterweight and welterweight divisions.
Cotto’s only loss was by 11th-round technical knockout at the hands of Antonio Margarito in July 2008, but Cotto came back with wins over Michael Jennings and Clottey. In other words, a lot is expected of Cotto, who is still just 28. It’s up to Santiago to help Cotto realize those expectations.
Interestingly, Santiago said he is feeling no pressure.
“I have been around the camp for seven years, so I know how he prepares himself. I know him very well,” Santiago said. “The confidence the Cotto family had in me, made me feel good.
“I know I was well-prepared and I know I have the capacity to do this job. And I think I just follow along with what we’ve done.”
Santiago’s thinking – if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it – seems asmart way to operate. But Santiago has other problems, even if he won’t cop to them.
Cotto is going to be fighting Pacquiao – the hard-hitting, blazing fast, pound-for-pound king – and many experts believe Cotto might have had something taken out of him during the brutal loss to Margarito as well as the grueling bout against Clottey.
“As far as we are concerned, the Margarito fight is done with,” he said. “We are preparing for a new challenge and I see him just as hungry. The confidence when he goes up into the ring, I don’t see that changing.
“I don’t think many guys would have stood up to Clottey the way he was fighting with the cut and everything.”
Phil Landman, Cotto’s strength and conditioning coach, intimated Cotto’s showing against Clottey proved Cotto is the same fighter he was pre-Margarito.
“Getting a cut like he did in the third round, he never thought about quitting and he toughed it out for 12 rounds and he won the fight,” Landman said. “I think you have to look at it from that perspective and give him credit for it.”
Bob Arum, who promotes Cotto and Pacquiao, was quick to note Clottey, a former champion, is one of the top welterweights in the world.
“For Miguel to come back after suffering that cut and to come back and pull out a victory I think shows that Miguel is back, but it also shows an absolutely brilliant performance,” Arum said.
Santiago believes Cotto is capable of another such outing three weeks from tonight, even if the naysayers don’t think so.
“A few years back before Miguel fought Quintana, a lot of people thought Quintana could beat Miguel and he took a little affront to that, people picking Quintana to beat him,” Santiago said.
“The night of the fight he was so in tune to what he wanted to do, he was so impressive (winning by fifth-round TKO). Ithink you will see that in him this time. A lot of people are picking Pacquiao to beat him andhe is motivated by that.”
Santiago was saying all the right things this week, and that’s good. But not only is Cotto facing Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37 KOs), Santiago is squaring off with Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s Hall of Fame trainer. Santiago dismissed that matchup, however.
“I don’t look at it that way,” Santiago said. “I know he has done a lot in boxing. I have a lot of respect for what Freddie Roach has done. But it has nothing to do with us. It’s the fighters who are going to do the fighting.”
By: Robert Morales
Source: dailybreeze.com
