By Mark Vester
Former two division champion Miguel Cotto is getting ready to start training camp for the June fight with undefeated WBA junior middleweight champion Yuri Foreman. Cotto will try to match the boxing record of fellow Puerto Rican Felix "Tito" Trinidad by going for a world title in his third weight division. Cotto expects the fight with Foreman to be locked and loaded in the next two weeks for June 12 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Cotto will meet with his team in next few days and make a decision on whether they should add a third man to the corner. He would not reveal any of the names in the running but said former trainer/uncle Evangelista Cotto is not under consideration.
Cotto and his uncle had a bad falling out in early 2009. After a bad disagreement on where to hold the training camp for the Joshua Clottey fight, Cotto fired his uncle and the two of them traded punches. Evangelista filed a $7 million dollar lawsuit against Cotto for injuries that he suffered during the brawl and for money owed from their training agreement. After the recent passing of Cotto's father, Miguel Cotto Sr, Evangelista and Miguel seemed to patch things up.
"I also am going to meet with my corner in coming days. I'll discuss the plans for this fight with Joe Santiago (trainer) and Joe Chavez (cutman) and the possibility of adding someone to the team. We are just going to add someone, and not replace anyone, Cotto told Primera Hora. "We are not considering Evangelista. He has other fighters and wish him the best of luck with his other fighters."
Cotto's physical trainer Phil Landman arrives in Puerto Rico on March 17. They plan to start training with weights and building muscle to add more strength at 154-pounds.
"I've been running a little on my own to begin. Phil Landman arrives on March 17 and I'll begin working hard with weights, because I'll be going up in weight and we must add more strength. Later on, we'll begin with running and boxing, and then proceed to move the camp to Tampa by this stage."
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