By Chris Robinson
Earlier this year, veteran corner man Miguel Diaz and I talked in depth about his times with Puerto Rican superstar and WBA 154-pound champion Miguel Cotto. Working for Top Rank as a chief trainer at the time, Diaz was introduced to Cotto early into his career and the two men spent countless days together on the island of Puerto Rico as the Boricua fighter honed his skills and prepared for his ascension towards greatness.
As our conversation got in depth Diaz and I discussed several facets of his working relationship with Cotto as well as many key fights in Miguel’s career. Of all the encounters we discussed it was Miguel’s first loss, a savage 11th round stoppage to Antonio Margarito in July of 2008, which seemed to resinate the most.
The Cotto-Margarito affair took place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and saw Miguel put his undefeated record on the line against the Tijuana brawler’s aggression and iron will. Despite starting fast Cotto would fade over the second half of the fight and eventually succumb after suffering two knockdowns late in the bout. Looking back on that summer night, Diaz recalls when he first saw the fight slipping away.
“By the seventh or eighth round when Miguel started moving backwards and Margarito started connecting those uppercuts and going to the body,” Diaz stated. “Miguel was allowing him to hit him along the ropes and we were screaming for him to get out of the ropes. He didn’t realize that Margarito was dishing up the same medicine that he had done to all of the fighters in his career. The body shots. The fighters don’t really feel the body shots in the beginning but by the time the fight started going on we realized that his legs weren’t there."
Following the win Margarito’s career was at an all-time high but he would soon see his world come crashing down just six months later. Prior to his loss to Shane Mosley in January of 2009, Margarito was found to have elements of plaster of paris in his hand wraps and would subsequently be suspended by the California State Athletic Commission after his disastrous defeat to the Pomona, California fighter.
Margarito’s stock definitely took a hit and the validity of his prior contests were also called into question, with the Cotto fight in particular generating several question marks as to whether or not something happened behind closed doors. Reflecting on the situation, Diaz claims that he will never know what was going on with Team Margarito because of his involvement with another fight on the undercard.
“I was confident in that particular fight,” Diaz said while speaking from the Palms Casino this past weekend. “When the things happened I had no idea. In that fight I was supposed to be the one who checked the other corner’s wraps. But in that particular fight I had [Cesar] Canchila fighting Giovanni Segura and then I didn’t have the chance to do it and what happened, happened. But I was confident that Miguel was going to beat him. I wasn’t even there. When the thing happened I said ‘Where was I for that particular fight and why didn’t I see it?’. But that got me thinking.”
Margarito has been scathed by the boxing world for the past year and half but he has taken everything in stride and remains standing. His upcoming November 13th clash with Manny Pacquiao at Cowboys Stadium is the exact kind of high-profile affair he is in need of and Diaz insists that the contest is worth more of a look than people are giving it credit for.
“It’s a good fight,” he continued. “Pacquiao of course has his situation in Manila, he is now the representative of his congress. Both got their own way, let’s put it that way, and they are coming in with the same kind of attitude; like it’s a comeback. I think it’s a great, great fight for both of them. Especially for Margarito after the heat he got for the wraps from the Mosley fight. He has to show the people that he really is a hard puncher without the help. And what can you say about Pacquiao? He’s a tremendous fighter, great conditioned fighter. He’s on top of his game right now. The weight actually won’t make a difference because he’s already fought big guys. It’s going to be a great fight.”
Diaz should be one to give an accurate assessment of Pacquiao considering he has been working the Filipino fighter’s corner as a cut man for his past four fights. Asked if the trio of Vanes Martirosyan, Rashad Holloway and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. will be suitable enough to help Pacquiao prepare for a fighter as dangerous as Margarito, Diaz confirms as much.
“Of course,” Diaz claimed. “No question about it. Those are the type of fighters who are going to give him work because they are tall, they are active. They are all coming in fighters. Especially Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Martirosyan is not really the style of Margarito but also Margarito is a little better than just attacking. Especially with Roberto Garcia, he will take his punches a little bit better than what they used to be before.”
In a strange turn of events, it would be revealed hours after I spoke with Diaz that Chavez Jr. will likely not be making the trek overseas to be a part of Pacquiao’s camp because of a conflict of interest as to his own personal training for a December 4th clash with Cotto himself. Despite some uncertainty lingering around his career, recent reports have said that Cotto-Chavez Jr. still may come to fruition and if it does Diaz has to side with the Sinaloa, Mexico native.
“I give Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. the edge of youth, speed and pressure. I think he’s going to be the winner.”
Chris Robinson is based out of Las Vegas, Nevada. An archive of his work can be found here, and he can be reached at Trimond@aol.com
