By Chris Robinson
Earlier this month cut man Joe Chavez seemed to have a routine night's worth of work as he assisted WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto during his pristine destruction of Nicaragua's Ricardo Mayorga. Cotto was in top form on this night as no traces of blood or cuts ever emerged during the fight, leaving Chavez as simply a spectator within the MGM Grand outside of a few small bruises he had to attend to.
Chavez joined Cotto's corner two years back for the Puerto Rican's bloody brawl with Joshua Clottey at Madison Square Garden after veteran Miguel Diaz was giving a surprising exit. It's been a pretty wild ride thus far, with Cotto winning impressively on a few occasions with a heartbreaking loss nestled in the mix.
Asked what he thought of Cotto's performance against Mayorga, Chavez seemed pleased.
"He was good with that jab he has. That jab and the speed. He looked pretty strong because Mayorga is a strong fighter," Chavez coined.
Next up for Cotto is a July rematch with the first man to defeat him, Antonio Margarito. Nearly three years ago the Tijuana fighter overcame a slow start before rallying late to stop Cotto in the eleventh round in a punishing battle.
Margarito was caught with tampered hand wraps prior to his next fight against Shane Mosley, bringing up speculation that he had performed illegally in prior fights. As far as Chavez is concerned, the new-look Cotto coupled with Margarito's lack of an unfair advantage will result in a different outcome this time around.
"I think he would do better this time because he would be better prepared with a better jab," said Chavez. "And Margarito wouldn't have loaded hands. Of course that played a huge part."
Chavez also worked a four-fight stretch with one of the sport's biggest superstars in recent years, Manny Pacquiao. Chavez would end up parting ways with Pacquiao after he went for bigger money to work Oscar De La Hoya's corner in December of 2008 but has nothing but respect for the WBO welterweight champion.
Pacquiao's May 7th date against Shane Mosley is inching closer by the day and Chavez hints that the Filipino star will be too much for 'Sugar'.
"Pacquiao is an animal of a different breed. But it's going to be a different fight because Mosley is a warrior too. It's going to be a good fight."
