Trainer: Sadam Ali 'as Good as Any Elite Fighter on the Planet'

By Keith Idec

NEW YORK – One of the few men who always believed Sadam Ali could thrive at boxing’s elite level is convinced the newly crowned WBO super welterweight champion has now proven that to the world.

Andre Rozier, Ali’s longtime trainer, thinks Ali demonstrated by upsetting Miguel Cotto on Saturday night that he is as good as any welterweight or junior middleweight in boxing. Ali and his handlers said following his surprising, unanimous-decision win against Cotto at Madison Square Garden that the Brooklyn native will take his time in determining if he’ll stay at 154 pounds or move back down to 147 pounds for his next fight.

Remaining at 154 would give Ali more leverage because he holds a world title in that weight class, but Rozier is certain he can succeed in either division.

“Sadam is as good as any elite fighter on the planet,” Rozier said. “The only limitations Sadam will ever have is what he puts upon himself. He can beat every welterweight and junior middleweight out there, as you saw [Saturday night].”

The 29-year-old Ali (26-1, 14 KOs) said he learned from mistakes he made while preparing for his lone loss, a ninth-round technical knockout defeat to Jessie Vargas (27-2, 10 KOs) in a WBO welterweight title fight in March 2016. Ali applied those lessons while getting ready for the 37-year-old Cotto (41-6, 33 KOs), who was an 11-1 favorite over the 2008 Olympian in what the Puerto Rican icon has repeatedly promised will be the final fight of his 16-year pro career.

“There were a lot of media folks who were saying Sadam was gonna lose,” Rozier said, “this was a horrible fight, ‘I’m not gonna watch it,’ and this is my baby. When they say things like that, I get upset because we’ve been through the thick and thin from the very beginning. You talk about him, you’re talking about me.

“And if you talk about me, he’s kind-hearted and he’s sweet. I’ll burn you up. So we worked hard, he rose to the occasion and, like I said, it wasn’t easy. We had to push, shove and get to that point where could get to where we’re at right now. Sadam is the junior middleweight champion of the world.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.