Emanuel Steward: Cotto Fought With One Arm

By Jaime Estades: El Nuevo Dia Newspaper of Puerto Rico recently reported that Emanuel Steward, Miguel Cotto’s current trainer, stated that Miguel has fought his main fights against Shane Mosley, Zab Judah, and Manny Pacquiao with practically one arm. Seven years ago, Cotto injured his right shoulder in a car accident while traveling to jog at El Morro Castle in Puerto Rico. His right arm required emergency surgery. After the operation, Cotto renewed his career by depending mostly on his left arm, which he developed into one of the most devastating jabs and left hooks in his division. His right arm was never the same, although Cotto seemed to have kept it as a secret. In the years since the accident, his right shoulder developed scar tissue that was removed last summer, prompting Cotto to take the rest of the year off while healing. According to El Nuevo Dia, Steward stated that he noticed that during his preparation to fight the then Junior Middle Weight Champion Yuri Foreman, Cotto was not using his right hand as much as he expected him to do during training. Steward confronted Cotto about whether he had a problem with his right hand, and the typically proud Cotto responded that there was absolutely no problem and that everything was alright. Steward was not convinced but accepted Cotto’s word. However, Steward stated that right after his last fight with Foreman ended, Cotto admitted the pain in his right shoulder had finally become intolerable. According to Steward, the surgery and six months of recuperation seem to have been extremely beneficial to Cotto. Steward states that Cotto is using his right hand free of pain, with significantly greater frequency, and with more power than before. According to Emanuel, Cotto now has a weapon that he did not have during the last few years and will make him a better boxer.