By Miguel Rivera
The current junior middleweight (154 pounds) champion of the World Boxing Organization (WBO), Miguel Cotto, reacted to the recent statements that were made by Felix Trinidad, who was the head trainer for former three division world champion Felix "Tito" Trinidad.
According to certain statements that Trinidad Sr. made to the media, his son was the spearhead for American promoters to place a greater emphasis on boxing talent in Puerto Rico.
He told the media that a handful of Puerto Rican fighters - particularly Cotto - took advantage of the groundwork created by Tito. Trinidad Sr. believes that his son's his ability to sell pay-per-views to the Puerto Rican market was a motivating factor for Top Rank to sign up a lot of Puerto Rican talent like Miguel Cotto, Ivan Calderon, Juan Manuel Lopez and others.
Cotto, however, insisted that Trinidad Sr. is wrong and pointed out that the road to the American market was paved by the Puerto Rican boxing figures that preceded Trinidad on the main stages.
"I am totally outraged by the words of Trinidad's father that Puerto Rican boxing began when Tito Trinidad became world champion. We had Sixto Escobar, (José) "Chegüi" Torres, an Alfredo Escalera, Samuel Serrano, Wilfred Benitez, a Wilfredo Gomez, Edwin "Chapo" Rosario and a (Hector) "Macho" Camacho. We have been a country with a tradition of boxing," said Cotto to Carlos Gonzalez.
"I recognize that no other champion has been celebrated in Puerto Rico like Trinidad. The euphoria he generated before the fans was unprecedented in Puerto Rico. In that part I agree, but to make statements that it's because of what happened with Tito that Calderón and myself should be thankful that Top Rank looked at Puerto Rico - it's wrong."
The six-time world champion stressed that having represented the homeland at international events, including the 2000 Olympic Games, was a compelling reason for Bob Arum of Top Rank to present contract offers to both him and Calderón as soon as they made the leap to the pros.
"We have our things that we did as amateur boxers, they gave us the merit so that a company like Top Rank would notice us. It was not because of Tito Trinidad. It was because of our work," Cotto said.
"Puerto Rico has been a country where boxing is the national sport. It was not created when Tito Trinidad began to bloom. Boxing in Puerto Rico has a tradition and does not depend on Trinidad, or Gómez, or Benítez, or Cotto. Professional boxing in Puerto Rico has lived because we have had excellent representatives. We've had people before, with and after Tito Trinidad. We will continue to have high caliber boxers."
2023-10-20 02:45:19
