Published>Fri, May 21 10 06:52 AM
Emanuel Steward has turned training sessions with Miguel Cotto into a big salsa party as the famed trainer is using music to get the Puerto Rican to move with greater agility during his title shot next month.
Former champion Cotto is taking on WBA light middleweight champion Yuri Foreman on June 5 in the first boxing card held at the new Yankee Stadium and Steward said he is getting dramatic results with the off-beat training approach.
"Training sessions are a lot of fun and we're operating off of one of his natural talents -- he loves to salsa dance," Steward told Reuters in an interview in a stadium corridor when Cotto attended Wednesday's Yankees game to promote the bout.
"So I've now got him operating with music, working on his rhythm much like I did with Evander Holyfield when he was fighting for the rematch with Riddick Bowe.
"The magic weapon we found out was his beautiful footwork and timing and coordination. It's working good. It's nothing but a big salsa party at the training sessions."
Cotto (34-2) who was stopped in the 12th round by Manny Pacquiao last November to lose his WBO welterweight title, will try to deal Foreman (28-0) his first defeat.
"He's going 10 and 12 rounds of beautiful combinations, in and out, and wanting to go more. I am extremely happy. I'm happy with his energy. He doesn't even want to leave the gym."
Steward, who rose to prominence tutoring Thomas "Hit Man" Hearns among others at his Kronk Gym in Detroit, said the dancing helped Cotto throw his punches in quick combinations.
"The biggest problem I saw when I first got involved with him was he was unable to put together combinations because of bad balance," Steward said, "and that's why guys like Pacquiao were physically beating him up and he folded in late rounds."
Cotto's other loss came in July 2008 when Antonio Margarito stopped him in the 11th round in a WBA welterweight title bout.
"I think he was trying too hard, training six days a week and not letting his body rest up," Steward said. "I've cut that back to four and a half days of quality, intense training."
Steward said he thought Foreman had not gotten the credit he deserved because of his modest knockout rate. Foreman, an Orthodox Jew who is studying in Brooklyn to become a rabbi, has won only eight of his 28 wins short of the distance.
"Yuri Foreman is the most underappreciated fighter in boxing," Steward said. "I think he's a much, much better fighter than people give him credit for.
"We have a lot of respect for Yuri Foreman. To me I see it as a 50-50 fight going into it.
"He's going to be fighting a very high-spirited fight. This is a major fight in terms of emotions.
"You have two of your biggest ethnic groups in New York -- the Jewish fighter and the Puerto Rican fighter, so it's going to be a lot of energy in this fight.
"Yuri Foreman is dying to break through and be a star in New York, his hometown, and for the Jewish community."
Source: Web Search
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