Don’t get it twisted.
Some people are trying to make the June 5 Miguel Cotto-Yuri Foreman WBA junior middleweight title bout at Yankee Stadium out to be a referendum on Hired Gun Emanuel Steward.
That’s beyond ridiculous.
The former master mechanic at Detroit’s fabled Kronk Gym will have a limited impact on the fading veteran Cotto’s performance against the Rapping Rabbi (to be).
Foreman is younger and quicker and he showed remarkable savvy in outpointing dangerous Boricua Daniel Santos to win the title.
So what value does Steward offer to Cotto?
He’s a cheerleader and an in the corner psychologist.
Obviously, he’s an improvement on having the fighter’s longtime buddy, Joe Santiago, as the chief second.
But you don’t think Cotto will make any major changes to his ring style at this late juncture, do you?
This bout is no more a referendum on Steward than it is on Foreman trainer, Joe Grier.
Steward once had a Kronk roster that was the boxing equivalent of the 1927 Yankees and his Babe Ruth was Thomas Hitman Hearns.
It’s a referendum on the two fighters.
Even tempered Naazim Richardson looks like good fit in Mayweather corner if Uncle Roger goes to slammer before Pacquiao bout (AP Photo)
Which brings me to my broader topic of today, the value of any and all trainers.
I got to ruminating on this for a couple of reasons.
One is that I keep hearing an undercurrent that Floyd Mayweather, whose uncle-trainer Roger is likely going to be in jail by the time his favorite nephew fights Manny Pacquiao, will enlist respected Brother Naazim Richardson as a replacement for the mega bout.
“Black Mamba” Roger has a rap sheet with as many pages as Ring magazine and he’s facing a trial on charges of assault on a female boxer named Melissa “Guard Your Grill” St. Vil. Police say they saw Uncle Rajah putting a serious choke hold on the lady boxer in an apartment owned by Mayweather.
Roger may have a nifty defense attorney in Vegas but it sounds like he might need Mandrake The Magician to beat this rap.
I mean, what can Rajah’s mouthpiece do, allege that the cop witnesses are Pacquiao fans and therefor prejudiced?
Jurors looking atr the battered, grizzled Roger might also find the voluptuous St. Vil a sympathetic figure as well but we’ll just let the legal process run its course in Clark County.
If Yuri Foreman beats back Miguel Cotto, it will be because he’s the superior fighter and Manny Steward being in Cotto corner won’t make any material difference (HBO Photo)
Is Richardson any less a talented trainer because his charge, Shane Mosley, did so little against Money May in their May 1 bout?
No, because Richardson did the best he could with a tired, almost age 40 warhorse against one of the two best fighters on the planet.
The estimable Richardson has done nice work with other stars, most notably the often difficult to get along with Bernard Hopkins.
Bro. Naazim seems to specialize in harmonizing with whatever fighter he is working for.
Richardson carried himself like a proper gentleman before and after the bout and, as Golden Boy’s Golden Trainer, he is most likely to take place Roger’s place, albeit on a temporary basis.
Should Pacman fans draw any hope for victory because of this?
Not really as Floyd is a “finished” fighter, meaning a completely made one, who actually does what he wants to do in the gym and on fight night.
Richardson would be a great choice as a pinch hit trainer for Mayweather.
Finally, there’s been some criticism for trainer Sherif Younan for not throwing in the towel in Paulie Malignaggi’s corner as Amir Khan toyed with the Brooklyn boxer.
It is misplaced criticism. Maliganggi wanted to last the limit, finish on his feet after 12 rounds, especially in his own backyard.
Malignaggi has never been a quitter and he wasn’t taking such a terrible beating.
I would blame the ring doctor for not calling it off sooner but ref Steve Smoger did what needed to be done.
As for Malignaggi having no answers, that’s obviously a difference in comparative skills, not a job evaluation of what Younans did in one corner and what Coach Freddie Roach did in the opposite one.
Malignaggi has gone out of his way in the past to blame defeats on ex-trainer and former world champ, James “Buddy” McGirt, the man whose head is bigger than a 54 inch TV screen.
Yo Paulie can’t blame this on Dirt McGirt or on his current trainer.
Trainers get too much, really, too much praise, too much criticism and usually not enough money.
Steward is not Ponce de Leon, he can’t offer a Fountain of Youth to the high mileage Cotto.
If Foreman beats Cotto, it’s because he’s a better fighter circa June, 2010.
If Foreman loses, it will be because Cotto rose to the occasion as old warriors sometimes do.
Trainers get bum raps often and, once in a while, undeserving praise.
What they never get is excessively paid.
