Bob Arum and Miguel Cotto are not exchanging Hershey?s Kisses today. They are not sending each other Valentine?s Day flowers.
Arum?s brazen, in your face total defense of Antonio Margarito over Handwrapgate may be costly.
I?m not talking about the legal bills for the Mexican mauler either. I?m talking about the growing resentment from Puerto Rican star Miguel Cotto and those close to him who feel that, with Arum, loyalty is a one-way street.
First, Cotto and some close to him felt that Arum lost interest in the Boricua Bomber after he was brutalized in a Las Vegas ring by Margarito.
?The phones to Cotto from Top Rank went dead,? a Cotto insider tells Boxingconfidential. ?Miguel needed a mental boost in dealing with his first pro defeat and it was not forthcoming. Top Rank was too busy toasting the new king, Magarito. All Cotto got was radio silence.
?In the wake of the Mosley fight handwrap thing, Arum turned a complete deaf ear (he is actually part deaf on one side) to the thought that perhaps Margarito cheated with the wraps in Vegas. Arum wouldn?t even consider such skullduggery even though it was so obvious in Los Angeles.
?So Cotto was more than miffed because, everytime he turns around, he sees and hears his promoter carrying on like Margarito is some innocent babe in the woods who would have no ideas what a trainer is putting into his hands. For Chrissakes, these fighters are like pianists. They make their living with those hands! ?
This past week Cotto made his feelings plain about Margarito skulking back to Tijuana for his next bout, a move Arum completely endorses.
?When everybody gets their hands wrapped, we know what?s in them,? Cotto said on a media conference call. ?Every boxer knows if there is something different in their hands or not and I think, he as a fighter, he would know if he had anything in there or not.?
The next sound heard on the call was Arum gasping for air. He quickly returned to his usual platitudes about Margy?s right to make a living.
Arum did not cite any right to cheat.
The Cotto insider said Handwrapgate has had one positive effect.
“Miguel had a mental block about losing so badly,” the man said. “But now he believes strongly that there was a foreign object in the Mexican’s gloves so Miguel can rationalize the loss. To him, on a level playing field, he feels he beats Margarito. But his funk about losing that bout is gone.”
Now Cotto comes to New York what should be a relatively easy comeback bout against Brit Michael Jennings.
For Arum, there is rough sledding ahead. For Arum, the fight to retain Cotto?s services is about to hear up.
Cotto and certain members of his inner circle are looking for a promoter who considers loyalty a two way street and not a one way dead end.
