The Miguels Unite: Torres Teams With Cotto

By Frank Curreri

Miguel Angel Torres and Miguel Angel Cotto have become sparring partners?

Not exactly, but Torres was in Tampa, Fla., for five days last week with Cotto’s camp as the WBO welterweight boxing champion trained for his mega-fight with Manny Pacquaio. Although the two fighting stars did not practice together, former WEC bantamweight kingpin Torres said he tested himself against several of Cotto’s professional sparring partners. Hungry to return to the top of MMA’s bantamweight food chain, Torres spoke in this exclusive WEC interview about how he fared in those supervised exchanges, the Dream Team of coaches he will be working with for his title quest, and how an alliance with Cotto figures into his future plans.

WEC: Miguel, during your visit to Tampa you did not spar with Cotto, although you expressed a willingness to do so. What happened?
Torres: Well, me, and Pacquaio have totally different styles. You know, Pacquaio is a southpaw and I’m orthodox so it wouldn’t make any sense for me to spar with Cotto this close to his fight. But coming into this situation his camp was real sketchy -- they didn’t think I had any boxing ability whatsoever. I was working pads with his coach and they had me sparring with some of his guys that were southpaws and I was doing a great job against those guys. They were very impressed with my jab and my head movement. There were little things that I did differently because I box for MMA, I don’t box for boxing. But other than that my game was pretty solid. They were very impressed.

WEC: By all accounts you and Cotto are cool, but the fact remains that you’re a Mexican-American and he’s a Puerto Rican. There has traditionally been a lot of well-documented tension when Mexican boxers and Puerto Ricans face off. Mexicans and Puerto Ricans have waged some of boxing’s fiercest and most memorable battles in recent decades and nationalistic pride runs high in both nations, where boxing is akin to a national sport. Do you think any of those kinds of tensions could affect your alliance with Cotto?
Torres: You know what, I was thinking that could be a big problem coming down here and then I got down here (to Tampa) and I got to hang out with Miguel Cotto and his coaches and his team and there is no animosity there. The animosity that is built has been between cultures. I think the fighters don’t have that. We met each other … and we share the same sponsor, ECKO, which laid down the foundation for us to meet each other a long time ago. Our schedules were just so crazy we could never hook up. Him allowing me to come into his training camp was an act of faith on his part. I was worried because I wouldn’t allow someone to come into my training camp like that (spur of the moment), you know? But the fact that he allowed me to do that and to get a taste of what he does shows he’s trying to build a relationship. It’s a big thing, him letting me be here.

WEC: So you intend to practice boxing alongside Cotto in the future as well?
Torres: Yes. When I train for my next fight he is going to come down and train with me for two weeks. That’s a big thing for him to do that. So however we set it up, I’ll have one of the best boxers in the world helping me train. And I will have his staff at my disposal also.

WEC: You’re known for sparring all-out and with maximum intensity – none of this, let’s-go-50 percent-stuff. I’m trying to think of another instance where a top MMA guy would dare to spar with an iconic boxer who is legitimately number 1 or number two in the world in their weight class. Sure, we’ve seen MMA fighters train with elite

boxing trainers, like Freddie Roach, but they weren’t thrown in there to spar hard live with big-name fighters. Some people might think this is a crazy idea to spar hard with Miguel Cotto. What is your take on that?
Torres: It’s easy: If you want to learn how to walk on fire, you have to walk on fire, you have to step on hot coals. If you’re going to learn how to climb a mountain, you start climbing the mountain. I want to learn how to box like one of the best boxers in the world and I want to test myself to see where I am at and what I have to learn. And I don’t take coaching well. If Miguel Cotto beats my a--, then I know I have to work on some things, and then I’ll go from there.

WEC: I guess this shows the extremes you’re willing to take to try and return to the top of the heap.
Torres: I never left the top of the heap, man. I’m still at the top of the heap. I just got to get my s--- back. I took a step there and I missed a stair, and I caught myself. Now I’m on my way back up the ladder.

WEC: The team of coaches you are assembling is almost like a Dream Team.
Torres: Oh yeah. Imagine a training staff made up of a Miguel Cotto, Mark DelaGrotte and Robert Drysdale – imagine if those three were your coaches. And then I had a world-class wrestling coach, which I’m working on getting right now. And a strength and conditioning coach, and a nutritionist and a chef and all that stuff. Cotto has a personal chef, a personal trainer, a strength and conditioning guy, his manager, and everybody is staying here, away from everything. I mean, the cook is complaining to me how he hasn’t seen his girl in like six weeks and he’s horny as s---. It’s a real camp.

ECKO is a great sponsor. They are the ones that made everything kosher. They believe in me, they know that this last loss is just a small setback. They know that I’m a good person and I’m here to do big things.

WEC: What is different about sparring with pro boxers and big gloves versus the boxing you normally train during an MMA session?
Torres: You got to pick and choose your spots. You have to be a lot smarter about how you do things. You can’t just go out there and go gun crazy, you have to pick and choose your shots. There is a lot more movement involved. You get tired a lot quicker. In a five minute MMA sparring session, it’s a lot easier because you can get in the clinch and hug a guy and get the takedown and waste time. In boxing there is none of that happening. In boxing it’s all throwing hands, there is no wrestling. You get into a clinch, they break you right away and you’re back in there throwing bombs again. So it’s a little different pace, especially with the guys they have in Miguel Cotto’s training camp, because they are mimicking Manny Pacquaio’s style, so they have real quick southpaws that are powerful and explosive.

WEC: So you will be at the Cotto-Pacquaio fight when they fight in Vegas in November?
Torres: Yeah, I’ll be sitting in the front row with Mark Ecko.

WEC: I heard your manager, Dean Albrecht, won the Pan American No-Gi Championship recently.
Torres: (With great pride and enthusiasm) I have the toughest manager in all of MMA. Dean won double gold at the Pan American No-Gi’s. He won his weight class (super heavyweight) and the absolute division. If he heard this he would probably try to kill me, but I challenge all of the other managers out there to come fight Dean, or try to come grapple him. I’ve seen him on YouTube, man, I was impressed. He’s a purple belt. He’ll be a black belt in two years I guarantee you.