Steward blasts back at Mayorga

Mar

The antics of boxing’s most-volatile personality have failed to rile Miguel Cotto in recent weeks, but Ricardo Mayorga managed to get under the skin of Cotto’s mild-mannered trainer Wednesday at a Las Vegas press conference, and the furor that erupted was volcanic.

Emanuel Steward was interrupted by the mouthy Nicaraguan as he spoke to the media at the MGM Grand, and, unlike the fighter he trains, he lashed back angrily.

“I don’t care how hard you train. You’re getting knocked out,” Steward told Mayorga, who fights Cotto this Saturday on a Showtime pay-per-view show. “And it won’t take long, either.”

As Mayorga continued to badger Steward, the normally soft-spoken Hall of Famer stood his ground in an exchange that lasted more than 10 minutes.

“You can take your shirt off. You could get butt-naked out here. You are out of your class,” Steward told Mayorga. “You’re going to the hospital. The only flag that [promoter Don King] is going to waive afterwards is a white flag. You’re getting knocked out from a left hook to the body.”

Cotto (35-2, 28 KOs) and Mayorga (29-7-1, 23 KOs) will be fighting for the WBA Super world light middleweight title.

Dennis Taylor is editor/publisher of www.ringsideboxingshow.com and co-host of The Ringside Boxing Show.