Boxing welterweights Miguel Cotto, left, of Puerto Rico, and Joshua Clottey, of Ghana, pose during a news conference in New York, Wednesday, June 10, 2009. Cotto will fight Clottey for the WBO and IBF Welterweight Championship at Madison Square Garden in New York on June 13, 2009.
Joshua Clottey: “Cotto is really giving me a big opportunity. I will always respect Miguel Cotto. All of the top welterweights never mention my name and Cotto has mentioned me for a long time. I respect that. He gave me the chance when others wouldn’t. I prepared very well. Trained hard and done every possible thing to win. This won’t be an easy fight at all. We’re going to leave everything in the ring. It’s all about respect. I’m going to give a very good, clean fight and win.”
Miguel Cotto: “There’s just three more days until the fight. Like Joshua said before, he’s going to leave everything in the ring and I am going to do the same to be the winner and retain my title. But the real winner will be all of the fans. I’m ready to go and I know he’s ready too. Let’s go to it on Saturday.”
Cotto has been mobbed by fans in all of his New York appearances – first at an open workout at the Bronx followed by a visit to an AT & T store where there was a long line of fight fans. Cotto has been working out each day at the Trinity Boxing Club on Greenwich St. Clottey has been training at the Kingsway Gym on West 28th St.
First bell on Saturday will be at 6:30 pm. There are two Team Cotto fighters on the undercard, super featherweight Alberto Cruz, 4-0, and super bantamweight Jayson Velez, 8-0. The Ivan Calderon vs. Rodol Mayol world title fight will be at 9 pm, followed by Russian Olympian Matt Korobov vs. Loren Myers. The HBO telecast will get underway at 10:35 pm local time. On Sunday, Cotto will be on a float with his family at the annual Puerto Rico Parade in New York.
Photos by Seth Wenig/AP