Boxer Cotto, uncle say brawl is family matter

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP)—WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto said Monday that a recent brawl with his uncle at a Puerto Rico gym is a family matter, and neither one wishes to pursue a criminal case.
Cotto, who was greeted by a crush of reporters and photographers at a courthouse in his hometown of Caguas, called the dispute an “unfortunate situation” and asked the press to respect his privacy.
Puerto Rican authorities are investigating the bruising fisticuffs between the elite boxer and his uncle and longtime trainer, Evangelista Cotto, who have had a sometimes combative relationship.
Police say the two exchanged blows last Wednesday after a heated argument about training at the Bairoa Gymnasium in Caguas. Witnesses said they were quickly separated, but Evangelista Cotto later drove to his nephew’s home and threw a cement block through a window of the boxer’s 2009 Jaguar.
Prosecutor Elba Melendez Rivera said authorities may file assault charges after interviewing witnesses and reviewing evidence, but she did not disclose further specifics.
After the scrap, Miguel Cotto issued a terse statement saying his uncle would no longer be in his corner and he planned to find a new trainer.
Cotto (33-1, 27 KOs) is preparing to fight Joshua Clottey for the International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Organization welterweight titles on June 13 at Madison Square Garden in New York.