Miguel Cotto "chops chops" Corley down.....
February 26, 2005

Miguel Cotto successfully defended his WBO junior welterweight title against Demarcus Corley, Cotto scored an exciting fifth round TKO over former champion Demarcus Corley, Saturday.

Cotto scored a flash knockdown in the first round and it was apparent that Cotto had a huge strength advantage. The southpaw Corley fought back and turned the bout into a slugfest, and he hurt Cotto pretty badly in the third round. After some rocky moments, Cotto weathered the storm. Corley had a point deducted for a hard shot below the cup in round four.

In the fifth, Cotto hurt Corley and sent him to the canvas with a body shot. Later still hurt, Corley took a knee while dipping low to avoid a Cotto punch. Although no punch landed the referee stop the bout. Corley complained to no avail about the premature stoppage.

Bob Arum has separated June 18th for Miguel Cotto next title defense in New York.

More to come...

BAIROA GYM ANNOUNCES MIGUEL COTTO BULL OF THE YEAR ACADEMIC AND SOCIAL SCHOLARSHIP

2004 RECIPIENT JESUS ROJAS CHOSEN NOT ONLY FOR HIS BOXING SKILLS, BUT FOR HIS COMMITMENT TO BECOMING A PRODUCTIVE CITIZEN

Caguas, Puerto Rico, August 7th, 2004 – Bairoa Gym, home to numerous internationally-recognized Puerto Rican boxers, was the setting for an important announcement this month: the creation of the “Miguel Cotto’s Bull of the Year” scholarship. The annual award is designed to recognize one young boxer from the Bairoa ranks who best demonstrates the characteristics of the young model citizen: one with social responsibility, academic commitment, perseverance, and a winning attitude.

The winner, to be determined annually by the Bairoa Gym Management, receives an academic scholarship in the amount of $1000. He/she also will have the opportunity to provide a necessary piece of infrastructure to the gym up to $500 in value – this year it will be an abdominal machine.

Known as “The Champions Factory,” the Bairoa gym has been directed by brothers Evangelista and Miguel Cotto Sr. to great heights over the last 13 years. Their success includes six medals for Puerto Rico at

International Amateur competitions in the last three Olympic Cycles. A seventh medal could be added to the count later this month when Bairoa Olympiad Joseph Serrano fights for gold in Athens in the 51-kilogram weight class.

The 2004 scholarship award recipient is Jesús Rojas of Caguas. Rojas, 17, is currently enrolled at Universidad del Turabo for this academic year. Like many of Bairoa Gym’s young boxers, Rojas has a wealth of boxing talent but does not come from a privileged socioeconomic background. Fortunately for him and thousands before him, Bairoa Gym provides a unique platform for athletic achievement and personal improvement.

The Cotto's, along with their dedicated volunteer-parent staff, do more than teach boxing to the youth. They also provide their kids with guidance and emotional support, keys to survival in a community faced with many hazards. A key goal for the gym has always been to motivate its members to attend and complete school. “Miguel Cotto’s Bull of the Year” scholarship was created to reinforce this objective to gym members, as well as their families.

“The scholarship is another motivation for our young boxers,” says Evangelista Cotto, Boxing Trainer of the Year in Puerto Rico. “It’s great that Red Bull helped us create this award, because there are a lot of kids out there already asking how can they win it in 2005.” Evangelista is more than a central figure who happily volunteers his time to Bairoa Gym. He is the Uncle, Trainer, and Manager of Miguel Cotto Jr., who will fight for the WBO Junior Welterweight title September 11th in the main event at the new José Miguel Agrelot/“Don Cholito” arena.

Asked about his dedication to Bairoa Gym, Miguel Cotto Sr. replies “to see a Gym totally completed, and my sons fulfilled as human beings is one of the best things in life. To see them becoming an example for Puerto Rican society inspires me, and that is my passion.” He added, “I live through these kids’ experience – their victories, their losses, their punches, everything. It feels like they are my children as well.”

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