Cotto, who will face Manny Pacquiao on November 14 in Las Vegas, informed Puerto Rican media that the split was a long time coming and that problems would always surface during training. The misunderstanding came to a head on April 8 when after a bitter dispute on where to hold camp for the Joshua Clottey fight, Miguel would fire his uncle which then led to a fistfight between the two.
There have been varied accounts of the incident, depending on whose side is talking. The two would fight in the gym, at Miguel's apartment and on the street resulting in Evangelista heading to the hospital with a possible broken nose and injured ribs. Since the brawl, Miguel has appointed Joe Santiago the head trainer, and Evangelista promptly filed a $7 million dollar lawsuit against Miguel, claiming breach of contract and for the beating.
According to the younger Cotto, his uncle never liked the conditioning coach, Phil Landman. He said Evangelista was a control freak.
“Evangelista did not understand. Phil came to make his job easier and Evangelista did not understand it. He is the kind of person who wants to have control of everything. Everyone had to work in harmony for my benefit, and he wouldn't,” Cotto told El Nuevo Dia.
Miguel added that his uncle began to train other fighters and there were conflict in training schedule. He claims Evangelista would train others at the same time and sometimes take off to help them. There were also lifestyle clashes. Evangelista hated that Miguel would party.
“I wasn't asking him to not have other boxers, but you have to have priorities. He did not tolerate my lifestyle and did not tolerate the things I did. Yes, I agree, I like going out, but I've learned to be responsible with my personal life and my professional life. I know how to divide them. When I'm training, I am training. You're not going to see me anywhere, and he could not handle that,” Cotto said.
“This could have been avoided [the brawl]. It's painful for me, for the whole family, but it was something he did not want to avoid but the relationship between a nephew and his uncle was lost many years ago.”
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