Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Corrales ditches trainer in favor of ‘baby sitter’

Kenny Adams didn't mind parting ways with Freddie Norwood, a great but troubled fighter who recently regained the WBA featherweight championship.

But Adams was not pleased when Norwood's stablemate, rising junior lightweight Diego Corrales, was pulled from his care. Corrales' management team made the decision earlier this month in spite of the fact Corrales is 27-0 with 22 knockouts -- with all but the first eight of those fights under Adams' watch.

"I'm trying to take it in stride," said Adams, who may very well be the finest trainer in the sport. "You gain some, you lose some."

He was less diplomatic, however, when discussing the situation with Corrales' booking agent, Cameron Duncan.

"Kenny's probably bitter but I have a job to do," Duncan said at the Top Rank offices. "It's too bad but I told him not to lose his cool. I said let's give this six months and see what happens."

While Adams had his fill of Norwood, he genuinely wanted to stay with Corrales, a Sacramento native who trains regularly in Las Vegas. He's fighting Saturday in Indio, Calif., against journeyman Manuel Arellano.

"The fighter didn't want to do this," Adams said of having Corrales yanked away from him. Corrales is the No. 1 contender with the IBF at 130 pounds.

Both Norwood and Corrales have been turned over to a new trainer, Miguel Diaz. And the reason for the switch doesn't speak well for either fighter.

"Both of those guys need a baby sitter and Kenny just doesn't work that way," Duncan said. "Miguel will. He'll pound on their door and get them up in the morning and make sure they run and make sure they eat the right things.

"This is no b.s.: Kenny knows how to fight better than anybody. He's an absolutely terrific trainer. Do his guys know how to fight? Yes, better than anybody.

"But Kenny's a no-nonsense guy with a military background who does things his way. When I'm in the locker room before a fight and Kenny's wrapping my guy's hands, there's a real calmness and a feeling that we'll never lose with him.

"But he's not going to make sure his guys exercise and he's not going to make sure they eat right. If they don't show up to work out for two or three days at a time, he just shrugs and says that's not part of his concern."

Diaz was hired because he will do those "hands-on" type of things that Adams may think are beneath him. For better or worse, Corrales will be impacted but it's apparently the result of his own lack of discipline.

"It's always amazing to see an athlete care about himself, given the unfortunate fact that nine-tenths of them need someone there for them every minute of the day," Duncan said. "In Diego's case, we have $103,000 invested in him as of right now and we're feeling his career has been in a steady decline. He looked terrible in his last fight."

Corrales should have an easy assignment Saturday, as Arellano is only 16-8 with 14 knockouts. They're headlining a card to be televised on the Univision cable network.

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