FightHype.com has confirmed that undefeated jr. middleweight prospect Omar Henry will serve as Antonio Margarito's sparring partner leading up to his December 3rd rematch with WBA jr. middleweight champion Miguel Cotto. Henry (11-0, 9 KO's) will travel to Mexico Thursday to join team Margarito. "I gotta a big opportunity coming up right now. I know people might make a big deal about this because I'm Puerto Rican, but this time, I talked to Miguel himself and he said it's business and he wished me well," stated Henry.
The Chicago and Houston native, who now resides in Puerto Rico, has long been compared to Cotto and in 2009, was referred to as a "Cotto Clone" when Manny Pacquiao's camp reached out to him and asked him to be Pacquiao's chief sparring partner when he faced for Cotto. "He moves like Cotto. He looks like Cotto. He's got the same hair as Cotto. He wants to be like Cotto," stated Pacquiao's strength and conditioning coach, Alex Ariza, who made comments about the similarities between Henry and Cotto at that time. Although Henry, out of respect for Cotto, turned down the offer, this time, it's a business opportunity he could not pass up. "This is like when Pacquiao called me to be his sparring partner for Cotto and I turned it down. This time, I'm taking the opportunity," Henry explained.
Henry is also looking forward to the opportunity because he will be preparing for his own upcoming fight, also on December 3rd on the undercard of the Abner Mares vs. Joseph Agbeko rematch, against an opponent yet to be determined. "I just left Puerto Rico and I've been training with the guy who made Cotto what he is today...24/7 is gonna be there so this is big for me," he added.
Email questions/comments to dkassel@fighthype.com, "Like" The Boxing Observer on Facebook, and follow me on Twitter @BoxingObserver.
[ Follow David Kassel on Twitter @BoxingObserver ]