Roach battleplan: Keep Pacquiao out of Cotto's reach

MANILA, Philippines - How to keep Manny Pacquiao away from Miguel Cotto’s heavy hands is the main concern of the Filipino boxer’s trainer, Freddie Roach.

It’s not that Pacquiao doesn’t have the chin, but the three-time Trainer of the Year, is just making sure that the unexpected doesn’t happen when the two fighters collide on Nov. 14 in Las Vegas.

“Manny has a really good chin because he has a big heart. Of course Cotto’s power is a major concern for me but I really think that we will have no problems. I’m training Manny not to get hit,” he said.

In a recent interview with doghouseboxing.com, Roach said it was Pacquiao, the reigning pound-for-pound champion, who decided to take on Cotto, the reigning WBO welterweight champion, and not Shane Mosley or Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Pacquiao must have seen something from ringside when Cotto faced Josh Clottey a few months ago.

“Manny has always wanted to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. The Mayweather fight got delayed because of injury and Manny needed a fight around year’s end. After watching the fight Manny told (Bob) Arum that he could beat Cotto,” said Roach.

And now that the fight contract has been sealed, signed and delivered, Roach said the battleplan is in the making.

“Of course. I have already watched several hours of Cotto’s fights. I have been concentrating on how well he did against Shane Mosley. How he neutralized Shane’s speed. Yes, we will have a great game plan for Cotto,” said Roach.

Training for Pacquiao should begin by the second week of September, and based on early plans, the first week will take him to Baguio City, a great summer destination 250 kms north of Manila, and 1,500 meters above sea level.

Then the next four or five weeks will take Pacquiao to Mexico, in the resort town of Nuevo Vallarta, while the final push, probably the last two weeks, will see the FIlipino icon training in Los Angeles or straight to Las Vegas.

Roach explained that Pacquiao can no longer train the whole eight to 10 weeks in the US.

“Because of immigration laws he must spend five weeks training outside America. The laws say we can spend 183 days (yearly) in America and that means the last three weeks of training will be here at the WildCard,” Roach told David Tyler of doghouseboxing.com.

Michael Koncz, a Pacquiao adviser, said the boxer likes the idea of training in Mexico where he can give his fans more time to know him more, and how Mexican fight fans love him.

“He’d be very happy to do that as a cross-over star. Mexican fans love Manny. And when I was there recently all they asked me about is where’s Manny. There was a rumor two weeks ago he was in Nuevo Vallarta, but it didn’t push through and everybody I ran into asked about him.

“Manny will be happily surprised when we get to Mexico. He’d be surprised about his popularity there,” Koncz added.

Source: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=495260&publicationSubCategoryId=69

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For Pacquiao, the list has gotten really short

Jim Lampley once remarked during a fight, "Manny Pacquiao is a storm!"

That was years ago. Lampley nor anybody else knew just how devastating the Pacquiao storm would become in the following years. Here we are in 2009, and the former flyweight champion of the world currently sits on the 140-pound throne, has retired Oscar de la Hoya, been involved in two straight "Event of the Year" fights, demolished a game Ricky Hatton in under two rounds, and overall done things that would've been unthinkable even a few years ago.

On November 14, he'll go up to a 145-pound catchweight to try and capture Miguel Cotto's WBA welterweight title. I've said already that Cotto is a seriously dangerous opponent, no matter what anyone else might think, and he should be treated as such. A Pacquiao steamroll job would be jaw-dropping in this fight.

I also remarked at the end of the article that to some, it seems like all that would be acceptable is a time-traveling Pacquiao that battles Sugar Ray Robinson for all-time supremacy. In some ways, it's understandable that Pacquiao's opponents will be downplayed. There are precious few fighters that present a great danger to him these days. He's become that good. Sure, welterweight is legitimately the highest he could possibly go (I mean it has to be, right?), and bigger guys than that could have their way with him simply on size. I joked after the Hatton fight that if Pacquiao challenged 6'2" middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik, I'd pick Manny. But realistically Pavlik would take his head off at some point (he'd have to, right?).

Read full story: http://www.badlefthook.com/2009/7/23/959696/for-pacquiao-the-list-has-gotten

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Shouldn’t it be Mosley?

Floyd Mayweather Jr. once commented that although boxing is a sport, the reality is it is for the most part a business. His statement was meant to underscore the fact that boxing duels are oftentimes decided by the revenue they will generate. That sometimes, the rightful boxers are swept aside.

Somehow, one gets this feeling about the upcoming Manny Pacquiao fight. The pound-for-pound king has a scheduled November 14 bout against Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto.

In the past, many fights are promoted based on the records of the pugilists. If you are champion, you wait for the challenger who has the best record, the one ranked next or the “mandatory challenger.” This might be a simplistic approach, but it is fair to the fighter and, to a certain extent, to the fans, too.

I, however, acknowledge that the business side is a necessary aspect of prize-fighting. If we don’t consider the money that the fights would generate, then we would not have seen the likes of Hagler vs. Leonard, Leonard vs. Hearns, Pavlik vs. Hopkins and, yes, Pacquiao vs. de la Hoya. But you see, somehow these fights were money makers because the boxers were properly matched.

This statement, one may argue, has the benefit of hindsight. However, it seems there are very obvious reasons Cotto is the wrong choice. Although Pacquiao had a dramatic win against Marco Antonio Barrera, the rules on mandatory challengers have been thrown out the window, the apparent force-fitting of Cotto into the next worthy opponent makes one feel uncomfortable.

Read full story: http://businessmirror.com.ph/home/sports/13559-shouldnt-it-be-mosley.html

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MANNY PACQUIAO VS. MIGUEL COTTO: IT'S ON

Two of boxing's best reach agreement for nontitle bout in November at MGM

In the past, Bob Arum spent countless hours trying to get Manny Pacquiao to agree to a contract for a fight.

Not this time.

The Top Rank chairman announced Monday that everything is set for Pacquiao, considered boxing's best pound-for-pound fighter, to face WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto on Nov. 14 at the MGM Grand Garden. The nontitle fight, scheduled for 12 rounds, will be contested at a catch weight of 145 pounds.

"I went directly to Manny this time," Arum said. "I was able to take my time and not rush anything, and when I made the offer to Manny, he said it was a fair offer and he accepted it."

Arum would not reveal how much each fighter will make. He said Pacquiao will receive the larger percentage of the purse. He also will receive a larger percentage from the pay-per-view sales. HBO will televise the fight.

Arum, who also promotes Cotto, said not having to deal with another promoter reduced the number of potential hassles during negotiations.

"It was easy because both fighters fight for me," he said. "The last couple of fights for Manny, I was dealing with another promoter (Golden Boy), and there are a lot of points to negotiate. But for this fight, I knew there was not going to be any of that. The only thing that was an issue was the size of the guarantee. But I was patient because I knew we would eventually have a deal."

Read more from source: http://www.lvrj.com/sports/51297302.html

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