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Friday, 13 November 2009
Floyd Mayweather works out in shadow of Cotto-Pacquiao fight
By David Mayo, The Grand Rapids Press
LAS VEGAS -- A few minutes from the center of activity here, the other pound-for-pound claimant, the one who had that throne disputed via inactivity rather than defeat, squeezed in a boxing workout.
Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto are the focus of the week, but Floyd Mayweather's fingerprints are smeared all over their welterweight title fight Saturday night at MGM Grand.
The Grand Rapids native refused to talk about any future fight plans, or whether he intends to watch Cotto-Pacquiao, or even why he is doing a full boxing workout without a bout scheduled. It might not seem that unusual. And for a fighter just one fight into a comeback, perhaps it isn't.
"I'm just keeping my body in shape, just like I always do," Mayweather said.
A not-so-hot rumor is starting to buzz within the closest inner sanctum of boxing circles here, one I'm going to float right now with full knowledge it could fly like a pin-pricked balloon: Mayweather does want the Cotto-Pacquiao winner, possibly next May, but doesn't want to do it in the second fight of his comeback, so he wants a January tune-up, opponent unknown, venue unknown, television entity unknown.
There isn't much of anything to substantiate that, although Mayweather adviser Leonard Ellerbe did mention he had heard the same rumor.
It also would explain the hush-hush gym work two months before the whispered fight may occur.
Some things we do know.
Pacquiao is solidly favored over Cotto. If the fight goes the way bettors believe, HBO will fire the burners quickly beneath the various promotional entities to push toward a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight for undisputed pound-for-pound supremacy.
Mark Taffet, the HBO pay-per-view boss, sidled up during lunch Wednesday and asked if I was here to start pumping up that fight for next May.
No, I mentioned, I'm actually here to cover Troy Rowland's fight with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. -- but was Taffet trying to pump up the fight for next May?
"If Pacquiao wins, Pacquiao vs. Mayweather, or Mayweather vs. Pacquiao, would be the fight the public wants," Taffet said, carefully juxtaposing the names for political correctness. "And the fight the public wants is the fight that usually gets made."
The fight HBO wants usually gets made, too, by the way.
Bob Arum and his public relations director, Lee Samuels, waited until Thursday to toss their baited hook my way. Where has Mayweather been? Why so quiet?
Arum said he thought Pacquiao-Mayweather could surpass the record 2.44 million pay-per-view buys for the 2007 Mayweather-Oscar De La Hoya fight. As loathe as Arum is to deal with Mayweather, he is even more unlikely to leave that kind of bonanza untapped.
Arum has expressed several times in the past few months that he does not believe Saturday's fight is anything approaching a foregone conclusion and that the odds favoring Pacquiao by precisely 3-1 in man-to-man reckoning are out of whack against the live underdog Cotto.
In that respect, he's absolutely correct.
Arum also fully grasps the public fever for Pacquiao-Mayweather and how the premier boxing network craves it.
"HBO is absolutely besotted with that fight," he said, "which matters to me not one bit."
What does matter, Arum said, is what Saturday's winner wants. He promotes them both. By Sunday, he said he intends to ask the victor which fight to pursue next.
Arum said he even would talk directly with Mayweather business adviser Al Haymon, with whom he has feuded for years, if it would advance negotiations. But he would prefer the involvement of Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, because their relationship is so solid that, "If it's possible to make a deal, we could have the parameters done in about two hours."
As for the man whose specter hovers over this fight, he stands mute.
"You're here to cover Pacquiao and Cotto," Mayweather said. "That's who you should be talking to. This isn't my time. This is their time."
That will change in about 24 hours.
E-mail David Mayo at dmayo@grpress.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/David_Mayo
Source: mlive.com
LAS VEGAS -- A few minutes from the center of activity here, the other pound-for-pound claimant, the one who had that throne disputed via inactivity rather than defeat, squeezed in a boxing workout.
Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto are the focus of the week, but Floyd Mayweather's fingerprints are smeared all over their welterweight title fight Saturday night at MGM Grand.
The Grand Rapids native refused to talk about any future fight plans, or whether he intends to watch Cotto-Pacquiao, or even why he is doing a full boxing workout without a bout scheduled. It might not seem that unusual. And for a fighter just one fight into a comeback, perhaps it isn't.
"I'm just keeping my body in shape, just like I always do," Mayweather said.
A not-so-hot rumor is starting to buzz within the closest inner sanctum of boxing circles here, one I'm going to float right now with full knowledge it could fly like a pin-pricked balloon: Mayweather does want the Cotto-Pacquiao winner, possibly next May, but doesn't want to do it in the second fight of his comeback, so he wants a January tune-up, opponent unknown, venue unknown, television entity unknown.
There isn't much of anything to substantiate that, although Mayweather adviser Leonard Ellerbe did mention he had heard the same rumor.
It also would explain the hush-hush gym work two months before the whispered fight may occur.
Some things we do know.
Pacquiao is solidly favored over Cotto. If the fight goes the way bettors believe, HBO will fire the burners quickly beneath the various promotional entities to push toward a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight for undisputed pound-for-pound supremacy.
Mark Taffet, the HBO pay-per-view boss, sidled up during lunch Wednesday and asked if I was here to start pumping up that fight for next May.
No, I mentioned, I'm actually here to cover Troy Rowland's fight with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. -- but was Taffet trying to pump up the fight for next May?
"If Pacquiao wins, Pacquiao vs. Mayweather, or Mayweather vs. Pacquiao, would be the fight the public wants," Taffet said, carefully juxtaposing the names for political correctness. "And the fight the public wants is the fight that usually gets made."
The fight HBO wants usually gets made, too, by the way.
Bob Arum and his public relations director, Lee Samuels, waited until Thursday to toss their baited hook my way. Where has Mayweather been? Why so quiet?
Arum said he thought Pacquiao-Mayweather could surpass the record 2.44 million pay-per-view buys for the 2007 Mayweather-Oscar De La Hoya fight. As loathe as Arum is to deal with Mayweather, he is even more unlikely to leave that kind of bonanza untapped.
Arum has expressed several times in the past few months that he does not believe Saturday's fight is anything approaching a foregone conclusion and that the odds favoring Pacquiao by precisely 3-1 in man-to-man reckoning are out of whack against the live underdog Cotto.
In that respect, he's absolutely correct.
Arum also fully grasps the public fever for Pacquiao-Mayweather and how the premier boxing network craves it.
"HBO is absolutely besotted with that fight," he said, "which matters to me not one bit."
What does matter, Arum said, is what Saturday's winner wants. He promotes them both. By Sunday, he said he intends to ask the victor which fight to pursue next.
Arum said he even would talk directly with Mayweather business adviser Al Haymon, with whom he has feuded for years, if it would advance negotiations. But he would prefer the involvement of Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, because their relationship is so solid that, "If it's possible to make a deal, we could have the parameters done in about two hours."
As for the man whose specter hovers over this fight, he stands mute.
"You're here to cover Pacquiao and Cotto," Mayweather said. "That's who you should be talking to. This isn't my time. This is their time."
That will change in about 24 hours.
E-mail David Mayo at dmayo@grpress.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/David_Mayo
Source: mlive.com
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Manny Steward Interview - On Pacquiao vs Cotto, De La Hoya, Mayweather Jr, Hatton, Margarito and Much More!
By David Tyler, Doghouse Boxing
Emanuel Steward is another member of HBO’s team of boxing analyst. He is also a boxing trainer that has been inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Let’s welcome Manny Steward into the doghouse.
David Tyler – Hi Manny, it’s good to speak with you again, how are things going?
Manny Steward – Dave, I’m doing just fine, I bet you called to discuss the Cotto/ Pacquiao event this Saturday on HBO PPV.
DT – You’re right. What are your thoughts about the fight?
MS – Being very honest with you I think it’s going to be one of those few fights that’s going to live up to the expectations because of the style of the two fighters. They both are very good punchers which makes for a great fight. Sometimes you have a fight that’s supposed to be a very big fight but it turns out to be a typical fight. This fight features fighters with both punching power as well as boxing skills. This promises to give us some good exchanges, but both fighters know the other could land damaging punches, so I believe they will be reluctant to get into an early exchange. The odds reflect the fact that Cotto has had some recent difficulties; he fought Margarito who is an extremely big Welterweight, regardless of what may or may not have been in Margarito’s hands the fact that he took every punch that Cotto gave him he closed the deal by dishing out some punishment. He then comes back and fights a guy named Clottey, a very strong guy who also dished out a lot of punishment. So he had two extremely difficult guys who made him look say, not to impressive. Compare that to Pacquiao who has looked like 20 million dollars in his last two fights. De La Hoya was physically weak and of course the fight he had with Ricky Hatton. Pacquiao did what he was trained to do; he has such great, what we call eyes. In every one of those exchanges it always seemed like he got the first punch in, but also he can box. That’s one thing we keep forgetting about both guys, even though we think about their aggressiveness and punching power, they have also shown that they can box. Cotto has demonstrated that he can be a beautiful boxer if he wants, Pacquiao can box also and when he chooses to box his best asset is his foot speed and hand speed. The biggest thing Cotto’s got going for him is that naturally, and I don’t care what they weigh at the weigh-in, is that he is more than 10 pounds heavier than Pacquiao. By nature he is a big guy and will come into the fight at about 158 pounds. Even though he is a big welterweight he is not super big compared to guys like Tommy Hearns and those guys that are 6 feet and above. I think height wise they are both about the same height, Cotto may have about a half inch height advantage but his peek a boo style is to lean over which will negate any height advantage for Cotto. Cotto’s style leaves him open for punches up the middle and Pacquiao will take advantage by throwing the left straight down the middle. Pacquiao has terrific balance to go along with precision punching. But you can never tell, one big punch from either fighter could turn the fight in a different direction. David, that’s why I keep telling people that I can’t pick a winner and I am being very honest, there are too many variables in the picture for a clear winner to emerge in my mind. It should be a great fight and I can see the positive and negative issues for both fighters.
DT – Cotto has been in trouble before and survived.
MS – Adversity will favor Cotto because he has been there before. I have seen him wobbled by punches from Torres, Corley, Clottey, and we know what happened in the Margarito fight. Margarito hit Cotto with several heavy shots during the fight before finally putting him away and let’s not forget that Margarito is a very big Welterweight who may have had heavy hands for that fight. Cotto has proven that he does have survival ability when in trouble. I just don’t know what will happen with Pacquiao if he gets tagged, does he have the survivors ability to last through a round? Can he clinch and hang on until his head clears? These are questions that we just don’t know the answers. He has been hit with hard right hands from 130 pound fighters like Marquez but Cotto will be delivering much heavier shots and it remains to be seen how Pacquiao will hold up to the punches of a true Welterweight fighter.
DT - Manny, why is Pacquiao a two to one favorite?
Please read the rest of this Interview at DoghouseBoxing.com.
***
Special thanks to Chee of DogHouse for sending this article.
Marshall N. B.
Boxing News World
Emanuel Steward is another member of HBO’s team of boxing analyst. He is also a boxing trainer that has been inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Let’s welcome Manny Steward into the doghouse.
David Tyler – Hi Manny, it’s good to speak with you again, how are things going?
Manny Steward – Dave, I’m doing just fine, I bet you called to discuss the Cotto/ Pacquiao event this Saturday on HBO PPV.
DT – You’re right. What are your thoughts about the fight?
MS – Being very honest with you I think it’s going to be one of those few fights that’s going to live up to the expectations because of the style of the two fighters. They both are very good punchers which makes for a great fight. Sometimes you have a fight that’s supposed to be a very big fight but it turns out to be a typical fight. This fight features fighters with both punching power as well as boxing skills. This promises to give us some good exchanges, but both fighters know the other could land damaging punches, so I believe they will be reluctant to get into an early exchange. The odds reflect the fact that Cotto has had some recent difficulties; he fought Margarito who is an extremely big Welterweight, regardless of what may or may not have been in Margarito’s hands the fact that he took every punch that Cotto gave him he closed the deal by dishing out some punishment. He then comes back and fights a guy named Clottey, a very strong guy who also dished out a lot of punishment. So he had two extremely difficult guys who made him look say, not to impressive. Compare that to Pacquiao who has looked like 20 million dollars in his last two fights. De La Hoya was physically weak and of course the fight he had with Ricky Hatton. Pacquiao did what he was trained to do; he has such great, what we call eyes. In every one of those exchanges it always seemed like he got the first punch in, but also he can box. That’s one thing we keep forgetting about both guys, even though we think about their aggressiveness and punching power, they have also shown that they can box. Cotto has demonstrated that he can be a beautiful boxer if he wants, Pacquiao can box also and when he chooses to box his best asset is his foot speed and hand speed. The biggest thing Cotto’s got going for him is that naturally, and I don’t care what they weigh at the weigh-in, is that he is more than 10 pounds heavier than Pacquiao. By nature he is a big guy and will come into the fight at about 158 pounds. Even though he is a big welterweight he is not super big compared to guys like Tommy Hearns and those guys that are 6 feet and above. I think height wise they are both about the same height, Cotto may have about a half inch height advantage but his peek a boo style is to lean over which will negate any height advantage for Cotto. Cotto’s style leaves him open for punches up the middle and Pacquiao will take advantage by throwing the left straight down the middle. Pacquiao has terrific balance to go along with precision punching. But you can never tell, one big punch from either fighter could turn the fight in a different direction. David, that’s why I keep telling people that I can’t pick a winner and I am being very honest, there are too many variables in the picture for a clear winner to emerge in my mind. It should be a great fight and I can see the positive and negative issues for both fighters.
DT – Cotto has been in trouble before and survived.
MS – Adversity will favor Cotto because he has been there before. I have seen him wobbled by punches from Torres, Corley, Clottey, and we know what happened in the Margarito fight. Margarito hit Cotto with several heavy shots during the fight before finally putting him away and let’s not forget that Margarito is a very big Welterweight who may have had heavy hands for that fight. Cotto has proven that he does have survival ability when in trouble. I just don’t know what will happen with Pacquiao if he gets tagged, does he have the survivors ability to last through a round? Can he clinch and hang on until his head clears? These are questions that we just don’t know the answers. He has been hit with hard right hands from 130 pound fighters like Marquez but Cotto will be delivering much heavier shots and it remains to be seen how Pacquiao will hold up to the punches of a true Welterweight fighter.
DT - Manny, why is Pacquiao a two to one favorite?
Please read the rest of this Interview at DoghouseBoxing.com.
***
Special thanks to Chee of DogHouse for sending this article.
Marshall N. B.
Boxing News World
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Roach: Pacquiao in top shape
By Rachel Griffiths, Sky Sports
Manny Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach has predicted a knockout when the Filipino challenges Miguel Cotto for the WBO welterweight crown.
Pacquiao is aiming for his seventh world title in an unprecedented seventh weight class, and Roach insists the southpaw is in top form.
"This week is the sharpest I have ever seen him in my life," said Roach.
"We were doing the mitts (training) on Tuesday and every time I was about to tell him something, he made the move before I could say anything."
Roach believes Pacquiao, who is widely regarded as boxing's best pound-for-pound fighter, will be given the edge in the MGM Grand Garden Arena clash by his infamous hand and foot speed.
"Manny's speed is so effective whether he's coming or going. It's his footwork, he'll feint you out of his socks," he said.
"We're definitely going to dictate the pace of the fight. I respect Miguel, but he'll get knocked out in this one."
Control
Cotto's trainer Joe Santiago has responded by claiming the tempo of the scheduled 12-round clash will be controlled by the Puerto Rican.
"You have to decide what's going to take place in the ring from the beginning," said Santiago.
"We're going to dictate the pace."
Cotto's trainer also expressed surprise that Pacquiao enters the fight as favourite with Las Vegas bookmakers.
"I can't understand why Pacquiao would be the favourite," he said.
"Look at who we've fought, and the guys he's fought. He fought a couple of guys who were over the hill."
Roach, however, believes Cotto's career has been in decline since his vicious collision with Antonio Margarito at the same venue last year, which saw him knocked-out for the first time in his career.
"I think he's slowed down since that Margarito fight," said Roach.
"When you're undefeated and you're a world champion and then you're knocked out for the first time in your life, it's going to affect you."
Roach revealed he and Pacquiao have made explicit plans to avoid Cotto's renowned left hook to the body, but Santiago insists it cannot be done.
"That's what everyone says about Miguel," said Santiago.
"They all say: 'We have to stay away from that hook and prevent it landing.'
"And he ends up landing it every time. It'll land."
Source: skysports.com
Manny Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach has predicted a knockout when the Filipino challenges Miguel Cotto for the WBO welterweight crown.
Pacquiao is aiming for his seventh world title in an unprecedented seventh weight class, and Roach insists the southpaw is in top form.
"This week is the sharpest I have ever seen him in my life," said Roach.
"We were doing the mitts (training) on Tuesday and every time I was about to tell him something, he made the move before I could say anything."
Roach believes Pacquiao, who is widely regarded as boxing's best pound-for-pound fighter, will be given the edge in the MGM Grand Garden Arena clash by his infamous hand and foot speed.
"Manny's speed is so effective whether he's coming or going. It's his footwork, he'll feint you out of his socks," he said.
"We're definitely going to dictate the pace of the fight. I respect Miguel, but he'll get knocked out in this one."
Control
Cotto's trainer Joe Santiago has responded by claiming the tempo of the scheduled 12-round clash will be controlled by the Puerto Rican.
"You have to decide what's going to take place in the ring from the beginning," said Santiago.
"We're going to dictate the pace."
Cotto's trainer also expressed surprise that Pacquiao enters the fight as favourite with Las Vegas bookmakers.
"I can't understand why Pacquiao would be the favourite," he said.
"Look at who we've fought, and the guys he's fought. He fought a couple of guys who were over the hill."
Roach, however, believes Cotto's career has been in decline since his vicious collision with Antonio Margarito at the same venue last year, which saw him knocked-out for the first time in his career.
"I think he's slowed down since that Margarito fight," said Roach.
"When you're undefeated and you're a world champion and then you're knocked out for the first time in your life, it's going to affect you."
Roach revealed he and Pacquiao have made explicit plans to avoid Cotto's renowned left hook to the body, but Santiago insists it cannot be done.
"That's what everyone says about Miguel," said Santiago.
"They all say: 'We have to stay away from that hook and prevent it landing.'
"And he ends up landing it every time. It'll land."
Source: skysports.com
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Amir Khan: Manny Pacquiao will dismantle Cotto like De La Hoya
By Gareth A Davies, Telegraph.co.uk
Amir Khan has told Telegraph Sport that he believes Manny Pacquiao will have too much speed and will dismantle Miguel Cotto and stop him in the late rounds, much as the Filipino did against Oscar De La Hoya.
I caught up with Amir Khan in Los Angeles, where he was in training for his WBA light-welterweight defence against Dimitriy Salita in Newcastle 0n Dec 5.
In two separate videos, Khan insists that Pacquiao is his inspiration, and rubbing shoulders with him has given him the desire to follow in his footsteps with great fights in Las Vegas.
In the second video Khan also looks ahead in the event of a Pacquiao-Mayweather contest down the line, and finds it hard to select a winner. Khan, who had a training session with the Mayweathers before joining Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Boxing Club gym, said: “Manny hasn’t ever fought anyone with Mayweather’s skill; Mayweather hasn’t met anyone with the speed of Manny. I couldn’t pick a winner. But what a fight…”
Source: telegraph.co.uk
Amir Khan has told Telegraph Sport that he believes Manny Pacquiao will have too much speed and will dismantle Miguel Cotto and stop him in the late rounds, much as the Filipino did against Oscar De La Hoya.
I caught up with Amir Khan in Los Angeles, where he was in training for his WBA light-welterweight defence against Dimitriy Salita in Newcastle 0n Dec 5.
In two separate videos, Khan insists that Pacquiao is his inspiration, and rubbing shoulders with him has given him the desire to follow in his footsteps with great fights in Las Vegas.
In the second video Khan also looks ahead in the event of a Pacquiao-Mayweather contest down the line, and finds it hard to select a winner. Khan, who had a training session with the Mayweathers before joining Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Boxing Club gym, said: “Manny hasn’t ever fought anyone with Mayweather’s skill; Mayweather hasn’t met anyone with the speed of Manny. I couldn’t pick a winner. But what a fight…”
Source: telegraph.co.uk
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Pacquiao, Cotto prime to hit proving grounds
By Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports
LAS VEGAS – David Diaz was supposed to be too big, too strong and a little too much for a guy who began his boxing career as a 106-pounder to handle. After eight-plus rounds, Diaz was crawling around the canvas on all fours, trying to regain his senses, after being overwhelmed by Manny Pacquiao.
Oscar De La Hoya was an even more formidable threat, a one-time middleweight champion. After just eight rounds with Pacquiao, though, De La Hoya looked as if he’d been beaten about the face with a night stick, barely able to rise from his stool under his own power after acknowledging his surrender.
And Ricky Hatton was in his prime, fearless and powerful, but he wound up flat on his back, out cold in less than two vicious rounds.
Those victories, in particular, are the ones that vaulted Pacquiao into boxing’s most hallowed position as its mythical pound-for-pound champion and helped him to become today’s most iconic boxing figure.
Miguel Cotto, though, shrugs his shoulders at such talk. All the fame, the glory and the hoopla that have surrounded Pacquiao since his attention-grabbing victories hasn’t shaken the Puerto Rican’s belief that he is the better man.
They meet Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in arguably the biggest and most significant bout of the year, nominally for Cotto’s World Boxing Organization welterweight title but really for public acceptance as the game’s premier performer.
The winner will likely be in line for a mega payday next year against welterweight Floyd Mayweather Jr., the other boxer with a claim to the top spot.
The popular opinion clearly favors Pacquiao, but Cotto is undaunted.
“What Pacquiao did in the past and who he’s beaten doesn’t matter to me,” Cotto said. “He’s not fighting De La Hoya or Hatton. He’s fighting Miguel Cotto. This is different.”
Cotto has an argument of his own to make, though few have advanced it. He’s defeated Zab Judah, Shane Mosley and Joshua Clottey and on paper, those wins look better than victories over the slow and plodding Diaz, an aging and dehydrated De La Hoya and a vastly overrated Hatton.
Cotto’s trainer, Joe Santiago, looks at those fights and the way the boxers match and he can’t understand why the odds are creeping toward 3-1 in Pacquiao’s favor.
“Me personally, I can’t understand why Pacquiao would be favored, especially with the guys we’ve fought and the guys he’s fought,” Santiago said. “He fought a couple of guys who obviously weren’t as good as they were at one time. I don’t get why Pacquiao would be favored.”
Pacquiao is blindingly fast and, working with boxing’s Mr. Wizard, Freddie Roach, seems to get 25 percent better each time out. A little more than four years ago, he was beaten by Erik Morales, as tough a fighter who has ever laced on the gloves but clearly not one of the game’s most skilled.
Pacquiao put his complete trust in Roach, who rebuilt his game and developed him into a one-man wrecking machine. By the time he faced Morales for the third time, just three years ago, Pacquiao had added a right hand to his arsenal.
He’s learned how to take away his opponent’s best weapon and how to maneuver the fight in the ring to suit him. He credits Roach, whom he calls “the Master,” with helping him to achieve his potential.
“I believe a boxer should always try to improve and to learn new things so he can give a better performance for the people,” Pacquiao said. “I like to learn and I have Freddie who can teach me so many things.”
One of the things Roach has imparted over the last two months is to avoid the ropes and stay out of the corners. Cotto is a vicious body puncher with a pulverizing left hook, but he can’t come close to matching Pacquiao’s speed.
If Pacquiao allows Cotto to corner him or pin him on the ropes, he’s voluntarily giving away perhaps his most significant advantage in the fight. And though no one would deem Pacquiao a slugger, his speed accounts for much of his power and the 37 knockouts he has among his 49 wins.
“It’s not a secret that we don’t want to see Manny laying against the ropes,” Roach said. “He needs to keep the fight in the center of the ring.”
If Pacquiao manages to keep it in the center of the ring, the onus will shift to Cotto to find a way to combat Pacquiao’s advantages in speed and quickness. The one way to neutralize speed is with a consistent jab. If Cotto can repeatedly keep his jab in Pacquiao’s face, he’ll slow the Filipino and be able to cut off the ring and then keep the fight in a more confined space. At that point, Cotto’s abilities as an inside fighter and a body puncher would dictate the bout.
Both Judah and Mosley were far quicker than Cotto, but Cotto managed to counteract that and win both fights impressively.
“A lot of people didn’t think he was capable of that kind of a fight [that he put on against Judah and Mosley], but we knew he was capable of doing it,” Santiago said. “We fought as a defensive fighter when we needed to be defensive. We matched speed for speed and traded jab for jab with them. We knew he could do that.”
Doing it against Pacquiao, though, is another thing entirely. Pacquiao not only has won each of his last three fights against men who were bigger and supposedly stronger, he hasn’t lost a round.
He’s been dominant to the point of being ridiculous.
“Every single person in our camp respects Cotto and knows he’s a quality fighter,” Roach said. “But Manny’s not just one of your run-of-the-mill stars. He’s special and he’s capable of doing things that other guys, even top-of-the-line, elite guys, can’t do.
“When I first saw Manny, he was already a very good fighter and I knew he had a chance to improve a lot. But what he’s done is just so amazing. What we’re seeing is a guy who has developed into a very special, unique fighter. There aren’t many like him.”
Source: sports.yahoo.com
LAS VEGAS – David Diaz was supposed to be too big, too strong and a little too much for a guy who began his boxing career as a 106-pounder to handle. After eight-plus rounds, Diaz was crawling around the canvas on all fours, trying to regain his senses, after being overwhelmed by Manny Pacquiao.
Oscar De La Hoya was an even more formidable threat, a one-time middleweight champion. After just eight rounds with Pacquiao, though, De La Hoya looked as if he’d been beaten about the face with a night stick, barely able to rise from his stool under his own power after acknowledging his surrender.
And Ricky Hatton was in his prime, fearless and powerful, but he wound up flat on his back, out cold in less than two vicious rounds.
Those victories, in particular, are the ones that vaulted Pacquiao into boxing’s most hallowed position as its mythical pound-for-pound champion and helped him to become today’s most iconic boxing figure.
Miguel Cotto, though, shrugs his shoulders at such talk. All the fame, the glory and the hoopla that have surrounded Pacquiao since his attention-grabbing victories hasn’t shaken the Puerto Rican’s belief that he is the better man.
They meet Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in arguably the biggest and most significant bout of the year, nominally for Cotto’s World Boxing Organization welterweight title but really for public acceptance as the game’s premier performer.
The winner will likely be in line for a mega payday next year against welterweight Floyd Mayweather Jr., the other boxer with a claim to the top spot.
The popular opinion clearly favors Pacquiao, but Cotto is undaunted.
“What Pacquiao did in the past and who he’s beaten doesn’t matter to me,” Cotto said. “He’s not fighting De La Hoya or Hatton. He’s fighting Miguel Cotto. This is different.”
Cotto has an argument of his own to make, though few have advanced it. He’s defeated Zab Judah, Shane Mosley and Joshua Clottey and on paper, those wins look better than victories over the slow and plodding Diaz, an aging and dehydrated De La Hoya and a vastly overrated Hatton.
Cotto’s trainer, Joe Santiago, looks at those fights and the way the boxers match and he can’t understand why the odds are creeping toward 3-1 in Pacquiao’s favor.
“Me personally, I can’t understand why Pacquiao would be favored, especially with the guys we’ve fought and the guys he’s fought,” Santiago said. “He fought a couple of guys who obviously weren’t as good as they were at one time. I don’t get why Pacquiao would be favored.”
Pacquiao is blindingly fast and, working with boxing’s Mr. Wizard, Freddie Roach, seems to get 25 percent better each time out. A little more than four years ago, he was beaten by Erik Morales, as tough a fighter who has ever laced on the gloves but clearly not one of the game’s most skilled.
Pacquiao put his complete trust in Roach, who rebuilt his game and developed him into a one-man wrecking machine. By the time he faced Morales for the third time, just three years ago, Pacquiao had added a right hand to his arsenal.
He’s learned how to take away his opponent’s best weapon and how to maneuver the fight in the ring to suit him. He credits Roach, whom he calls “the Master,” with helping him to achieve his potential.
“I believe a boxer should always try to improve and to learn new things so he can give a better performance for the people,” Pacquiao said. “I like to learn and I have Freddie who can teach me so many things.”
One of the things Roach has imparted over the last two months is to avoid the ropes and stay out of the corners. Cotto is a vicious body puncher with a pulverizing left hook, but he can’t come close to matching Pacquiao’s speed.
If Pacquiao allows Cotto to corner him or pin him on the ropes, he’s voluntarily giving away perhaps his most significant advantage in the fight. And though no one would deem Pacquiao a slugger, his speed accounts for much of his power and the 37 knockouts he has among his 49 wins.
“It’s not a secret that we don’t want to see Manny laying against the ropes,” Roach said. “He needs to keep the fight in the center of the ring.”
If Pacquiao manages to keep it in the center of the ring, the onus will shift to Cotto to find a way to combat Pacquiao’s advantages in speed and quickness. The one way to neutralize speed is with a consistent jab. If Cotto can repeatedly keep his jab in Pacquiao’s face, he’ll slow the Filipino and be able to cut off the ring and then keep the fight in a more confined space. At that point, Cotto’s abilities as an inside fighter and a body puncher would dictate the bout.
Both Judah and Mosley were far quicker than Cotto, but Cotto managed to counteract that and win both fights impressively.
“A lot of people didn’t think he was capable of that kind of a fight [that he put on against Judah and Mosley], but we knew he was capable of doing it,” Santiago said. “We fought as a defensive fighter when we needed to be defensive. We matched speed for speed and traded jab for jab with them. We knew he could do that.”
Doing it against Pacquiao, though, is another thing entirely. Pacquiao not only has won each of his last three fights against men who were bigger and supposedly stronger, he hasn’t lost a round.
He’s been dominant to the point of being ridiculous.
“Every single person in our camp respects Cotto and knows he’s a quality fighter,” Roach said. “But Manny’s not just one of your run-of-the-mill stars. He’s special and he’s capable of doing things that other guys, even top-of-the-line, elite guys, can’t do.
“When I first saw Manny, he was already a very good fighter and I knew he had a chance to improve a lot. But what he’s done is just so amazing. What we’re seeing is a guy who has developed into a very special, unique fighter. There aren’t many like him.”
Source: sports.yahoo.com
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An overwhelming undercard for Pacquiao-Cotto
Los Angeles Times
The undercard for Saturday's Miguel Cotto-Manny Pacquiao bout in Las Vegas is a compelling one, featuring five unbeaten boxers and a WBA world welterweight title fight.
But the fight promoters really wanted was unbeaten Mexican middleweight Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., who will meet Michigan's Troy Rowland in the final preliminary of the night.
Bob Arum of Top Rank Boxing, which put the card together, needs to draw a audience that rivals the 1 million pay-per-view buys Floyd Mayweather drew for his September comeback fight with Juan Manual Marquez. Without big numbers, Arum will find it difficult to negotiate the kind of contract he'll be asking for when the winner of Saturday's main event takes on Mayweather next year. Adding Chavez, the son of six-time world champion Julio Cesar Chavez, who is still a legend among Latin boxing fans, figures to help with that.
"Yeah, he'll drive the pay-per-view," said Arum, who is confident Saturday's card will surpass 1 million buys. "I don't care what anybody says. I'm not running an election. I'm trying to do business."
It wasn't good business for Chavez Jr., though, who is getting just $100,000 for the fight, about a quarter of what he gets for fighting in Mexico, Arum said.
"Chavez Jr. pressed us to be on this card because with worldwide attention, he'd have his image all over the world," Arum said.
Plus a win over Rowland (25-2, 7 knockouts) would move Chavez Jr. (40-0-1, 30 KOs) a big step closer to his ultimate goal, a world title fight.
"This is a great opportunity for me," he said in Spanish. "It's a great opportunity to demonstrate that I'm ready for a world championship fight. I think I'm ready to take this next step in my career."
Rowland, who reached across the dais to shake hands with Chavez Jr., during Thursday's news conference, would like nothing better than to trip up those plans.
"He's undefeated, and we've got just one chance to take his zero away. That's what we've been training to do," Rowland said. "I've been reading stuff on the Internet that says, 'Oh, well, he's fighting a nobody' because nobody knows my name. But I've been around a while. I've had some good fights.
"He's a hard fighter and I'm a hard fighter. So we're going to tear it up."
-- Kevin Baxter and Lance Pugmire
Source: latimesblogs.latimes.com
The undercard for Saturday's Miguel Cotto-Manny Pacquiao bout in Las Vegas is a compelling one, featuring five unbeaten boxers and a WBA world welterweight title fight.
But the fight promoters really wanted was unbeaten Mexican middleweight Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., who will meet Michigan's Troy Rowland in the final preliminary of the night.
Bob Arum of Top Rank Boxing, which put the card together, needs to draw a audience that rivals the 1 million pay-per-view buys Floyd Mayweather drew for his September comeback fight with Juan Manual Marquez. Without big numbers, Arum will find it difficult to negotiate the kind of contract he'll be asking for when the winner of Saturday's main event takes on Mayweather next year. Adding Chavez, the son of six-time world champion Julio Cesar Chavez, who is still a legend among Latin boxing fans, figures to help with that.
"Yeah, he'll drive the pay-per-view," said Arum, who is confident Saturday's card will surpass 1 million buys. "I don't care what anybody says. I'm not running an election. I'm trying to do business."
It wasn't good business for Chavez Jr., though, who is getting just $100,000 for the fight, about a quarter of what he gets for fighting in Mexico, Arum said.
"Chavez Jr. pressed us to be on this card because with worldwide attention, he'd have his image all over the world," Arum said.
Plus a win over Rowland (25-2, 7 knockouts) would move Chavez Jr. (40-0-1, 30 KOs) a big step closer to his ultimate goal, a world title fight.
"This is a great opportunity for me," he said in Spanish. "It's a great opportunity to demonstrate that I'm ready for a world championship fight. I think I'm ready to take this next step in my career."
Rowland, who reached across the dais to shake hands with Chavez Jr., during Thursday's news conference, would like nothing better than to trip up those plans.
"He's undefeated, and we've got just one chance to take his zero away. That's what we've been training to do," Rowland said. "I've been reading stuff on the Internet that says, 'Oh, well, he's fighting a nobody' because nobody knows my name. But I've been around a while. I've had some good fights.
"He's a hard fighter and I'm a hard fighter. So we're going to tear it up."
-- Kevin Baxter and Lance Pugmire
Source: latimesblogs.latimes.com
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Boxing: Israel's own Foreman gets his shot at a belt
By JEREMY LAST, The Jerusalem Post
Israeli boxer Yuri Foreman can transform himself from a relative unknown into one of the country's household names on Saturday night if he overcomes the odds and defeats three-time world champion and current WBA super welterwight champion Daniel Santos in Las Vegas.
Victory in the fight at the MGM Grand would make Foreman the first Israeli pugilist to win a world title since Johar Abu-Lashin claimed the IBC Welterweight belt in 1998, an achievement the 29-year-old has described as a "childhood dream."
Foreman grew up in Gomel, Belarus, but moved to Israel with his family when he was just 10 years old and settled in Haifa. He had been boxing since the age of seven, but stepped up his training in northern Israel and, after winning three national championships, moved to the US in 1999, where he turned professional.
Now, with an impressive record of 27-0 with eight KOs, he has the chance to prove his worth as he fights on the undercard of the massive Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto matchup.
Even though he has lived in America for longer than lived in Israel, Foreman has stayed true to his roots.
"It's a great honor for me to represent Israel, even more so knowing that I will be the first Israeli fighting for a world title. And to become the first world Jewish boxing champion in over 20 years - that would be a childhood dream come true," he told the Web site totallyjewish.com.
Santos, managed by boxing legend Don King, is a clear favorite for Saturday's fight.
The 34-year-old Puerto Rican is far more experienced, having previous held the WBO super welterweight championship, and is confident of beating Foreman this weekend.
"I want to shine on the big stage," Santos said. "Saturday night is my chance to fulfill the truly great promise of my boxing career."
Despite turning 78 this year, King has lost none of the famous exuberance he displayed in a trip to Israel last October, saying Santos his God on his side.
"Daniel will be the first to tell you that God has blessed him with the ability to box," King said. "Danny just needs to put it all together right here, right now. Opportunities await him if he can answer the call of greatness, and he has an appointment on Saturday in Las Vegas."
Foreman, however, would be quick to profess his own spiritual connection.
After being raised totally secular both in the former Soviet Union and in Israel, he found his own religious path while living in New York and is now training to become a rabbi at the same time as training for a world title bout.
He explained this unlikely set of circumstances in an interview with The Forward, saying: "When I started to get closer to Judaism, my rabbi, Rabbi Dov Ber Pinson, about five years ago, offered me to join the rabbinical program. And I jumped at the opportunity. When I was growing up in Israel as a Russian immigrant, nobody ever invited me for Shabbat dinner. I didn't learn much about Judaism. And I know there are a lot of Russian kids in Israel who need somebody, who I can advise.
"I think that when I become a rabbi I could go back and get a few people closer to the Jewish faith."
Foreman has never beaten a left-handed fighter, a factor which many analysts have claimed will work against him on Saturday. The Israeli understands it will be difficult, but knows he has a chance to make history.
"He is a southpaw, a great fighter and he is a world champion but I mainly concentrate on my own game and don't pay too much attention to his. I'm confident in my own ability and believe that can get me through the fight," he said Foreman's fight is the start of a big three weeks for Jewish boxing.
On December 5, Ukranian-born American Dmitriy Salita takes on Britain's Amir Khan for the WBA light-welterweight crown in Newcastle, England.
Like Foreman, Salita is an immigrant from the Soviet Union who has become religious since moving to the United States. Last month he turned up for a press conference with Khan dressed in Haredi garb of black suit, white shirt and black yarmulke.
Source: jpost.com
Israeli boxer Yuri Foreman can transform himself from a relative unknown into one of the country's household names on Saturday night if he overcomes the odds and defeats three-time world champion and current WBA super welterwight champion Daniel Santos in Las Vegas.
Victory in the fight at the MGM Grand would make Foreman the first Israeli pugilist to win a world title since Johar Abu-Lashin claimed the IBC Welterweight belt in 1998, an achievement the 29-year-old has described as a "childhood dream."
Foreman grew up in Gomel, Belarus, but moved to Israel with his family when he was just 10 years old and settled in Haifa. He had been boxing since the age of seven, but stepped up his training in northern Israel and, after winning three national championships, moved to the US in 1999, where he turned professional.
Now, with an impressive record of 27-0 with eight KOs, he has the chance to prove his worth as he fights on the undercard of the massive Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto matchup.
Even though he has lived in America for longer than lived in Israel, Foreman has stayed true to his roots.
"It's a great honor for me to represent Israel, even more so knowing that I will be the first Israeli fighting for a world title. And to become the first world Jewish boxing champion in over 20 years - that would be a childhood dream come true," he told the Web site totallyjewish.com.
Santos, managed by boxing legend Don King, is a clear favorite for Saturday's fight.
The 34-year-old Puerto Rican is far more experienced, having previous held the WBO super welterweight championship, and is confident of beating Foreman this weekend.
"I want to shine on the big stage," Santos said. "Saturday night is my chance to fulfill the truly great promise of my boxing career."
Despite turning 78 this year, King has lost none of the famous exuberance he displayed in a trip to Israel last October, saying Santos his God on his side.
"Daniel will be the first to tell you that God has blessed him with the ability to box," King said. "Danny just needs to put it all together right here, right now. Opportunities await him if he can answer the call of greatness, and he has an appointment on Saturday in Las Vegas."
Foreman, however, would be quick to profess his own spiritual connection.
After being raised totally secular both in the former Soviet Union and in Israel, he found his own religious path while living in New York and is now training to become a rabbi at the same time as training for a world title bout.
He explained this unlikely set of circumstances in an interview with The Forward, saying: "When I started to get closer to Judaism, my rabbi, Rabbi Dov Ber Pinson, about five years ago, offered me to join the rabbinical program. And I jumped at the opportunity. When I was growing up in Israel as a Russian immigrant, nobody ever invited me for Shabbat dinner. I didn't learn much about Judaism. And I know there are a lot of Russian kids in Israel who need somebody, who I can advise.
"I think that when I become a rabbi I could go back and get a few people closer to the Jewish faith."
Foreman has never beaten a left-handed fighter, a factor which many analysts have claimed will work against him on Saturday. The Israeli understands it will be difficult, but knows he has a chance to make history.
"He is a southpaw, a great fighter and he is a world champion but I mainly concentrate on my own game and don't pay too much attention to his. I'm confident in my own ability and believe that can get me through the fight," he said Foreman's fight is the start of a big three weeks for Jewish boxing.
On December 5, Ukranian-born American Dmitriy Salita takes on Britain's Amir Khan for the WBA light-welterweight crown in Newcastle, England.
Like Foreman, Salita is an immigrant from the Soviet Union who has become religious since moving to the United States. Last month he turned up for a press conference with Khan dressed in Haredi garb of black suit, white shirt and black yarmulke.
Source: jpost.com
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Manny Pacquiao on a mission
By Ron Borges, Boston Herald
LAS VEGAS - Manny Pacquiao, or at least his image, is everywhere these days.
It’s on the cover of the Asian edition of Time magazine, a blow-up of which is on an easel in the corner of the press room at the MGM Grand as if it’s a work of art. Considering how difficult it has been in recent years to get a boxing article even in Time’s sister publication, Sports Illustrated, one can see why people think so.
He’s on the front page of the Sunday New York Times [NYT] sports section, which apparently rediscovered boxing existed this week after its sports editor took a public lambasting from HBO Boxing analyst Larry Merchant. The story makes Pacquiao sound like the savior of a nation.
He’s in The Wall Street Journal as the financial engine reviving the oft-buried but never quite dead fight game, and on the Jimmy Kimmel Show singing a ballad like the Filipino version of Andy Williams.
Oh, and tomorrow night, in case anyone forgets to mention it, he’ll be in the ring at the MGM Grand Garden Arena performing his real job - boxing better than anyone else in the world.
Pacquiao will be trying to win what, through the use of the kind of loose accounting practices that got the world economy into its present straits, is being billed as a record seventh world title. If Pacquiao does, he will have gone from a 112-pound flyweight title holder to a champion in a division 35 pounds heavier. He will also have fulfilled the expectations of most boxing experts, who feel his speed and power is intersecting with WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto’s physical decline in a perfectly concussive parabola.
Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37 KO) is a delightful fellow, an unusual blend of geniality outside the ring and ferocity in it. He never has a bad word to say about his opponents but that doesn’t dissuade him from brutally dismissing them with a powerful left hand and a sweeping right hook that is a relatively new addition to his arsenal.
Couple that with speed and a strong willingness to engage in hand-to-hand combat at the ringing of a bell, and you have the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world - and the most popular.
Yet his kind of popularity is a double edged sword.
While it has made him wealthy beyond any dreams he had when he ran away from a life of poverty in General Santos City at 14 after his father ate his dog, it has also brought great feelings of responsibility for his many countrymen still in desperate economic straits.
He has given away so much money his promoter, Bob Arum, says he may have to fight until he’s 50, while his trainer, Dedham native Freddie Roach, needs a full-time security detail at his Wild Card Gym in Hollywood during the weeks Pacquiao trains there because the crowds are so large they can’t get anything done otherwise.
“Manny’s a throwback,” Roach said. “He’s like a Henry Armstrong type. You don’t have fighters like that today that move up in weight like this to win championships in all these different weight divisions.
“He’s carrying his punch and his power with him along with his speed. He’s passing people like Sugar Ray Leonard, who was a six-time world champion. He’s on a level of the top five fighters of all time.”
Arum and HBO hope the magnitude of the challenge and Pacquiao’s popularity will drive pay-per-view sales over a million. Early indications hint they could approach 1.4 million, which was a record for a non-heavyweight fight until Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. did 2.4 million two years ago.
Considering that only 25 fights in boxing history have done over a million buys, it would be a remarkable feat that harkens back to the climate for boxing 25 years ago, in the days of Leonard, Hearns, Hagler and Duran.
“Even Mike Tyson didn’t have the drawing power that Manny has right now,” Roach said. “The way Manny arrived the other day people were swarming to try and get a touch or a look at him.”
Tomorrow night, only one man will be trying to touch him, however, and it will be someone who couldn’t care less about his place in boxing history or in the eyes of his countrymen. The most popular fighter in the world hasn’t lost sight of that, which in his job is a good thing.
“This fight is a challenge,” Pacquiao said. “Cotto is a good fighter and a hard puncher. But I’m confident in my ability. I always believe in my power.”
Inside the ring or out, he’s earned the right to feel that way.
rborges@bostonherald.com
Source: news.bostonherald.com
LAS VEGAS - Manny Pacquiao, or at least his image, is everywhere these days.
It’s on the cover of the Asian edition of Time magazine, a blow-up of which is on an easel in the corner of the press room at the MGM Grand as if it’s a work of art. Considering how difficult it has been in recent years to get a boxing article even in Time’s sister publication, Sports Illustrated, one can see why people think so.
He’s on the front page of the Sunday New York Times [NYT] sports section, which apparently rediscovered boxing existed this week after its sports editor took a public lambasting from HBO Boxing analyst Larry Merchant. The story makes Pacquiao sound like the savior of a nation.
He’s in The Wall Street Journal as the financial engine reviving the oft-buried but never quite dead fight game, and on the Jimmy Kimmel Show singing a ballad like the Filipino version of Andy Williams.
Oh, and tomorrow night, in case anyone forgets to mention it, he’ll be in the ring at the MGM Grand Garden Arena performing his real job - boxing better than anyone else in the world.
Pacquiao will be trying to win what, through the use of the kind of loose accounting practices that got the world economy into its present straits, is being billed as a record seventh world title. If Pacquiao does, he will have gone from a 112-pound flyweight title holder to a champion in a division 35 pounds heavier. He will also have fulfilled the expectations of most boxing experts, who feel his speed and power is intersecting with WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto’s physical decline in a perfectly concussive parabola.
Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37 KO) is a delightful fellow, an unusual blend of geniality outside the ring and ferocity in it. He never has a bad word to say about his opponents but that doesn’t dissuade him from brutally dismissing them with a powerful left hand and a sweeping right hook that is a relatively new addition to his arsenal.
Couple that with speed and a strong willingness to engage in hand-to-hand combat at the ringing of a bell, and you have the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world - and the most popular.
Yet his kind of popularity is a double edged sword.
While it has made him wealthy beyond any dreams he had when he ran away from a life of poverty in General Santos City at 14 after his father ate his dog, it has also brought great feelings of responsibility for his many countrymen still in desperate economic straits.
He has given away so much money his promoter, Bob Arum, says he may have to fight until he’s 50, while his trainer, Dedham native Freddie Roach, needs a full-time security detail at his Wild Card Gym in Hollywood during the weeks Pacquiao trains there because the crowds are so large they can’t get anything done otherwise.
“Manny’s a throwback,” Roach said. “He’s like a Henry Armstrong type. You don’t have fighters like that today that move up in weight like this to win championships in all these different weight divisions.
“He’s carrying his punch and his power with him along with his speed. He’s passing people like Sugar Ray Leonard, who was a six-time world champion. He’s on a level of the top five fighters of all time.”
Arum and HBO hope the magnitude of the challenge and Pacquiao’s popularity will drive pay-per-view sales over a million. Early indications hint they could approach 1.4 million, which was a record for a non-heavyweight fight until Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. did 2.4 million two years ago.
Considering that only 25 fights in boxing history have done over a million buys, it would be a remarkable feat that harkens back to the climate for boxing 25 years ago, in the days of Leonard, Hearns, Hagler and Duran.
“Even Mike Tyson didn’t have the drawing power that Manny has right now,” Roach said. “The way Manny arrived the other day people were swarming to try and get a touch or a look at him.”
Tomorrow night, only one man will be trying to touch him, however, and it will be someone who couldn’t care less about his place in boxing history or in the eyes of his countrymen. The most popular fighter in the world hasn’t lost sight of that, which in his job is a good thing.
“This fight is a challenge,” Pacquiao said. “Cotto is a good fighter and a hard puncher. But I’m confident in my ability. I always believe in my power.”
Inside the ring or out, he’s earned the right to feel that way.
rborges@bostonherald.com
Source: news.bostonherald.com
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Clinton applauded predicting Pacquiao boxing win
The Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton drew loud applause at a town hall meeting with students Friday in the Philippines by giving the right answer to the most pressing question: Is Manny Pacquiao going to win this weekend?
The most popular Filipino will be back in the boxing ring in Las Vegas on Saturday to take on Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico in a 145-pound (66-kilogram) fight that will be closely watched back home.
"Of course the Pacman's going to win. I mean, is there any doubt?" Clinton said at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, where she entertained questions during the nationally televised forum with hundreds of students.
"Pacman" is Pacquiao's nickname.
Clinton said she's aware that boxing and basketball are "pretty big" in the Philippines. Every time Pacquiao steps into the ring, he brings his native Philippines to a virtual standstill.
A Chicago native, Clinton also confessed that the Chicago Bulls were her favorites — until she moved to New York and started backing the Knicks, something she said was "kind of discouraging."
"Now the Knicks are trying maybe to get LeBron James, now that would make it very exciting in New York. So I will watch that. I am not sure exactly what will happen," Clinton said.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Source: Google News
MANILA, Philippines — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton drew loud applause at a town hall meeting with students Friday in the Philippines by giving the right answer to the most pressing question: Is Manny Pacquiao going to win this weekend?
The most popular Filipino will be back in the boxing ring in Las Vegas on Saturday to take on Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico in a 145-pound (66-kilogram) fight that will be closely watched back home.
"Of course the Pacman's going to win. I mean, is there any doubt?" Clinton said at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, where she entertained questions during the nationally televised forum with hundreds of students.
"Pacman" is Pacquiao's nickname.
Clinton said she's aware that boxing and basketball are "pretty big" in the Philippines. Every time Pacquiao steps into the ring, he brings his native Philippines to a virtual standstill.
A Chicago native, Clinton also confessed that the Chicago Bulls were her favorites — until she moved to New York and started backing the Knicks, something she said was "kind of discouraging."
"Now the Knicks are trying maybe to get LeBron James, now that would make it very exciting in New York. So I will watch that. I am not sure exactly what will happen," Clinton said.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Source: Google News
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Pacquiao backs speed to conquer Cotto
CNN
Boxer Manny Pacquiao, rated the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world by many experts, aims to capture the World Boxing Organization welterweight title Saturday in Las Vegas.
It would be the fifth different weight class in which he holds a champion's belt if he defeats Miguel Cotto. Pacquiao believes his lightning hand speed will help him triumph over Cotto's raw power, he said at a press conference ahead of the title fight.
The 30-year-old Filipino former flyweight world title-holder takes on Puerto Rico champion Cotto at the MGM Grand Hotel.
Pacquiao's major titles have come in weights ranging from 112 to 140 pounds, but despite moving up to different classes he is confident he has kept his speed.
That, he said, will give them the advantage against Cotto. "My speed is still there. If you have speed then you generate your own power.
We know that he is bigger than me and stronger than me but we studied his style for the past two months and we have our strategy," he said at the press conference on Wednesday.
"I feel stronger at this weight than I ever have. My punches are harder, my speed is intact. I keep getting warned about Cotto's body attack but Cotto should be worried about my body attack," he said.
Pacquiao, who's won 49 fights, lost 3 and drawn 2, knocked out Britain's Ricky Hatton at the MGM Grand in May, and defeated boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya there in December of last year.
But he's not taking Cotto lightly, he said. "Cotto is the champion for this fight and he is not as easy as... people think," the Filipino said. "He trained hard for this fight that is why we have to focus.
I am prepared for anything he has to offer. I have studied all his tapes, and I feel like I know him like I know myself." He he was "confident of success."
"It's going to be a great fight between two great fighters," he said. Cotto, 29, is half an inch taller than his rival and possibly slightly heavier.
The official weigh-in is on Friday. Cotto is confident he can defend his title, he said. "I'm prepared for the speed of Manny. My hand speed is pretty equal to Manny's. But can Manny's power equal Miguel Cotto's on Saturday night?" he asked.
"I know what I'm capable of doing, and there is no doubt in my mind that I'm going to win this fight," he said.
Cotto also warned the Pacquiao camp not to be cocky. The Filipino's camp has been touting the possibility of mouth-watering bout with American great Floyd Mayweather Jr next year.
"I'm focused on this fight," Cotto said. "When I beat him this Saturday, he can think about whatever opponents he wants." Pacquiao said Wednesday he will not move any further up the weight divisions.
"No, no, no that is enough. It is amazing to even myself, and I can't believe I can fight at 147 pounds," said the boxer. "I started at 105 pounds, but right now my speed is still the same," he said.
"My goal in my boxing career is to always keep the speed even if I move up to high weight division because if you have speed you can create your power."
Source: edition.cnn.com
Boxer Manny Pacquiao, rated the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world by many experts, aims to capture the World Boxing Organization welterweight title Saturday in Las Vegas.
It would be the fifth different weight class in which he holds a champion's belt if he defeats Miguel Cotto. Pacquiao believes his lightning hand speed will help him triumph over Cotto's raw power, he said at a press conference ahead of the title fight.
The 30-year-old Filipino former flyweight world title-holder takes on Puerto Rico champion Cotto at the MGM Grand Hotel.
Pacquiao's major titles have come in weights ranging from 112 to 140 pounds, but despite moving up to different classes he is confident he has kept his speed.
That, he said, will give them the advantage against Cotto. "My speed is still there. If you have speed then you generate your own power.
We know that he is bigger than me and stronger than me but we studied his style for the past two months and we have our strategy," he said at the press conference on Wednesday.
"I feel stronger at this weight than I ever have. My punches are harder, my speed is intact. I keep getting warned about Cotto's body attack but Cotto should be worried about my body attack," he said.
Pacquiao, who's won 49 fights, lost 3 and drawn 2, knocked out Britain's Ricky Hatton at the MGM Grand in May, and defeated boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya there in December of last year.
But he's not taking Cotto lightly, he said. "Cotto is the champion for this fight and he is not as easy as... people think," the Filipino said. "He trained hard for this fight that is why we have to focus.
I am prepared for anything he has to offer. I have studied all his tapes, and I feel like I know him like I know myself." He he was "confident of success."
"It's going to be a great fight between two great fighters," he said. Cotto, 29, is half an inch taller than his rival and possibly slightly heavier.
The official weigh-in is on Friday. Cotto is confident he can defend his title, he said. "I'm prepared for the speed of Manny. My hand speed is pretty equal to Manny's. But can Manny's power equal Miguel Cotto's on Saturday night?" he asked.
"I know what I'm capable of doing, and there is no doubt in my mind that I'm going to win this fight," he said.
Cotto also warned the Pacquiao camp not to be cocky. The Filipino's camp has been touting the possibility of mouth-watering bout with American great Floyd Mayweather Jr next year.
"I'm focused on this fight," Cotto said. "When I beat him this Saturday, he can think about whatever opponents he wants." Pacquiao said Wednesday he will not move any further up the weight divisions.
"No, no, no that is enough. It is amazing to even myself, and I can't believe I can fight at 147 pounds," said the boxer. "I started at 105 pounds, but right now my speed is still the same," he said.
"My goal in my boxing career is to always keep the speed even if I move up to high weight division because if you have speed you can create your power."
Source: edition.cnn.com
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Miguel Cotto isn't the same fighter since losing to Antonio Margarito
By David Mayo, Grand Rapids Press
LAS VEGAS -- The competitive crux of the most anticipated fight in 2009 comes down to Manny Pacquiao's whirlwind speed against what Miguel Cotto has left.
The first is undeniable. It showed in the paint job Pacquiao applied to Oscar De La Hoya and the one-punch starching of Ricky Hatton that stunned the boxing world with its precision violence.
The second, we will discover Saturday night.
What we do know is if Cotto-Pacquiao had been made 16 months ago, Cotto would have been a solid favorite and everyone would have questioned why Pacquiao moved up in weight for such a challenge.
That was before De La Hoya, before Hatton.
And it was before the devastating beating Cotto took in his only loss, in July 2008, when Antonio Margarito battered and discouraged him until, face puffy and eyes betraying confusion, he opted to save himself.
Quitting was the right thing. Never before had Cotto shown anything that remotely resembled the kind of trouble he experienced that night. And in two fights since, victories against Michael Jennings and Joshua Clottey, the 34-1 Puerto Rican has yet to show the same fire.
It happens that way. It is the reason odds favor Pacquiao by exactly 3-1, if such odds were expressed in man-to-man wagering rather than with bookmaking juice factored in, and it is why the leading trainer in boxing today, Freddie Roach, said the fight is a foregone conclusion.
"I don't think he's the same fighter," Roach, who trains Pacquiao, said of Cotto. "You watch him before, you watch him after, he's not the same. Maybe his confidence has grown back, but when you get knocked out for the first time in your life, and take a beating like that, mentally it has to affect you. It affects everybody. Everybody asks how you come back from that."
Cotto faced all those questions Wednesday. He insisted he has recovered, both physically and mentally.
When the fight was made, Roach said he thought it was an enormous challenge for Pacquiao.
He said that opinion was forged because he studied the pre-Margarito fights first, and has changed since studying Cotto's past two fights.
"He's not the same guy," Roach said. "He's slower. He makes mistakes. He has no coach to adjust his mistakes. He cocks his left hand before he throws it, he telegraphs his punches now, and he doesn't have anyone to correct him."
The boxing public gave Cotto a pass for the Margarito beating, a mental asterisk, after the Mexican got caught loading his handwraps with a plaster-like substance before fighting Shane Mosley this year.
Mosley's camp caught him. The California commission made Margarito re-wrap.
Mosley, who lost to Cotto in 2007, beat Margarito. And boxing insiders en masse noted they finally had their reason for why Cotto absorbed such a troublesome beating.
Cotto's camp did not check Margarito's gloves before their fight.
"Someone didn't do their job," Roach said.
Whether Margarito loaded his gloves or not doesn't change the result, or doubts in the aftermath.
"He took a lot of punches and he quit in the fight," Roach said. "When a fighter quits in a fight for the first time, I've seen it change people's lives. Their confidence isn't the same as it used to be. You're not invincible anymore. You're not unbeatable anymore."
Pacquiao also got knocked out twice, early in his career, as a flyweight.
"He came back well, but it took a long time," Roach said.
The trainer said he doesn't think Cotto has had enough time.
"I had 27 fights before I got knocked out for the first time, and it changed my life," Roach said. "I was never quite as confident. I wasn't invincible. When you lose for the first time, it definitely affects you.
"And the thing is, the punishment he took in that fight was severe. He took a bad beating in that fight. And sometimes, you never come back from a beating like that."
E-mail David Mayo at dmayo@grpress.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/David_Mayo
Source: mlive.com
LAS VEGAS -- The competitive crux of the most anticipated fight in 2009 comes down to Manny Pacquiao's whirlwind speed against what Miguel Cotto has left.
The first is undeniable. It showed in the paint job Pacquiao applied to Oscar De La Hoya and the one-punch starching of Ricky Hatton that stunned the boxing world with its precision violence.
The second, we will discover Saturday night.
What we do know is if Cotto-Pacquiao had been made 16 months ago, Cotto would have been a solid favorite and everyone would have questioned why Pacquiao moved up in weight for such a challenge.
That was before De La Hoya, before Hatton.
And it was before the devastating beating Cotto took in his only loss, in July 2008, when Antonio Margarito battered and discouraged him until, face puffy and eyes betraying confusion, he opted to save himself.
Quitting was the right thing. Never before had Cotto shown anything that remotely resembled the kind of trouble he experienced that night. And in two fights since, victories against Michael Jennings and Joshua Clottey, the 34-1 Puerto Rican has yet to show the same fire.
It happens that way. It is the reason odds favor Pacquiao by exactly 3-1, if such odds were expressed in man-to-man wagering rather than with bookmaking juice factored in, and it is why the leading trainer in boxing today, Freddie Roach, said the fight is a foregone conclusion.
"I don't think he's the same fighter," Roach, who trains Pacquiao, said of Cotto. "You watch him before, you watch him after, he's not the same. Maybe his confidence has grown back, but when you get knocked out for the first time in your life, and take a beating like that, mentally it has to affect you. It affects everybody. Everybody asks how you come back from that."
Cotto faced all those questions Wednesday. He insisted he has recovered, both physically and mentally.
When the fight was made, Roach said he thought it was an enormous challenge for Pacquiao.
He said that opinion was forged because he studied the pre-Margarito fights first, and has changed since studying Cotto's past two fights.
"He's not the same guy," Roach said. "He's slower. He makes mistakes. He has no coach to adjust his mistakes. He cocks his left hand before he throws it, he telegraphs his punches now, and he doesn't have anyone to correct him."
The boxing public gave Cotto a pass for the Margarito beating, a mental asterisk, after the Mexican got caught loading his handwraps with a plaster-like substance before fighting Shane Mosley this year.
Mosley's camp caught him. The California commission made Margarito re-wrap.
Mosley, who lost to Cotto in 2007, beat Margarito. And boxing insiders en masse noted they finally had their reason for why Cotto absorbed such a troublesome beating.
Cotto's camp did not check Margarito's gloves before their fight.
"Someone didn't do their job," Roach said.
Whether Margarito loaded his gloves or not doesn't change the result, or doubts in the aftermath.
"He took a lot of punches and he quit in the fight," Roach said. "When a fighter quits in a fight for the first time, I've seen it change people's lives. Their confidence isn't the same as it used to be. You're not invincible anymore. You're not unbeatable anymore."
Pacquiao also got knocked out twice, early in his career, as a flyweight.
"He came back well, but it took a long time," Roach said.
The trainer said he doesn't think Cotto has had enough time.
"I had 27 fights before I got knocked out for the first time, and it changed my life," Roach said. "I was never quite as confident. I wasn't invincible. When you lose for the first time, it definitely affects you.
"And the thing is, the punishment he took in that fight was severe. He took a bad beating in that fight. And sometimes, you never come back from a beating like that."
E-mail David Mayo at dmayo@grpress.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/David_Mayo
Source: mlive.com
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Cotto found focus in Florida
Los Angeles Times
One of the benefits for Miguel Cotto in ending his contentious relationship with his uncle and former coach, Evangelista, is the fact the boxer has been able to move his training camp from Puerto Rico to Tampa, Fla. Although Cotto trained for one fight under Evangelista in Florida, his uncle preferred his gym in Caguas, in central Puerto Rico, where he could keep an eye on the rest of his stable. That, however, was a distraction at times for Cotto, who is a major celebrity on the island and was frequently pulled in multiple directions.
But with longtime friend Joe Santiago now in Cotto's corner -- literally and figuratively -- the world welterweight champion has prepared for his last two fights in Tampa and says the change in focus will be obvious Saturday when he climbs into the ring to meet six-time titlest Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines.
"Our plan was to make a camp like this one. With nothing that could distract us from our job," Cotto said. "And my training partners made me train hard."
Cotto, Santiago, strength and conditioning coach Phil Landman and the rest of Team Cotto -- which includes a personal chef skilled in making Cotto's favorite Puerto Rican dishes -- moved into a rented Tampa mansion a month ago to begin work for the Pacquiao fight. But it wasn't all work. Part of the camp was about relaxing mentally as well as preparing physically.
"We all lived in the house together. It's been a good environment," Landman said. "A lot of team building, a lot of good morale. Being around it all the time, it just creates a little bit more emphasis toward the seriousness of the whole [thing]. It's just been good being able to focus."
-- Kevin Baxter
Source: latimesblogs.latimes.com
One of the benefits for Miguel Cotto in ending his contentious relationship with his uncle and former coach, Evangelista, is the fact the boxer has been able to move his training camp from Puerto Rico to Tampa, Fla. Although Cotto trained for one fight under Evangelista in Florida, his uncle preferred his gym in Caguas, in central Puerto Rico, where he could keep an eye on the rest of his stable. That, however, was a distraction at times for Cotto, who is a major celebrity on the island and was frequently pulled in multiple directions.
But with longtime friend Joe Santiago now in Cotto's corner -- literally and figuratively -- the world welterweight champion has prepared for his last two fights in Tampa and says the change in focus will be obvious Saturday when he climbs into the ring to meet six-time titlest Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines.
"Our plan was to make a camp like this one. With nothing that could distract us from our job," Cotto said. "And my training partners made me train hard."
Cotto, Santiago, strength and conditioning coach Phil Landman and the rest of Team Cotto -- which includes a personal chef skilled in making Cotto's favorite Puerto Rican dishes -- moved into a rented Tampa mansion a month ago to begin work for the Pacquiao fight. But it wasn't all work. Part of the camp was about relaxing mentally as well as preparing physically.
"We all lived in the house together. It's been a good environment," Landman said. "A lot of team building, a lot of good morale. Being around it all the time, it just creates a little bit more emphasis toward the seriousness of the whole [thing]. It's just been good being able to focus."
-- Kevin Baxter
Source: latimesblogs.latimes.com
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