ROACH INTERVIEW: COTTO'S BEEN IN CAMP FOR A MONTH, MANNY HASN'T EVEN STARTED TRAINING

I still think the JAB will be a major weapon Cotto can use to offset Pac's rhythm.:crafty::crafty::crafty:

 

:bears:::

 

Make absolutely no mistake........Cotto is the biggest most formidable challenge that Manny has faced yet.

I don't see Manny being stupid enough to think that beating DLH and Hatton guarantees him anything here.

 

From what I've read Pac's game plan will be to stick and move and be the boxer rather than the aggressive seek and destroy fighter as per his forte. This is why they've been talking so much about the size of the ring. It'll be interesting to see if Pac will be able to sustain that game plan and how Cotto will adjust or deal with it.

 

The Jab will offset Pac jumping in and out whenever the fuck he wants. Im sticking to my guns here, the JAB will play a major role in beating Pac.

 

I agree. Also Cotto's strength is above average. He is strong as hell and as the fight wears on will be able to impose himself on Pac.

 

Agreed! Cotto also has that type of jab that does damage. I hope he uses that jab Overtime when he fights Pac.

 

Cotto will use the excuse that he over trained.

 

He never used a excuse before what makes you think he will start if he loses to pac?:nono::nono::nono:

 

It would be funny to see Cotto plodding around, mainly jabbing patiently, whilst pacman furiously zips and strafes around, nailing the shit out of Cotto.

Your boy's getting thumped Hex.

 

We will see! and believe me when I say this, IF Cotto wins 95% of this forum wont hear the end of it!::

 

It will be funny seeing you NEW Pacquiao lovers making excuses for him....he underestimated Cotto, he should not be fighting at 140ish, he has lose the eye of the tiger...etc..etc...of course those excuses will start leaking 2-3 weeks after the fight....after all Pacquiao is suppose to DESTROY COTTO easily....his speed, power, boxing skills are all superior to Cotto.....::

 

<table class="messages" style=""><tbody><tr><td class="message_body">By Will Cruz: Anyone who knows even a little about boxing or has followed Miguel Cotto’s career will tell you that one of his strongest qualities as a fighter is his ability to adjust in the fight given what his opponent might bring that night. That is what earned him hard fought victories again the likes of Joshua Clottey, Shane Mosely, and Zab Judah. While many have questioned his events outside the ring, he is no different in that department.


The reports of Miguel starting his training camp early and how impressed his conditioning coach Phil Landman has been, are well know by boxing enthusiasts. What hasn’t been discussed is the non-obvious reasons as to why.

The obvious? This is Cotto’s biggest fight of his career. A fight that will solidify his stake on the mythical P4P list, but more importantly will determine his legacy. With that said, that should be enough to motivate Cotto and Pacquiao as well, to prepare more intensely than any other time in their careers. Ah, but with Cotto there is always something more. If you look at Cotto’s interviews since his lost to Margarito, and put the pieces of the puzzle together.

Cotto knows what a win over Pacquiao means. It means a potential showdown with Mayweather, a fighter that Cotto is confident he can defeat, and more significantly a rematch with Margarito and the opportunity to redeem himself. Then? A ride into the sunset, retiring young, healthy, and on top of the game. Sound ambitious? Sure it does. Is it possible? For Cotto, absolutely! Cotto is as determined a fighter as I have seen in recent years. His dedication is far above his love for the sport. He dedicates himself to achieving success.

Last week Cotto made yet another adjustment. One that should be concerning to Pacman and his corner. He moved his training in Puerto Rico to a gym that provides 20’ X 20’, and 24’ X 24’ rings. The ring they will fight in on November, will indeed be a 20’ X 20’ ring. Miguel Cotto is preparing himself to chase Pacquiao around the ring if needed.

He understands that in order for him to win the fight in Las Vegas, he will have to put a beating on Pacquiao. And he has all the intentions in the world to do just that. If Pacquiao stands in front of Cotto and exchanges power punches, Cotto feels that he will land the one that will end the night. If Pacquiao runs around the ring, Cotto will find him. Another adjustment made by Miguel Cotto with serious intentions.

On November 14, the fastest, most dangerous fighter he has ever faced will step up and give Cotto plenty of work. Many say that Pacquiao’s speed will be the difference in this fight. And that is a very valid point and could be true. However, I would not put my money on that. Cotto’s ability to adjust and find a weakness in his opponent will be the difference in my opinion.

Whether he uses his timing, boxing ability, or his raw strength, he will have done what he wanted to do all along. That is adjust, set up the showdown with Mayweather and Margarito, and go on to retire and never look back. If that is the way Cotto goes out, then here’s to one of the greatest fighters to lace ‘em up in many years. In about 10 weeks we will begin to answer some of these questions.

Will Cotto take the next step to the top, or will he have to adjust again? Either way, as fans we will witness the best fight of the year on November 14. If ever I’ve been so sure about a fight living up to its potential, it is this one. And like Cotto, we too will have to make an adjustment; which fight party to attend on November 14.</td></tr></tbody></table>

 

Been on the Pacwagon since the Ledwaba fight, back when we were all posting at secondsout. It's one of the few fighters I've been a big fan of and predicted big success for who has actually surpassed what I expected, and by some way. So if he does lose to Cotto, I most certainly won't jump off the wagon or make shitty excuses, as what he has done upto this point has been nothing short of incredible anyway.

 

He's a great fighter but lets be honest here Marquez beat him. That was a bullshit dec and you know it. I actually had Marquez beating him both times. As for the Delahoya win, seriously Oscar hasnt fought @147 for what a decade? He was a dead man walking and Roach even admitted it. The fights that I found very impressive for Pac was his 1 shot ko of Hatton and his wins over Morales and Barrera. Excellent wins.:bears: But Come November, he's fighting a very strong and determined welterweight in his prime! A fighter that not only can punch he can also BOX! WAR COTTO!!!!

 

I agree.

I have to admit though, that I didn't see Manny being able to move all the way up to over 140 and retain the speed and power. He has.

That being said.....his beating of DLH was an aberration. Nothing there.

Taking out Ricky Hatton was ultra impressive. Manny looked fast, durable and powerful.

Miguel Cotto may not have beaten Hatton as dramatically....but make no mistake, he would have dealt Ricky a terrible beating.

Cotto is by far Manny's sternest test of his career just based on all the intangibles.

 

Agreed! I never expected Hatton getting KTFO with 1 single shot to the chin. That was outstanding!

 

New Pacquiao lover? I've been a Pacman fan for years. 6 years to be precise, and I'd seen him fight long before that. I'm certainly not a bandwagoner or recent fan.

 

I agree the first decision was bullshit, Pacman won that hands down. Even with the first round scored 10-7 rather than 10-6 (how it should have been) - Pacman was still the clear winner.

The second fight on the other hand, could have gone either way.

 

As far as I'm concerned, beating Cotto would be Pacman's crowing glory as a modern day master. This is a very difficult fight for him IMHO but one I think he will win.

MTF

 

The fight itself is an extremely interesting one, though, thats for sure.

On the one hand you have Cotto, one of the best fighters in the world, undisputedly one of the best welters in the world and arguably in his prime at 29. The guy has serious skills. His body-punching is world class, he has fluidity through extreme footspeed and has quick, hurtful hands. Remember- before Margacuntbag eventually broke Cotto down with those wrapped hands, Cotto made him look fucking silly for six solid rounds, boxing beautifully from the outside, landing flush left and right combos and floating out of range before the disgraced shithouse could react. Those who claim that he was ruined in that fight were proven at least partially wrong when Cotto came through a serious cut to eventually grind out a win against Clottey: a notoriously tough customer.

However, there are two major factors which count against him here.

Firstly, there is no doubt in my mind that the cheating bastard has had at least some negative impact on Cotto. Cheating or no, he took a bad beating late in that fight and rare is the fighter who comes back the same from the sort of beatdown he suffered. There is bound to be mental scars from that fight which will resurface the moment Pac lands flush. Moroever, Cotto is notorious for slowing down the stretch. He has always had stamina issues and running out of gas is a bad, bad portent when you are likely to have Manny swarming around the place.

As for Manny, well, where to start? The guy is absolutely phenomenal: a modern day legend and a scary, scary talent. His successes as he moved up in weight has confounded the world. It is easy in hindsight to dismiss the Oscar fight as being a gimme because Oscar was weightdrained and/or shot, but barely a handful of people gave him a prayer pre-fight and he was a massive odds against underdog with the layers. And for all that Hatton has diminished markedly in the last two years, the manner in which Pac destroyed him was absolutely remarkable- I just stared dumbly at the TV as I watched it live, mouth agape like a guppy fish at feeding time. Hatton, for all his diminished status, is still arguably one of the best 140 fighters in the world and Manny absolutely took him apart in a matter of minutes. It seems that he has incredibly carried not just his speed but his power too, proving the old adage that 'speed is power'. He will swarm all over Cotto, trying to get inside Cotto's jab, negating the body shots he'll likely face and will try to tee off with those pitch perfect straight lefts.

Of course, there is still one question mark. What will happen when someone actually hits him? Neither Oscar nor Hatton were quick enough to land anything flush and so there is no way of knowing how he will react when a full-blooded welter hits him HARD.

Cotto should be quick enough to land plenty early. His movement an handspeed will cause Manny problems. Cotto is a hurtful puncher, albeit not a One-Punch-KO artist, so the early exchanges will be crucial and telling IMHO. Cotto's best chance is to land early, land to the body and land regularly. I honestly think he needs to win by early-mid KO to win at all, because if Pac is still in there pitching at halfway then he has to be favoured to take advantage of those mental doubts and the stamina issue down the stretch.

I picked Manny to beat Hatton but had my doubts all the way to fight-time. It was the first time I doubted him and I won't do so again in a hurry. The man is an absolute phenomenon. Cotto has a very good chance of winning by stoppage in the first four rounds IMHO, but the more likely outcome (and my official pick) is Manny stopping an exhausted and valiant Cotto around the tenth.

MTF

 

MTF - Cotto's feet aren't remotely fast. His movement is OK, but his feet are actually on the slow side.

Especially compared to Pacman, who has the fastest feet in boxing.

 

Also, even a weight-drained ODH has faster hands than Cotto. I'm not suggesting Cotto won't be a tougher fight for Manny than ODH. But I don't view Cotto's hand-speed as a threat. In fact, I think Cotto's hand-speed, average as it is, will be a liability.

Cotto's best chance is to not worry about looking pretty when he punches. He needs to be willing to chase Pacquiao and be able to withstand the shots he'll eat in doing so. This will allow him to land his own punches.

Unfortunately for Cotto, he's not as quick or as skilled at counterpunching as JMM is, which means he won't have success letting Pacquiao come to him. He has to make the fight even if it means running into punches.

 

I disagree! The jab is the key here for Cotto.

 

Well yeah. He needs to lead with the jab. How does that conflict with anything I've said? Are you suggesting Cotto will have success laying back and trying to counter or time Pacquiao? All I'm saying is he has to come forward. That's his best chance. And yes, in moving forward he needs to use his jab to set up his combinations.

 

The dude has quick feet Mex. He's had much quicker feet than most of the guys he's fought, certainly.

That said, I agree entirely that Manny has a major advantage in footspeed here. His footspeed is beyond belief- dude made Hatton look like he was moving in mud and Hatton has always had very quick feet.

MTF

 

Cotto's footspeed is below average, and his handspeed is average.

Don't confuse neat, conservative movement with quick feet.

Cotto's feet aren't Tito slow, but below average for sure.

Hatton has always had MUCH quicker feet than Cotto. And indeed Pacman made hatton look like he was fighting in slow motion.

 

Margacheato has slow feet. Cotto made him look like the sloth he is for half a dozen rounds using movement alone. Rewatch that fight and tell me I'm wrong.

Cotto beat Mosely to the punch plenty of times early in their fight and Mosely has quick hands.

Cotto may not be naturaly quick, but 'neat, conservative movement' creates speed.

MTF

 

Yep!