Freddie Roach Studying Tape of Mosley/Cotto to Devise a Strategy
August 5th, 2009
By Giancarlo Malinconico: The most talked about event in professional sports is the Pacquiao/Cotto mega-fight on November 14 in Las Vegas. Miguel Cotto has already begun an early pre-training camp. And Freddie Roach is already studying film of Miguel Cotto’s last six fights in order to develop the game plan for his fighter’s training camp.
After hearing these comments from Roach, I decided to refresh my memory of the Cotto/Mosley clash. What I picked up on from this fight was that Mosley’s hand speed advantage was apparent early in the first round, forcing Cotto to fight as a modified counterpuncher throughout much of the fight. Cotto’s decision to play the counterpuncher seemed to be what allowed him to neutralize Mosley’s hand speed.
I could not help but notice Mosley fought the majority of the fight flatfooted. And Mosley failed to land his shots and get out of the way of the return fire, which was probably the difference in the fight. Mosley never forced Cotto to have to pick up his feet and replant them before he punched.
Pacquiao cannot make the same mistake; he will have to box on his toes early to keep Cotto from planting his feet and unloading ripping shots to the head and body. Footwork, in fact, will be the key, in my opinion, to Pacquiao’s victory. Pacquiao must fire off combinations, and get out of the way quickly.
Many expect Cotto to be the aggressor and to pressure Manny. But I would not be surprised to see Cotto play counterpuncher like he did against Mosley when he notices how much faster Pacquiao’s hands are. But if Cotto does go into seek and destroy mode, this contest could live up to its name, Fire power. It will be interesting, nevertheless, to see what strategy Coach Roach employs for Pacquiao to carry out, as the Pacman attempts to capture a record-setting seven world titles in seven different divisions.
Tags: 23 Responses to “Freddie Roach Studying Tape of Mosley/Cotto to Devise a Strategy”
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This fight is going to be great. Let me first start off by saying i don’t believe Pacman will ko Cotto. I just don’t see that happening. He could however win the fight on handspeed. But Cotto is not that slow as we seen in the Mosley fight. What i see happening is Cotto actually using a good strong jab against pacman and counter-punching to win the fight. Also size is not the big issue here but i think the natural strenth of cotto will help him withstand some of the combos he is sure to be hit with. Cotto by close decision. “Fight of the Year”.
Freddie Roach is a clown say’s Panama Lewis. Panama Lewis should be in the hall of Fame for greatest trainer in the world.
It would be the other way around TDC. If Cotto can’t knock Pacquiao out in 6 rounds, then he’s going to get knocked out because he’s the one that’s going to get tired. I can’t recall Pacquiao being tired especially in the championship rounds. Cotto has stamina problems and will be best suited to take Pacquiao out early.
All Cotto needs is a good counter punch to neutralize Pacquiao’s speed. Once Pacquiao tastes Cottos’s punch, he will hesitate throwing power pucnhes. Bet should have been 1.2-1 instead of the 2-1 that they are saying now. Excellent article.
people all around the world actually think Pacquiao is going to win this fight, im telling you right now and here,,,, COTTO will KNOCK Pacquiao OUT!!!! Cotto is going to whip that boy from Manila. Pacquiao will no longer be the best fighter pound for pound. i wonder if they will actually give Cotto his due when he demolishes Pacquiao…. come November 15, the Phillippines will all be crying and it wont stop until sometime in 2010 when Pacquiao finally realizes that his run was full of flaws from the beginning. all Pacquiao is is a small boy, who thinks he can beat everyone, but his end is near. Cotto by KO in 7th round….
Good article. Pac pays lots of attention to his footwork, which will be key to this fight. This will be Pac’s toughest fight because of Cotto’s power.
good article. my money is on cotto by points.
DLH, Diaz and Hatton thought he didn’t have the power, didn’t he win by knockout on all those 3 fights? Sometimes size can be deceiving.
damn good article,no emotional bias crap ahem Gilfoid
James you idiot Barrera was one of the most talented
boxer-punchers of our era!
its ignorant to label him a brawler
its a different thing watching a video and being in the ring with cotto.. im sure cottos team is watching mannys videos this is going to be a good fight because cotto could adapt to mannys speed and box,counter like marquez did but manny is the smaller guy .. cant wait to see it!
cotto will school pacman come nov.14th!!!
Good article, it is possible to write about Manny/Cotto without bias…
Good case argued as well and one that I agree with. Cotto has a good defence despite being cut pretty bad on a couple of occasions and if he can weather a flurry from Manny and counter intelligently then there is no reason why he couldn’t defeat the little guy.
DLH, Diaz and Hatton have said that the power wasn’t really an issue but the speed was. Take that away and Cotto is in with a more than decent chance. My only concern is stamina, I think Manny can go 12 rounds full pace where as Cotto will likely slow but if you are countering this shouldn’t be a major issue…..
Mosleys handspeed was never appant n the beginning of the fight! What fight were u lookin at? So mosley faded while the fight lasted? Is that what ur saying? Ur a pacman fan tryin like freddie 2 c how cotto beat mosley! Simple timing is key n at that cotto isn’t as slow as all u folks think he is! The more film freddie watchs, the more he’s gonna realize what trouble he n pacman is n!
Great unbiased article.
I can’t wait for this bout. I think everyone is waiting to see what Pacman does next. Whether he is capable of destroying Cotto like Hatton.
I think this is going to be a close bout. There is a chance Pacman might come out in the early rounds and try to steamroll Cotto. It’s obvious he has carried power through the divisions and he believes in that power. Which could be his undoing.
If he gets to confident in the early rounds, i think Cotto might take him out. Cotto is completely different to Hatton, he can adapt during fights and has a defense.
I’m going to go for Pacman to win on a split decision.
If Pacman can employ hit and run the same strategy he did with Dela Hoya then he has a good chance. I think Pacman has faster hand speed than Mosely and we know he has that one punch knockout that when delivered at the right instant can end the the fight quickly. On the other hand I don’t think it would be wise for Cotto to be too aggressive, it will expose himself just like Hatton did.
I agree that Santiago and Perez have typical bias rants writings. Obsession, misinformation and deception are integral part of their report.
Good article, a lot professionalism. 2 tumbs up.
These are the type of writers Boxing News ought to use. Balance and factual. The santiago and Manuela guys are for weather forcast and cartoon stuff. Hope Boxing News take this into consideration.
Unlike perez and santiago, who know nothing about professionalism
good article, no emotion attached
Wow…this fight may be closer than most expect. I just hope Pacquiao can get his the contract tied up and his training camp finalized. Pacquiao was so effective his last few fights in big part because of his focus in his training camp. The Bahamas could work, but Pacquiao may not want to go there. Definitely not Mexico, Imagine the Philippines top citizen having to contend with a real or imagined Swine Flu and Drug War threat. Canada may be too cold that time of year. The Philippines may work if they go to a deserted resort island where they can control the crowds and Celebs..not likely. One place they haven’t brought up is Thailand, where Pacquiao was declared the “Hero of Asia!” They have top rated boxing facilities there and it’s a familiar place for Pacquiao.
Very well put Giancarlo Malinconico. But that Mosley/Cotto fight was alot closer than the scorecards that those judges put together. Shane father is a big factor also because his is not aggressive enough on Shane until it is to late. If he had Richardson for the fight it would have been different. That’s why he chose clottey over shane rematch because he saw what shane did to Margarito with Richardson in his corner and thought about how close the first fight was, so he didn’t want any of that.