Cotto and His Team Not Believing the Hype
September 17th, 2009
By Will Cruz: “Yo no me como ese cuento”, I won’t eat up that tale is what Miguel Cotto Sr. said in a recent interview with El Nuevo Dia newspaper in Puerto Rico. He is referring to the publicized news that Pacquiao has not begun his training and instead has been relaxing and having a good old time filming movies and game shows. Cotto agrees with his dad which is why he visited the gym even throughout the press tour last week to maintain his work rate.
On Sunday September 20, Miguel and his team move their camp to Tampa, Florida where they will be until the final two weeks leading into the fight. There he will begin his intense sparring sessions with quick, elusive, southpaws that will help him prepare for Manny’s style. But when asked about how he will prepare for this fight, I was more impressed with what his trainer said; “we will prepare to fight a welterweight on that night”. They have not fallen into the trap that because Manny seems smaller they will go in there on November 14 to push the little guy around. Unlike another writer on this website likes to say that the “little Filipino” will get bullied around, I don’t believe that is the fight we will see.
I see Miguel Cotto adjusting and having the opposite game plan from what many people think. I see him boxing Pacquiao much like Morales and Marquez did and I believe Cotto will once again surprise people with his underrated defense and hand speed. Let’s give Manny the credit he deserves. People tend to forget a fighters style through most of his career based on his last couple of fights. Before he disposed of Hatton, De La Hoya, and Diaz, Manny was a good boxer himself with an incredible combination of speed and power. So I see Manny trying to box as well early on and not doing what his last opponent did and go in carelessly against a dangerous opponent.
At the end though, I believe Cotto will box, counter punch and go to the body enough to batter Manny much like he did against Malinaggi. Consistent work through 8 or 9 rounds that show its effect late in the fight where Cotto will finish it in impressive fashion. Surely, this is just my opinion and how I see the fight, but one thing I do know for sure is that unlike Cotto and his team, I do believe the hype; This fight will be one for the ages!
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Good article. Manny will have trouble because Cotto can adapt different style. Cotto is not an average brawler but a great boxer. Cotto can fight toe-to-toe, in a distance or countering effectively the incoming punching.
People may think Pac has the speed that wishes Cotto cannot see it coming. But, Cotto can eat heavy punches even from alleged plastered hands of Margarito for 11 rounds. Surely, Pac punches will be nothing for Cotto and he can couter it like Marquez but with more heavy and devastating effect.
For Pacquiao to survive for 12 rounds, he should prepare the very best of him and device many ways not being caught by Cotto’s super powerful blows and rapid head knocking combinations.
One thing I’ve noticed in the buildup to this fight, not many people have mentioned the fact that Cotto beat SHANE MOSLEY! he’s obviously capable of beating faster/harder hitting opponents, I see this being a war maybe even a fight of the year candidate, but I definetely see Cotto either winning by KO in the later rounds or by decision. He seems way too hungry for this fight.
Great article, not biased, definately appreciating some coverage of Cotto, particularly as he isn’t one to hog the limelight,it would be interesting to read more articles that you write
Fight of the year!
Margarito is a cheat and a C**T, he was one of my favorite fighters before I found out he is a cheat, hate the guy now coz I don’t like cheats, Cotto is undefeated, Cotto and Pac Man are my favorite boxers so I just want a good fight. I would love these two to have a trilogy of fights
You put Perez and Scott to shame, it’s like comparing a GCSE student to a Master’s graduate with regard to the writing. It’s nice to see a structured argument, displayed with integrity and balance.
The closer this fight gets, the more I lean towards Cotto. I really liked Cotto and chyampioned him as a potential P4P great a few years back. I feel he is underestimated in this fight although I have great respect for both fighters.
Cotto to defend as he always does and counter, similar to his Mosley fight. Hopefully a KO but will take a Decision…
this fight is over hyped, and all im seeing is a manny pacquiao KO in the 7th round and i believe pacquiao will fight mayweather who will beat marquez by split desicion, pacquiao will then beat mayweather and then finally fight moseley and retire. i dont like pacquiao because he thinks he can beat anyone but i would love to see marga-cheato or paul williams at a catch weight fight pacquiao because pacquiao will take a beating he deserves to bring him down to earth. if cotto wins i guarentee pacquiao will say rematch rematch but if pacquaio wins cotto wont get a rematch because pacquiao is that kind of fighter just look what happened when morales beat him and marquez 1st fight and lost rematches but when pacquaio beats weight drained de la hoya or hatton no rematch
boxingserver, mayweather struggled against hatton? you believed hatton was ever in that fight? first, hatton is overrated. second, mayweather softened hatton. third, hatton fought the most stupid fight of his career against pac. dela hoya was not really weight drained? LoL. you are an idiot.
very good article well written and balance.you have to remember that all of them (cotto/pacman)are good boxer they have their own style in boxing, so any one of them deserve to win.let see what happen on November 14. but for sure this is a very good match.
I think both Marquez and Pacquiao will win. Mayweather struggled against Hatton but Pacquiao annihilated Hatton. Malinaggi is not as fast as Pacquiao but could hit Cotto many times. Malinaggi although beaten up survived the 12 rounds. Malinaggi was TKOd by Hatton when Malinaggi’s corner stopped the fight. Hatton dominated Malinaggi and Malinaggi could not hit Hatton as much as he hit Cotto. Malinaggi is not a heavy puncher. Cotto is a good starter but usually fades in the last round. Cotto won against Mosley because Mosley even with fast hands fought so close with Cotto. Pacquiao moves around. De la Hoya was not really weight drained. Actually De la Hoya threw so many punches in the first 4 rounds, it was just he could not hit Pacquiao. David Diaz although durable and with good defense was being hit by Pacquiao at will. Pacquiao and Marquez are very smart and intelligent fighters. They studied their opponents before the fight and they adjusted during the fight. I can rate this 2 as both number one. Cotto’s face will swell up and when his hurt he had the tendency to not engage in the fight. Cotto will be TKOed in the later rounds, maybe 10th or 11th. Marquez will knock out Mayweather also in the later rounds (also 10th or 11th). Hatton was able to hurt Mayweather and Marquez could even hurt Pacquiao even after being knocked down (3 times in the first fight) and once in their 2nd fight. Pacquiao and Marquez are destined to meet in the 3rd time… which may also end up as a draw.
Caguas, you have a very valid concern. There is a big possibility that Cotto will get robbed if he doesn’t KO or outbox Pac convincingly. Pacquiao is a cash cow, very marketable, people buy PPV of his fights. If the fight is close, like with JMM, expect the judges to give Pac the victory. It is in the interest of many to set up a mega-fight between Pac and PBF. That’ll be a huge cash flow, and you know boxing is business first, sports second. But, don’t worry, Cotto will send the cross-eyed midget to slumberland.
Interesting article makes complete sense. I just hope Cotto doesn’t get robbed have been seeing to many questionable decisions lately. I hope Cotto is not believing the hype because he will have his hands full on the 14th. I just hope he doesn’t hit is peak to early in training camp like Hatton did against Manny.
The way i see it, if manny could not make a dent against cotto’s defense and if he will not be able to hurt cotto after the 8th round, cotto’s punishing body punch will caught up on him and eventually will slow manny down. After 8th round, manny is ripe for the picking. cotto must KO manny, otherwisse if manny could continue to evade cotto up to the end of the 12th round, manny may win by UD.
i’d love 2 c cotto do it, but unless he batters manny, the judges will give it 2 manny. Manny sells more tickets, he makes certain people (B.A) alot of money. Sad but true.
How could Mosley be robbed when he gave props to Cotto and even called him a “young lion” and if that was the case that he was robbed well he (Mosley) got a gift himself when he beat De La hoya on their second fight, if I was going to Call a fight as a “robbery” Well the Clottey fight was closer to me than the Mosley fight!
Cotto is my favorite fighter alone with Manny and Pavlik but Im pretty sure this will end like most of Pacquiao fights… A KO’d bigger man that never imagined the filipino would overcome the size advantage.
In matter of size only an ultra big prime and good fighter could stop Pacquiao. You need to realize that 1/2 inch advantage in height for Cotto its basically nothing and yes Cotto is the wider man but it would be enough to overcome Pacquiao speed, power and stamina.
Cotto is going to win this fight im certain, respect goes to manny for trying tho.
Good article! Lets have more articles like this and more writers like yourself. People are tired of reading garbage on this site by complete idiots like santiago, perez and others
Pacquiao and Marquez are 2 of my favorite fighters because they “fight”, but they’re in with proven welterweights and the proven welterweights will win. If Marquez can pull off the win, it will be great because he will have to break Mayweather’s defense, which love it or hate it, it’s the best defense out there. Cotto has beat the best welterweights out there (Margarito & his team cheated) and Cotto did it by fighting and not being afraid to take punches in the process. Cotto will take punches when he fights Pacquiao, but he’ll give better than he gets and will win because Pacquiao is much like Mosley and Cotto beat Mosley convincingly.
Good article a also belive that Cotto will cacth up to Manny and slow him down manny is good but this is a real WW
My first line was going to be “well written article”, but since everyone else seems to have already said it, I won’t bother!
It is interesting to see the change of opinions as fights move toward the date. More and more people are thinking that Marquez just might have what it takes to soil Mayweather’s virgin record. And early on, hardly anyone gave Cotto a chance at all. Now many people are leaning more and more to the possibility of him getting the job done. One thing you will notice about Cotto is he’s just about the most serious looking guy in the business. I don’t think I’ve EVER seen him smile! He knows exactly what he’s in for and he is preparing for the best. Cotto’s all-business attitude is one of the things I’ve always liked about him. On the other hand, Pacquiao’s persistent smiles are just as likable. He can hardly keep a straight face for anything, and get on game day he comes in to kill.
Despite what so many people say this fight can literally go either way. That’s what makes it so interesting. I’ve always been a fan of Cotto, but Pac’s my man, and I really hope he pulls it off in convincing fashion.
One last word, in a way, this fight means alot more for Pac than for Cotto. The excuses everyone gave for Pacquiao’s last wins won’t work this time, but the size difference will be mentioned by many people if Cotto wins. Look at Hopkins vs. De la Hoya; I don’t even know if I’ve heard anyone mention that fight since it happened. Two elite guys and one KOd the other. Because Hopkins was so much bigger naturally, no one made much of it. But if De la Hoya had won, it would have been one of his finest triumphs. I sort of see the same thing happening with Pacquiao vs. Cotto.
Great article!!! But I think if the fight does go into the later rounds (8 or more), Cotto will fade. Manny’s stamina, strength and speed will remain consistent throughout all 12 rounds (if it goes the distance). I see Manny winning on points as a KO is unlikely with Cotto. If Team Pacquiao’s game plan is to move in, attack, then move and avoid Cotto’s hits, then Pacquiao will definitely win on points and he will be much to fast for Cotto to catch. I agree that this fight will be one for the ages!!!
Good article, it’s true this site could do with more writers like yourself. I really rate Cotto’s chances but as a neutral I’m looking forward to a cracking fight. IMO Cotto by a late TKO
Kapeng barako,
I certainly agree in that Pacman is not Malinaggi or Judah. My point was that like Malinaggi, Cotto was the slower and less elusive of the two, but Cotto found a way to neutralize that with his boxing ability and timing, which is often overlooked. And I do not believe that Cotto believed the “hype” even before, they know Manny is always in great shape; the guy can’t weigh more than 150 when he isn’t training…
They used to believe the hype, but after they saw Manny during the presscon, they thought “how could this guy look good and claim not even training yet”.
Pacman is no Malinaggi, he’s not Judah, he’s not those fast left handed sparmates.
This site needs more writers like you, very well written article, honest and unbiased. I am definitely looking forward to this fight as well.