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.
Roach has stated he is particularly interested in the Cotto’s fight with Mosley: “I’m paying particular attention to his fight against Shane Mosley because that’s the one where he was able to take away Shane’s speed to beat him.”
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.
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