By Jim Dower: Emanuel Steward, the new trainer for WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (35-2, 28 KO’s), thinks a rematch between Cotto and WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao would be very different compared to their previous fight in November 2009. In that bout, Cotto was hopelessly out of his class, as Pacquiao totally dominated him, dropping Cotto twice and causing the Puerto Rican fighter to have to run just to survive.

Cotto’s legs worked well enough for him to make it to the 12th before giving out on him and forcing him to fight. Pacquiao then quickly overwhelmed the bloody and battered Cotto with punches, causing the referee to step in and stop the slaughter. Steward recently started training Cotto and got him past WBA junior middleweight champion Yuri Foreman on June 5th of this month in a 9th round TKO win for Cotto. Steward, who replaced trainer Joe Santiago, will remain as Cotto’s trainer into future fights.

Steward worked with Cotto on using his jab more and worked on his movement as well. You could see the changes in Cotto’s style in the Foreman fight. He clearly was moving well and using his jab effectively to control Foreman. However, that fight effectively ended in the 7th round after Foreman injured his right knee. He was forced to limp along until the fight was eventually stopped in the 9th after Cotto dropped him with a body shot. But the fight was just getting warmed up at the time that Foreman injured his knee, and Cotto wasn’t exactly dominating him at that point in the fight. Cotto did get hit a lot less than he usually does, but it’s hard to agree with Steward that a rematch between Pacquiao and Cotto would be any different than the first fight.

Pacquiao can’t be beaten with jabs. It will take a lot more than that to beat him, and that is the whole problem. Cotto would have to punch with Pacquiao to beat him, and once he starts mixing it up with Pacquiao, the fight will likely start to turn bad for Cotto.

In an article at GMAnews.com, Steward says “I would very much entertain a rematch with Pacquiao and Cotto. It would be very different if they fight again now that [Cotto] has his team put together just the way he wants it. He’s just a better balanced fighter now. He will be able to utilize his boxing talents a lot more than the last fight where he fought with his head down too low. Manny was actually the taller fighter in the fight and he’s only 5’6”.

Miguel has a lot more mental confidence now than he did before.” Confidence is nice to have, but I think it won’t help a bit in this case. Cotto can be confident and still get drilled into the canvas by Pacquiao. Manny will be confident too and the better fighter will win. And I just don’t see Cotto ever being good enough to beat Pacquiao, whether Cotto is standing straight up, leaning forward or supremely confident.

Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, isn’t exactly thrilled with the idea of a Pacquiao-Cotto rematch, saying “Who would want to see Cotto get his a—kicked again?” I agree with Roach. Who would want to see Cotto get beat again other than someone who likes to watch slaughters.