As Manny Pacquiao's sparring partners Urbano Antillon and Shawn Porter arrived in Baguio city, the Pac Man has been busy training at the only pace he knows how to train- relentless, almost maniacal.
Perhaps that's why Pacquiao's handlers have told the sparring partners to be prepared as Pacquiao himself said he is excited to start sparring.
Shawn Porter has been described by Freddie Roach and some who have seen him fight as a Miguel Cotto clone. Porter is a little bit bigger than Cotto and moves and pops like Pacquiao's Puerto Rican foe. Boxrec.com lists Porter as 5'7 light middleweight with a 10-0 record, 8 of which coming by knockout.
Antillon on the other hand is a regular Pacquiao sparring partner and provides a gauge for Pacquiao's development. Incidentally, Antillon is responsible for knocking out Pacquiao's younger brother Bobby in 2008. Antillon is coming off the first loss of his career and boasts an impressive record of 26-1 with 19 wins coming by KO.
David Rodela, another regular Pacquiao sparring partner and Raymond Tito Serrano, a Puerto Rican champion who could match the moves of Cotto, round up the list of Pacquiao's spar mates.
All of the sparring partners were selected masterfully by Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach and should give Pacquiao and edge against Cotto in preparations.
Other than Cotto not having his uncle and old trainer Evangelista in his corner, he will also be watched over by Joe Santiago who is more of a conditioning coach and nutritionist than an expert trainer. Reports said that Cotto started sparring with Ivan Calderon a few weeks back to mimic Pacquiao's speed and movement.
I can see how Calderon can try and mimic Pacquiao's speed but Cotto is definitely at a disadvantage in the preparation department. Not only is Calderon smaller at 5'0, he doesn't have the punching power, aggressiveness and relentless movement Pacquiao brings to the ring. And the hardest part of all, Cotto may have trained earlier than Pacquiao, but how can he train his chin that's been questionable in the past, to take the devastating blow of a Pacquiao left cross? Maybe his best shot might be preparing to come in overweight the way Floyd Mayweather Jr. did against Marquez. Based however on the character Cotto has displayed which is definitely more honorable than Mayweather, I don't think he would resort to something like that just to give him an edge.
On a side note, it's funny how the Mayweathers accuse Pacquiao of bogus steroid allegations just for him to get an edge against his opponents while their boy breaks catch-weight clauses and would be willing to pay extra money just to gain an edge over his opponents.
Somehow I am reminded of a quote one of my basketball coaches used to tell me,
"Real winners play fair, and real cheaters are those who are first to accuse others of cheating."
As they say, it takes one to know one.
Source: http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-10947-Indianapolis-Fight-Sports-Examiner~y2009m9d28-Sparring-partners-give-Pacquiao-edge-over-Cotto
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