Boxing - Manny Pacquiao vs Miguel Cotto

Manny Pacquiao vs Miguel Cotto Video Recap

2009-11-15T21:19:00.000-08:00

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10-11

Round 12

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Pacquiao vs Cotto Photos

2009-11-15T21:15:00.000-08:00

Image Source: Yahoo Sports!

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Manny Pacquiao's Greatest Hits

2009-11-15T21:08:00.001-08:00

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Pacquiao vs Cotto 24/7 Episode 4

2009-11-15T21:07:00.000-08:00

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Fight analysis: Mind over matter

2009-11-15T21:06:00.000-08:00

MANILA, Philippines - It took a lot of guts to do what Manny Pacquiao did in beating Miguel Cotto for his seventh world boxing championship in seven different weight divisions at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas last Saturday night (yesterday morning, Manila).

Pacquiao, a 3-1 favorite, realized from the onset that Cotto’s power left jab – the same weapon he used in scoring a unanimous 12-round decision over Sugar Shane Mosley in 2007 – would be a huge problem.

Cotto pumped double left jabs to keep Pacquiao off-balance in taking the first round of their WBO welterweight title bout. Fighting from a distance, Cotto had the advantage of dictating tempo because of his jarring left jab.

Pacquiao knew that his chances of winning hinged on getting Cotto to come forward so he could use his hand-speed and foot-speed to frustrate the Puerto Rican. But if Cotto continued to throw the left jab, it would be a long night for the Filipino icon.

Pacquiao made instant adjustments to offset Cotto’s edge but it meant taking a huge risk. Abandoning his plan to stick and run, Pacquiao held his ground, inviting Cotto to engage. He even did a version of Muhammad Ali’s rope-a-dope, leaning against the ropes without hitting back to lure Cotto inside. Pacquiao’s gamble was to raise Cotto’s level of confidence so he would forget about jabbing from a distance and instead, move in to unload power shots.

In the third round, a right put Cotto down for a mandatory eight-count but it hardly made the Puerto Rican think twice about moving in. Cotto wasn’t badly hurt and in fact, was on the attack before the round ended.

Pacquiao’s adjustment was evident in the fourth as he allowed Cotto space to lean on him against the ropes. It was a dangerous strategy as Pacquiao exposed the side of his body to Cotto’s murderous left hooks. But Pacquiao figured it was the only way to get Cotto out of his jabbing mode and make him an easier target.

What happened late the fourth round was exactly how Pacquiao planned it. Cotto became comfortable throwing short-range bombs and got caught with a vicious left hook to the jaw. It was a brutal blow. Cotto dropped to his knees and looked wobbly as he stood up. The bell rang shortly after to save the Puerto Rican from another fall.

Clearly, Cotto couldn’t figure out what Pacquiao was up to and walked into the Filipino’s trap. In the sixth round, Pacquiao staggered Cotto once more, methodically turning the contest into a one-sided massacre. Cotto’s face was a mask of lumps, bruises and cuts. He looked like a beaten man before the bell sounded to open the seventh round.

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With his will to win slowly eroded by Pacquiao’s unforgiving pressure, Cotto decided to do the unthinkable for a defending champion – he began to run. At that point, all he wanted to do was to survive the fight on his feet. He got on an imaginary bicycle and took off, leaving Pacquiao in hot pursuit. Cotto’s aggressiveness was gone, a thing of the past, and he transformed into a shadow of his old self, running scared instead of standing up to fight.

If you think about it, Cotto would’ve probably stolen some rounds from Pacquiao using the power jab to stymie the Filipino’s momentum. That would’ve kept Pacquiao at bay. But Pacquiao had Cotto all figured out. He knew if Cotto continued to dictate with the jab, he wouldn’t be able to get untracked. The danger of losing on points loomed.

Cotto’s adjustment to box starting the seventh round threw off Pacquiao momentarily. Cotto might have even taken the eighth canto using the stick-and-move routine as the Filipino tried to chase down his prey. But the change in tactics proved futile. Inevitably, Pacquiao caught up with Cotto who progressively grew slower as the fight wore on.

Referee Kenny Bayless mercifully stepped in to halt the carnage at 0:55 of the 12th round. He could’ve allowed Cotto to finish the distance as it didn’t seem like he was in any danger of going down. But Cotto didn’t deserve the reprieve. Down the stretch, he fought like a mouse running away from a cat – it was no way for a champion to go. You would expect a defending titlist to go down fighting, not to go down running.

Bayless did the right thing to stop it and award Pacquiao the satisfaction of winning inside the distance. Cotto no longer fought back anyway and in fact, Bayless would’ve been justified to stop it even a few rounds earlier.

For Pacquiao, the five elements that sealed the victory were:

• Speed. Clearly, Cotto had no antidote to negate Pacquiao’s hand-speed and foot-speed. The boxing adage of “speed kills in the ring” was obvious in the fight.

• Stamina. Pacquiao was in excellent physical condition. He still looked fresh in the 12th round and probably could’ve gone a few more. The Filipino was stung occasionally but never took a step back.

• Adjustments. Pacquiao didn’t take long to make adjustments. He took away Cotto’s power left jab by drawing him close then as the Puerto Rican got comfortable inside, the Filipino whirled around to throw his bombs. Pacquiao fought intelligently. Cotto wasn’t smart enough to blunt Pacquiao’s edge.

• Two-fisted attack. Pacquiao rained punches from all angles. Cotto didn’t know where the blows came from. Pacquiao decked Cotto with a right in the third and a left in the fourth.

• Heart. Pacquiao took a big gamble by leaning against the ropes to invite Cotto to whale away. Only a gutsy and fearless fighter would do it. Pacquiao once more showed how big his heart is and when you come down to it, that was the margin of difference.

Cotto goes to hospital for 'routine' checkup

2009-11-15T21:05:00.001-08:00

LAS VEGAS — Miguel Cotto walked out of the MGM bruised and battered but unbowed.

“I just came from a fight so that’s how I’m supposed to look,” Cotto, according to Top Rank pointman Ricardo Jimenez, told someone who made a comment that the Puerto Rican fighter looked “beat up and swollen” after the fight.

Cotto took so many blows to the head he had to skip the post-fight press conference. He was taken to the UMC Hospital for precautionary measure, and Jimenez said the ex-champion was to undergo a complete body scan.

“Miguel wants to come out here. He’s a real man. But the Nevada State Athletic Commission wanted him to go straight to the hospital. So he had to go. Not because he wanted to but because the commission wanted to,” said fight promoter Bob Arum.

Cotto, according to Jimenez, was okay as he was brought to the hospital, and needed no help as he boarded the Team Cotto bus that took him to the hospital. The bus was loaded with around 30 members of his family and his team.

Cotto had cuts over or under both eyes and bled from the fourth round onwards. His trunks, white with red bands, were stained with his own blood. Pacquiao did not go home unscathed either as he wore puffy eyes to his post-fight concert.

It took Pacquiao a little longer to attend the press conference because doctors had to do some procedure to drain blood from inside his right ear. So he showed up at the press conference with his head bandaged and his right ear protected.

But it was Cotto who drew sympathy from all those who saw the fight.

“Miguel Cotto has always been a courageous fighter. It’s just that he was in with a guy who’s the best fighter of our era and may very well be the best fighter ever. My heart goes out for him — to see his face and to see the damage,” Arum added.

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Even in defeat, Cotto was gracious to acknowledge Pacquiao’s historic win. As the Filipino prayed in his corner, down on his knees, the Puerto Rican, with a bloody face, came up to him to congratulate Pacquiao.

“I’m still proud. I’ve fought everyone, but Manny’s one of the best boxers of all time,” said Cotto, adding that his seconds had wanted to stop the fight a couple of rounds earlier, but he decided to go on.

“I told Joe (Santiago, his trainer) I wanted to continue fighting. It was my decision. It was a real hard fight,” said Cotto who drew cheers from the MGM crowd as he spoke on the microphone and got off the stage.

With his head held high.

Champ rules out fight above 147 lb

2009-11-15T21:04:00.002-08:00

LAS VEGAS – Don’t expect Manny Pacquiao to go higher than 147 lb so whoever wants to fight him next should stay within the vicinity.

“For me this is the last division I will fight in,” said the newly crowned WBO welterweight champion and possibly a future congressman in Saranggani in the Philippines.

“I just want to take a vacation and it’s up to my promoter who my next opponent is. This was a hard fight (at 147). I think 154 (super-welterweight) is too big for me,” said Pacquiao.

“But I’m happy with this victory,” said the only fighter in history to win seven world titles in seven different weight classes.

He started his career in 1995 at 105 lb, and as he grew older he gained on weight, but just got stronger and faster winning crowns in the flyweight, super-bantamweight, featherweight, super-featherweight, lightweight and junior welterweight.

And now, as a true welterweight.

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“Manny fought the top welterweight in the world and he outpunched and outboxed him. There was nothing Miguel could do to stop that express. Miguel was so gracious after the fight and he acknowledged that,” said Bob Arum.

“We proved that we were the better puncher. In the early rounds, he said he wanted to test his power and said he couldn’t hurt me. I think Manny can punch with any 147 pounder in the world. He has the power and speed,” added Freddie Roach. – Abac Cordero

Pacquiao lands 336 blows to Cotto's 172

2009-11-15T21:04:00.000-08:00

LAS VEGAS – Manny Pacquiao’s swollen right hand, and Miguel Cotto’s bloody face told the entire story.

And based on the numbers, as provided to the media by CompuBox, it was quite difficult to imagine how the ex-champion from Puerto Rico survived 12 brutal rounds with the hard-punching Filipino ring icon.

Pacquiao, as busy on top of the ring as he is outside, threw a total of 780 punches and landed 336 of them for a respectable batting average of 43 percent. Yes, 336 punches landed in one night of boxing.

Cotto, whose left hook is as famous as Puerto Rican rum, baseball and its beauty queens, threw less punches, 597 in all, and landed only 172 for a dismal 29 percent.

Cotto won the jabs department, throwing them 297 times and connecting 79 of them. It was the first punch that landed in the opening seconds of the fight, and sent a good message.

In the eighth round, Cotto landed a jab that made Pacquiao’s head move like sombody pulled his hair from behind.

Pacquiao, who’s never really known for his right jab, threw 220 jabs and connected on 60 occasions. But it was really with the power punches that the left-handed slugger from Genereal Santos in Mindanao made a living.

Pacquiao threw 560 power punches and found its target like a guided missile. He landed 276 times, enough to send Cotto to the hospital after the fight for precautionary measures.

Cotto, the younger, bigger and supposedly stronger fighter, let loose 300 power punches and hit Pacquiao, either to the head, the body or the arms, 93 times. His punches, any one of them, could have knocked out a lesser opponent.

But most of Cotto’s power punches were thrown in the first five rounds of the fight because from thereon he only managed to throw them in single digits until the end came with only 55 seconds left of the 12th and final round.

“We knew he was fast but he was a lot stronger than we thought,” said Cotto’s young trainer, Joe Santiago.

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“I tried to bring all I can everytime for all the fans. But tonight didn’t go my way. The jabs I threw were landing but I didn’t protect myself,” said Cotto just minutes after the fight.

“The instruction was not to hurry so we were very careful in the early rounds. And I was trying to test his power that’s why I got hit. But when I started to control the fight I became more aggressive,” said Pacquiao.

“In the second round I was looking for the knockout that’s why I threw a lot of punches and I landed the right hook in the third round. I heard he was bigger than me. So I wanted to test his power. And his punches hurt,” he admitted.

Cotto was knocked down twice, once in the third and fourth rounds, and must have been ordered by his cornermen to stay away from trouble, and that means staying away from Pacquiao.

But it seemed inevitable for the fight to be cut short. Because after the last power punch thrown by Pacquiao, a left to Cotto’s head, referee Kenny Bayless had to step in between and put an end to the fight.

Who's next? Take your pick - Valero, Mosley, Mayweather

2009-11-15T21:03:00.000-08:00

LAS VEGAS – Here’s the same old question: who’s next?

This was the biggest question that faced Manny Pacquiao and his promoter, Bob Arum, after the Filipino’s sensational and historic victory over Miguel Cotto at the MGM Grand on Saturday evening.

The who, according to Arum, should come first, but as of the moment there’s nothing as clear as the blue Nevada sky as to who gets to face Pacquiao next, and who fights the world’s greatest boxer.

Arum dropped the names of three boxers who may have the chance. Or at least, those who had the chance.

First was Shane Mosley, the reigning WBA welterweight champion, who had practically begged for a fight with Pacquiao before the fight with Cotto was sealed right after Pacquiao demolished Ricky Hatton last May.

Arum said Mosley was close to making the fight with Pacquiao and in fact was being considered a worthy opponent, until he decided to fight undefeated fellow American Andre Berto on Jan. 30 here in Las Vegas.

Arum said he couldn’t imagine what went through Mosley’s mind making the Berto fight, and announcing it the day before the Pacquiao-Cotto fight, when months ago he was crying for a fight with the Pinoy attraction.

“Shane Mosley says nobody wants to fight him and he wants to fight the winner of the Pacquiao-Cotto. Then he signs a contract to fight Berto. He could have been a great opponent. But what the hell was he doing?” said Arum.

“Shane says Pacquiao is ducking him and that’s not the truth. Manny is just ducking him in the sense that he can’t fight two guys in the same night. Manny is open to fight anybody. But I’m not gonna negotiate in the newspapers,” said Arum.

Then came the name everybody was waiting for: Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Arum had said that the undefeated American, whom he used to promote until they had a bitter falling out, can set a fight with Pacquiao if he drops his “delusional” thoughts of getting the bigger share of the purse.

“If he wants the fight he knows whom to call. He hates me and I hate him but it doesn’t really matter. Enough of the trash talk. If they want the fight they know whom to call. Period. Period,” Arum told the press.

“Don’t listen to Floyd Sr. who’s my friend but talks too much and don’t listen to the rest of them,” said Arum, who expects a call from Golden Boy’s Richard Schaefer anytime next week with regards to Mayweather’s stand.

“The world wants to see a (Pacquiao) fight with Mayweather. I want Mayweather. But if Floyd wants 65-35 (in his favor) he won’t get it,” said Roach.

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Arum, the great negotiator, then told the hottest trainer in boxing today not to worry because “we’ll not give him that offer.”

Edwin Valero, the sensational knockout artist from Venezuela, was also mentioned and like Mosley, may have shot himself on the foot. But whoever it is, Arum said Pacquiao will fight either in Nevada, Texas or Florida, but never in New York because of heavy taxes.

Arum said Valero, who’s been given the green light to fight in Texas after being banned to fight in any other part of the United States after failing a medical a few years ago, had his US visa cancelled due to drunk driving.

Arum said Valero claimed his visa was cancelled because he had a tattoo of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who is anti-US, on his body.

“He got caught for drunk driving after the Hatton fight and when he came back to the US they wouldn’t give him a visa. To compound the problem the idiot said it’s because he was wearing a Hugo Chavez tattoo on his chest. So, that makes two idiots from Venezuela.”

Arum’s remark drew laughter from the press, and then the Top Rank president said, “I’m 78 years old. I can say whatever I want to say.”

Jampacked crowds cheer historic win

2009-11-15T21:02:00.001-08:00

MANILA, Philippines - HBO boxing analyst Larry Mercant was overheard as saying how the streets of Manila would go crazy after the fight.

In fact, not only the streets of Manila but also at various venues all over the metropolis, particularly at the historic Araneta Coliseum where an estimated 15,000 fans, went on a frenzy right from the opening bell.

That scene would be replicated all over the country – from as far as down south in Manny Pacquiao’s hometown in Gen. Santos City to as far north as one of Pacquiao’s closest friends Gov. Chavit Singson’s province in Ilocos – as they all savored the Filipino icon’s historic victory over Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto.

“Walang katulad talaga si Manny (Manny is one of a kind). By becoming the first fighter to win seven titles in different divisions, Pacquiao is unquestionably the world’s best pound-for-pound boxer,” a fan who watched the fight at Mall of Asia said.

“Manny always makes us proud to be Filipinos,” said another Pacquiao supporter.

Over at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila, nearly 8,000 came as early as 6 a.m. to avail themselves of the free viewing and snacks, courtesy of Department of Energy and Natural Resources Secretary Lito Atienza, whom Pacquiao looks up to as father.

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When the end came in the 12th round, Atienza, wearing his usual printed polo shirt, jumped in joy to celebrate his friend’s victory.

Over at the nearby San Andres gym, Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim hosted the live telecast and treated his constituents to free lugaw (porridge).

Even the military took a break from their job after the Air Force men were allowed to watch the fight live at the Fernando Air Base in Lipa City, Batangas.

Nearly a thousand soldiers, with their respective families in tow, packed the hangar equipped with a wide screen theater and all went home happy and proud.

Pacman's magnificent seventh

2009-11-15T21:00:00.000-08:00

LAS VEGAS – On a cold Saturday evening, Manny Pacquiao put on the hottest performance of his life, winning an unprecedented seventh world title in different weight classes, and this time making sure that he’ll be remembered forever as the greatest of them all.

It was nine degrees outside when the 30-year-old Filipino superstar waged war against the bigger Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico at the MGM Grand. The fight looked one-sided even if it wasn’t, and in the end, after almost 12 rounds, Pacquiao was declared winner via technical knockout.

Referee Kenny Bayless stepped in and waved his hands to put an end to the fight, a bloody one for Cotto, when the 29-year-old underdog took a big left to the head and looked ready to fall for the third time, pinned on a neutral corner. The end came in the 55-second mark of the final round.

“Takbo siya ng takbo. Ako naman parang mabangis na tigre (He kept on running while I looked like a ferocious tiger,” said Pacquiao in the post-fight press conference, all dressed up, and ready to treat his fans to a mini-concert at Mandalay Bay.

Pacquiao wore a fedora hat because his head was bandaged to protect his right ear where blood was sucked and drained by experts to help ease the pressure. He had a swollen right hand after all the blows he landed on his opponent.

Cotto skipped the press conference because he was taken to the hospital for precautionary measures.

Bob Arum of Top Rank, the promoter of both fighters, welcomed Pacquiao to the packed press center, almost an hour after the fight, as the greatest boxer of all time. It was the same thing he said after Pacquiao knocked out Ricky Hatton last May.

But this time, Arum felt he needed to say it once more.

“I am now going on record to say that Manny Pacquiao is the best boxer I’ve ever seen and that include Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard or Marvin Hagler. I have never, ever seen anyone like him,” said Arum of the new WBO welterweight champion.

“He is the greatest of all time,” Arum added, and not one from among those who packed the ballroom could disagree.

Except for Pacquiao, perhaps, winner of world titles in the flyweight, super-bantamweight, featherweight, super-featherweight, lightweight and junior welterweight. No other fighter in boxing history has won as many crowns in different weight classes.

“I don’t want to compare myself to anybody. I don’t want to compare my achievements to their achievements. All I do is fight, try to win my fights, and bring honor to my country or make the fans happy,” he said.

“I’m just an ordinary fighter,” he said, and his trainer, Freddie Roach, cut him short.

“You’re not ordinary,” said Roach, whose eyes lit up, and said, “You’re the greatest of our era.”

By the time the bout ended, Cotto’s blue corner had turned red with all the blood that flowed from cuts, or gashes, over and under his eyes, his nose, and lips. He was bleeding as early as the fourth round, and after the fight should have checked if Pacquiao had brass knuckles on.

In the ninth round, Cotto, who left the MGM stripped of his WBO welterweight title, started spitting blood to the canvas. You knew he was ready to go, but just wouldn’t yet.

Cotto did land heavy shots of his own, and from ringside, just 10 feet away from the action, Pacquiao looked hurt at times. But he tried not to show it, and succeeded, because each time Cotto connected, he also had something to trade, whether it was as strong or even stronger.

Pacquiao knocked Cotto down for the first time in the fight with a right hook to the head in the 2:10 mark of the third round. But he failed to finish off his opponent, and again in the next round, with only 12 seconds left, a left uppercut sent the Puerto Rican down on the center of the ring.

At some points of the match Pacquiao stood in front of Cotto or did a rope-a-dope, just covering up. But it was not a very good idea because Cotto managed to sneak in strong, powerful punches that made the fight look even or that he was getting hurt.

Cotto brought his bicycle into the ring in the seventh round and stayed away from Pacquiao. He must have felt that going toe-to-toe with the reigning pound-for-pound champion is no longer an option, and the best he could do was stay out of trouble and hope to land the lucky punch.

In the eighth he almost did. With another left jab that had landed early on, Cotto sent Pacquiao’s head tilting backwards that the Filipino must have seen the overhead lights of the grand arena that was filled with more than 16,000 screaming fans, Filipinos, Puerto Ricans and of any other race.

But Pacquiao, the fighter, countered with his own good shots, and connected with a good combination before the bell sounded just near Cotto’s corner. There seemed to taunt each other after the bell, and it looked like the Puerto Rican was to walk to the wrong corner but retreated to his own.

Pacquiao dribbled Cotto’s face with punches early in the ninth round and again the fight appeared to be headed toward the end. Cotto was in serious trouble, and it was just a matter of time, before he either falls down for good or the fight is stopped.

Cotto’s corner was a very busy one at the end of the ninth, and Pacquiao looked so tired punching he sat slouched on his stool. The next two rounds were all for Pacquiao, and Cotto’s handlers must be ready to throw the towels all the same time.

During breaks, the doctor and the referee were observing Cotto if he could still carry on with the fight. But as gallant as he is, the native of Caguas in Puerto Rico kept on, still looking for that one lucky punch that could turn it around. But it never came.

Once or twice, Pacquiao looked frustrated that Cotto kept on running away, bouncing around the ring, just to stay alive. And Pacquiao seemed to have motioned to the referee if there was anything Bayless could do to ask Cotto to engage.

Before the start of the final round, both fighters touched gloves at the center of the ring. In Cotto’s mind, perhaps, is that he’s do anything, and may even jump out of the ring, to avoid being knocked out. In a way he did, because he was up on his feet when the fight was stopped.

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A little past seven, Cotto arrived at the fight arena, accompanied by his wife and kids and just a handful supporters. He hardly spoke to his companions and kept himself glued to whatever he was listening to on his Bose headphone.

Cotto was in smart casuals, wearing an embroidered long-sleeved shirt, and as tradition called for he went straight to the ringside section to watch the welterweight action between Alfonso Gomez and Jesus Sotto Karas.

It’s by tradition that Cotto, since he started his pro career in 2001, comes to the venue a little earlier to watch some of the action. It could be some sort of a psychological warm-up and only one other boxer shared that habit with him.

Larry Merchant, the ageless fight analyst, said that boxer is no less than Ali.

Pacquiao came in a few minutes later, with more family members and friends in tow. Still, there was his famous entourage which the fight commentators said make Pacquiao surroundings more like a circus the whole day.

On the giant screens inside the venue, as Yuri Foreman and Daniel Santos were trading heavy blows, Pacquiao was shown inside his dressing room, taking some instructions from his chief trainer.

Then the Filipino superstar was shown with his hands being wrapped by his cutman, Miguel Diaz, as someone who appeared to be a member of Team Cotto watched closely. He was smiling as usual.

By this time, Cotto’s hands were done, and the Puerto Rican was already in his fight uniform, shadow boxing inside his own hideout. He appeared to be in great shape. Later on, the hands of both boxers were checked and signed by the commission.

Richie Mepranum of Saranggani broke the ice for the Filipinos won a split decision over Ernie Marquez in their six-round, junior lightweight contest. Eden Sonsona followed suit, knocking out Eilon Kedem of New York in the second round of their bantamweight clash.

Notes: The gates to the arena opened at 3 o’clock, and shortly after came a steady flow of fight fans. Three hours later the opening bouts took place, and the arena, which could house 17,000 started to look like an entertainment center... It was packed an hour before the evening’s main bout started, The fans came in all shapes, color and style, but it was a big, beautiful, gorgeous crowd... Vehicular traffic was heavy in the streets surrounding the MGM, and inside the grand hotel, the sight of many memorable fights, human traffic was even heavier. It was a common sight, people looking for spare tickets to the fight, and willing to pay more.

Boxing: Pacquiao eyes megafight with Mayweather

2009-11-15T20:59:00.000-08:00

LAS VEGAS, Nevada : Manny Pacquiao hopes his stunning victory Saturday over Miguel Cotto will put him in line for a mega welterweight showdown against Floyd Mayweather in 2010.

Filipino southpaw Pacquiao showed he is ready to lead boxing's revival by taking Cotto's World Boxing Organization belt and claiming his seventh world title in seven different weight classes.

He scored a final-round technical knockout, putting the Puerto Rican champion down as the referee stopped the onslaught 55 seconds into the 12th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Under siege from mixed martial arts, boxing has seen its fan base shrink in the past few years.

With his stunning demolition of his last three opponents, Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton and now Cotto, Pacquiao has become the face of the sport even making the front page of the Asian edition of Time magazine this month.

What better way to showcase the sport's newest poster boy than to have a pound-for-pound showdown between Pacquiao and American Mayweather.

"That is the fight the whole world wants to see," said Paquiao's trainer Freddie Roach.

Asked after the Cotto fight if he wanted Mayweather next, Pacquiao said, "My job is to fight and it depends on promoter Bob Arum to negotiate that."

Pacquiao said earlier in the week he doesn't think Mayweather will step up to the plate and called him a boring boxer.

"Boxing for him is like a business. He doesn't care about people around him watching. He doesn't care if the fight is boring as long as the fight is finished and he gets his money," Pacquiao said.

Roach said even if Mayweather agrees to a deal, the fight won't take place at any cost.

"If Floyd wants a 65-35 (purse) split then he is not going to get it," Roach said.

Heading into the Cotto fight, Pacquiao looked relaxed all week even smiling and waving as he climbed into the ring.

Underdog Cotto was the more serious of the two knowing the odds were stacked against him and his best hope for a win was to be the aggressor and try to land his savage left hook.

Pacquiao's game plan against Cotto was to engage him from the opening bell try to land an early shot and take away the champion's confidence.

While he didn't stick to the script entirely, Pacquiao did what he had to do in the first round to figure out his opponent and then break him down with his superior hand speed and boxing skills.

Pacquiao's confidence increased after the third round when he realized he could take Cotto's punches without losing any steam. In the fifth, he switched from being the aggressor to counter-puncher, landing several hard blows as Cotto tried to spin away from exchanges.

"I couldn't see where the punches were coming from," a bloodied Cotto said in the ring before heading off to the hospital for x-rays and treatment of cuts and bruises.

When he didn't get the knockout he wanted in the sixth and seventh rounds, Pacquiao appeared to carry Cotto into the later rounds, hoping to catch him with a flurry in the final minute of a round that would finish the fight. Either that or he was hoping the referee would evoke the mercy rule.

Roach said all week he didn't think Cotto's corner would be able to make adjustments very well in the middle of the fight and there seemed to be confusion among Cotto's handlers about when, and if, to the stop the fight.

"I would have stopped the fight if I was his corner man," Roach said of Cotto's trainer Joe Santiago.

"Once he (Cotto) started running he gave up and he was looking for way out. I would have given him one. I wouldn't have let him take a beating."

- AFP /ls

Boxing: Pacquiao beats Cotto to claim WBO welterweight crown

2009-11-15T20:58:00.000-08:00

LAS VEGAS: Filipino Manny Pacquiao made history by becoming the first fighter to win seven world titles in as many weight classes with a stunning 12th round technical knockout of Miguel Cotto.

Pacquiao looked unstoppable for the third consecutive fight, knocking Cotto down twice in the early rounds on Saturday before putting the finishing touches on in the 12th round to claim Cotto's World Boxing Organization welterweight title.

The Filipino dominated from the second round on, putting on a stunning display of boxing skills and laying a savage beating on the champion at the MGM Grand hotel and casino.

Referee Kenny Bayless finally stopped the slaughter 55 seconds into the final round with Cotto unable to defend himself from Pacquiao's lightning quick combinations.

"I tried my best to knock him out," Pacquiao said. "I thought in 11th round they would stop the fight. I am surprise he continued to fight."

Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs) solidified his status as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

He also looked unstoppable in his two previous victories, dominating Oscar De La Hoya in December 2008 before destroying Ricky Hatton in just two rounds in May.

This was only his second fight as a welterweight as he is now being lined up for a blockbuster fight against American Floyd Mayweather.

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"Everybody was saying he was bigger and stronger than me so I wanted to try and test his power," Pacquiao said.

Pacquiao opened slowly in the opening round before switching to his up tempo style in the second and then knocking Cotto down for the first time in the third.

In the next round Pacquiao scored another knockdown, this time sending Cotto sprawling across the centre of the ring by landing a left hook.

"I fought everybody and Manny is one of the best all time," said Cotto, who suffered just the second loss of his brilliant career. "He jabs and throws. I didn't know from where the punches were coming and I didn't protect myself from the punches."

- AFP/sc

MANNY GETS 7 OF 7

2009-11-15T20:56:00.001-08:00

LAS VEGAS - Manny Pacquiao knocked down Miguel Cotto twice and turned his face into a bloody mess before finally stopping him 55 seconds into the 12th round Saturday to win his seventh title in seven weight classes.

The Filipino star used his blazing speed and power from both hands to cement his stature as the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world.

"The Manny Pacquiao Blog". Click here for stories and updates on the Filipino boxing champ.

Cotto took such a beating that his face was a river of red from the fury of Pacquiao’s punches but he refused to quit even as his corner tried to throw in the towel after the 11th round.

The fight was billed as a 145-pound classic, and in the early rounds it didn’t disappoint. The two went after each other with a vengeance and Cotto more than held his own as they traded punches in the center of the ring.

Pacquiao dropped Cotto with a right hand early in the third round, but he wasn’t badly hurt and came back to finish the round strong. But after Pacquiao put Cotto on the
canvas with a big left hand as Cotto was advancing forward late in the fourth round, the Puerto Rican was never the same again.

“Our plan was not to hurry but to take our time,” Pacquiao said. “It was a hard fight tonight and I needed time to test his power.”

Cotto fought gamely but in the later rounds he was just trying to survive as blood flowed down his face and Pacquiao kept coming after him relentlessly. In the 12th, Cotto went back out to take even more punishment before a final flurry along the ropes prompted referee Kenny Bayless to stop the fight.

Cotto’s face was swollen, blood was flowing from his nose and his cuts, and he simply couldn’t stop Pacquiao from bouncing inside and throwing both hands at will.

“I didn’t know from where the punches were coming,” Cotto said. “Manny Pacquiao is one of the best boxers I ever fought.”

Pacquiao, coming off spectacular wins over Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton, added another one against Cotto, who had lost only once and held the WBO version of the welterweight title.

Pacquiao did it in trademark fashion, throwing punches in flurries and from all angles until Cotto began to slow down and then pursuing him relentlessly until the fight finally ended.

The fight will likely set up an even bigger fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr., and many in the capacity crowd at the MGM Grand arena began chanting “We want Floyd! We want Floyd” after the fight ended.

“I want to see him fight Mayweather,” trainer Freddie Roach said.

Mayweather may have second thoughts after Pacquiao did what no other fighter has done before and win a belt in a seventh weight class.

More impressive, though, is how he has fought, dismantling opponents despite moving up consistently in weight.

The welterweight ranks will be the last ones Pacquiao conquers, though. He said he will not move up any more in weight.

History

“This is the last weight division for me,” Pacquiao said. “It’s history for me and more importantly a Filipino did it.”

Pacquiao was credited with landing almost twice as many punches - 336-172 - as Cotto. He earned a minimum $13 million for the win, while Cotto got $7 million Pacquiao was favored, largely off his last two performances in which he forced De La Hoya to quit on his stool and then knocked out Hatton with a huge left hook in the second round.

Back home, President Arroyo enjoined the public to emulate the grit and determination to win against any odds shown by boxing champion Manny Pacquiao who triumphed against Puerto Rican fighter Miguel Cotto Saturday in Las Vegas (Sunday Manila time).

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Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said the President was unable to watch the boxing match due to tight schedules at the Asia Pacific Economic Conference in Singapore, but she joins all Filipinos and supporters of Pacquiao worldwide in celebrating his victory.

“Once again, Filipino grit and determination triumphed over great odds. May this serve as inspiration to the entire Filipino nation especially the youth that there is no limit
to our capacity for success for as long as we work hard, put our hearts and focus our minds to achieve our goals,” Remonde said, quoting Arroyo.

She cited that Pacquiao trained long and hard for the fight, and imposed stringent self discipline, persevered, and “placed himself in the hands of God.”

“I hope we all learn from his example so that, together, we can also move forward as a nation,” she said. (AP/Sunnex)

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on November 16, 2009.

Pacquiao vs Cotto: Fight Recap

2009-11-15T20:55:00.001-08:00

Pacquiao knocks out Cotto in 12th. Manny Pacquiao put on yet another dominating performance Saturday night, knocking down Miguel Cotto twice in the first four rounds and turning his face into a bloody mess before finally stopping him 55 seconds into the 12th round.

Pacquiao used his blazing speed and power from both hands to win his seventh title in seven weight classes and cement his stature as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Cotto took such a beating that his face was a river of red from the fury of Pacquiao’s punches.

Pacquiao dropped Cotto with a right hand early in the third round, but he wasn’t badly hurt and came back to finish the round strong. But after Pacquiao put Cotto on the canvas with a big left hand as Cotto was advancing forward late in the fourth round, Cotto was never the same again.

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Cotto fought gamely but in the later rounds he was just trying to survive as blood flowed down his face and Pacquiao kept coming after him relentlessly.

Source: http://www.nierva.com/cotto-vs-pacquiao-fight-results-video/

Pacquiao batters Cotto for TKO win

2009-11-15T20:54:00.000-08:00

By Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports 2 hours, 17 minutes ago

LAS VEGAS – Manny Pacquiao staked his claim atop boxing’s mythical throne as the pound-for-pound best, using his lightning hand speed to beat and batter Miguel Cotto into submission Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Pacquiao knocked Cotto down once in the third round and again in the fourth, pummeled him repeatedly and easily lifted the World Boxing Organization welterweight belt from the Puerto Rican with a 12th-round stoppage. The time was 55 seconds into the final round, as referee Kenny Bayless leaped between the fighters to save Cotto a more savage beating and ignominious end.

Cotto came out strong and landed some hard punches, but Cotto couldn’t deal with the speed. Pacquiao was landing three shots for every two Cotto did early. After the knockdown in the fourth, Cotto’s offense was nonexistent as he spent most of the last two thirds of the fight fending off Pacquiao’s onslaught.

Cotto landed in single digits in power shots in every round from the fifth forward.

Pacquiao nearly had the stoppage after the 11th when Cotto trainer Joe Santiago walked onto the ring apron and waved his hand at Bayless.

It appeared he was going to stop the fight, but then Bayless and ringside physician James Game spoke and allowed it to continue. It was only extending the misery as Pacquiao poured it on in the 12th.

When the fight ended, the crowd began to chant, “We want Floyd!” It was a reference to Floyd Mayweather Jr., the other man with a claim to the top of the boxing pound-for-pound list.

Pacquiao, who has won championship belts in five divisions and beat the linear champion in two others, can no longer be knocked as a small man who was beating washed up fighters.

In Cotto, he took on an elite and powerful welterweight whose only loss came under suspicious circumstances to Antonio Margarito last year. There is suspicion that Margarito’s gloves were loaded for that fight, though it has never been proven.

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But Pacquiao proved he was able to not only take a welterweight punch, but rock him repeatedly. It was a magnificent performance and will create public demand for a fight with Mayweather.

“I want to see him fight Mayweather,” Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach said.

Santiago said Pacquiao hit harder and was stronger than expected. Cotto injured his left shoulder in the eighth.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/box/news?slug=ki-pacmanwins111409&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Pacquiao stops Cotto to win 7th title

2009-11-15T20:53:00.000-08:00

By TIM DAHLBERG, AP Boxing Writer 1 hour, 11 minutes ago

LAS VEGAS (AP)—Manny Pacquiao’s speed and power were way too much for Miguel Cotto’s heart.

Pacquiao put on yet another dominating performance Saturday night, knocking down Cotto twice and turning his face into a bloody mess before finally stopping him at 55 seconds of the 12th round.

The Filipino star used his blazing speed and power from both hands to win his seventh title in seven weight classes and cement his stature as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Cotto took such a beating that his face was a river of red from the fury of Pacquiao’s punches, but he refused to quit even as his corner tried to throw in the towel after the 11th round.

“I didn’t know from where the punches were coming,” Cotto said.

The fight was billed as a 145-pound classic, and in the early rounds it didn’t disappoint. The two went after each other with a vengeance and Cotto more than held his own as they traded punches in the center of the ring before a roaring sellout crowd at the MGM Grand arena.

Pacquiao dropped Cotto with a right hand early in the third round, but he wasn’t badly hurt and came back to finish the round strong. But after Pacquiao put Cotto on the canvas with a big left hand late in the fourth round, the Puerto Rican was never the same again.

Cotto won two rounds on the scorecards of two ringside judges and just one round on the card of the third. The Associated Press gave Cotto just the first round.

“Our plan was not to hurry, but to take our time,” Pacquiao said. “It was a hard fight tonight and I needed time to test his power.”

Cotto’s face was marked early and he was bleeding midway through the fight as Pacquiao kept bouncing around and throwing punches in his unorthodox southpaw style. He tried to keep taking the fight to Pacquiao, but by then his punches had lost their sting and his only real chance was to land a big punch from nowhere.

“He hit harder than we expected and he was a lot stronger than we expected,” Cotto’s trainer, Joe Santiago, said.

Cotto fought gamely, but in the later rounds he was just trying to survive as blood flowed down his face and Pacquiao came after him relentlessly. Santiago tried to stop the fight after the 11th round, but Cotto went back out to take even more punishment before a final flurry along the ropes prompted referee Kenny Bayless to end it.

Cotto’s wife and child, who were at ringside, left after the ninth round, unable to watch the beating any longer. They later accompanied him to a local hospital for a post-fight examination.

“My health comes first. I just want to make sure I’m fine, but I feel great. I’m swollen but that’s all,” Cotto said.

His face swollen, Cotto was bleeding from his nose and his cuts, and he simply couldn’t stop Pacquiao from bouncing inside and throwing both hands at will.

“Manny Pacquiao is one of the best boxers I ever fought,” Cotto said.

Pacquiao, coming off of spectacular wins over Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton, added another one against Cotto, who had lost only once and held the WBO version of the welterweight title.

Pacquiao did it in his trademark way, throwing punches in flurries and from all angles until Cotto began to slow down. Then he pursued him nonstop until the end.

The fight likely will set up an even bigger one against Floyd Mayweather Jr., and many in crowd were already chanting, “We want Floyd! We want Floyd.”

“I want to see him fight Mayweather,” trainer Freddie Roach said.

Mayweather may have second thoughts after Pacquiao did what no fighter has done before—win a belt in a seventh weight class. More impressive, though, is how he has fought, dismantling opponents despite moving up consistently from 106 pounds to the 144 he weighed for the fight.

The welterweight ranks will be the last ones Pacquiao conquers, though.

“This is the last weight division for me,” Pacquiao said. “It’s history for me and more importantly a Filipino did it.”

He was so dominant in the later rounds that Cotto was fighting backward most of the way, simply trying to survive. Pacquiao was credited with landing almost twice as many punches—336-172—as Cotto.

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“I knew when Cotto started backing up, the fight was over,” Roach said.

Pacquiao earned a minimum $13 million, while Cotto got $7 million.

Pacquiao was favored, largely off his last two performances in which he forced De La Hoya to quit on his stool and then knocked out Hatton with a huge left hook in the second round. Some in boxing, including Roach, thought Cotto had been slowed by his devastating loss last year to Antonio Margarito and would be further slowed by having to come in 2 pounds lower than his normal weight.

That wasn’t the case early in the fight, with Cotto winning the first round and fighting well. Once he was knocked down by a big left hand late in the fourth round, though, he slowed noticeably.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/box/news;_ylt=AuwUtBvdAtMeVK.vshQTjcedCIh4?slug=ap-pacquiao-cotto&prov=ap&type=lgns

Pacquiao stops Cotto in 12

2009-11-15T20:51:00.000-08:00

In an amazing, violent fight, Manny Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37 KOs) stopped WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto (34-1, 27 KOs) in round twelve to win another world title in an unprecedented seventh weight division on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Both fighters were on the attack from the opening bell. Pacman dropped Cotto with a right hook in round three. Cotto dominated round four, but was dropped by a left uppercut at the end of the round. Cotto fought courageously but was rocked again in the sixth by Pacman’s hurtful shots coming in from all angles. Cotto began to box from the outside in the seventh with some success. However, Pacquiao continued to stalk him and break him down. Cotto was in survival mode down the stretch. Referee Kenny Bayless finally waved in off in round twelve. Time was :55.

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Source: fightnews.com

Watch Manny Pacquiao vs Miguel Cotto Fight Replay

2009-11-14T23:51:00.000-08:00

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Manny Pacquiao vs Miguel Cotto Weigh-in @ FightFan.com!

2009-11-13T22:38:00.001-08:00

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Is Cotto past Margarito debacle?

2009-11-13T22:37:00.000-08:00

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"Firepower" Weigh-in Pics and Reuslts, Manny Pacquiao 144, Miguel Cotto 145

2009-11-13T22:35:00.000-08:00

(Photos by Al Bello/Getty Images)

Nov. 13, both Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto made weight for their 145 lb catch-weight title fight.

WBO welterweight Champion Miguel Cotto who will be putting his strap on the line, came in at a trim 145 lbs

Manny Pacquiao who will be the challenging for the WBO title came in at 144 lbs, the heaviest weight of his career.

This will be Manny Pacquiao’s 7th title shot at a 7th different weight class, if he wins he could make history as the first fighter to win 7 titles in 7 different weight divisions.

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The WBC diamond belt for catch-weights will also be on the line.

The boxing match will take place at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada. HBO pay per view will broadcast the event live! The pay per view event starts at 6pm PT.

Source: http://www.nowboxing.com/archives/4273#more-4273

Weigh-in Results from the MGM Grand Garden Arena

2009-11-13T22:33:00.000-08:00

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By Ed de la Vega, DDS
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 14 Nov 2009

Las Vegas, NV:- Top Rank held the weigh in for the gladiators fighting tomorrow at the MGM Grand Garden Arena moments ago.

Miguel Cotto, the Boricua from Puerto Rico came in right on the nose:- 145lbs. Pacquiao, the challenger was a pound less at 144 lbs.

The rest of the weigh results are as follows:

Troy Rowland -- 159lbs vs Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. -- 160lbs

Yuri Foreman -- 154 lbs vs Daniel Santos -- 154 lbs

Jesus Soto-Karass -- 147.5lbs vs Alfonso Gomez -- 146.5lbs

Martin Vierra -- 152lbs vs Rodrigo Garcia -- 150lbs

Eilon Kedem -- 119.5lbs vs Eden Sonsona -- 121lbs

Mustafah Johnson -- 158lbs vs Matt Korobov -- 160.5

Ernie Marquez -- 112lbs vs Richi Mepranum -- 112lbs

Lupe Guzman -- 134.5lbs vs Abner Cotto -- 133lbs

The event could have been “uneventful’ if not for the sharp verbal exchanges between Freddie Roach and Joe Santiago, Santiago said something that did not sink in too well with Roach and the Wildcard Gym master charged towards Santiago. But, as they go in these events, cooler heads prevailed and the two trainers were separated.

At this writing, we are still looking for people who heard what was said and as soon as we get to the meat of that exchange, we will post it in this site.

Source: http://philboxing.com/news/story-29618.html

Manny in fine shape; Cotto still struggling?

2009-11-13T22:30:00.000-08:00

LAS VEGAS – After a light workout and a hearty meal, Manny Pacquiao tipped the scales at 146 lb, and should have no problem, none at all, for Friday afternoon’s official weigh-in at the Grand Garden Arena of the MGM.

A group of scribes from Manila bumped into Pacquiao’s strength and conditioning coach, Alex Ariza, just outside The Noodle Shop of Mandalay Bay Thursday evening, and his big, round eyes gave away all the excitement in him.

“Perfect. Everything is perfect,” he said.

He was asked how much Pacquiao weighed on the eve of the Friday-the-13th weigh-in, and he responded by saying the reigning pound-for-pound champion was at 146 lb “after a meal” inside his $15,000-a-night suite.

Earlier, at the IBA Gym, where he trains when he’s in Vegas, Pacquiao said the weighing scale that he has inside his suite is as “accurate” as it can get. How much he weighs in there, is how much he’ll weigh at the MGM.

It only meant one thing: that Pacquiao is in perfect shape for the 145 lb contest, and that everything’s going on as planned, in that he can weigh in Friday at 145, or even a shade under, and climb the ring at 149 the next day.

Ariza said he doesn’t want Pacquiao to go over 150 for the fight because it could slow him down a bit.

Ariza said Pacquiao will go out for a brisk run in the morning, can have some fruits and a couple of hard-boiled eggs, and make it to the official weigh-in at 3 p.m. safe and sound, smiling as he’d done all camp long.

There were unconfirmed reports reaching Team Pacquiao Thursday that Miguel Cotto may be struggling with his weight, and that there were efforts to keep the temperature high inside the Top Rank Gym when he trains.

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“It’s a hundred degrees (37 degrees Celcius) inside the gym when he trains,” said a Pacquiao assistant.

But in Wednesday’s final press conference, the 29-year-old Cotto assured everyone that his weight is in check, contrary to insinuations he’s starving himself to death just to make weight.

Members of Team Pacquiao, however, have their own thoughts, and as Pacquiao wrapped up his last day at the gym Thursday, there was some discussion regarding the schedule of the official weigh-in.

Pacquiao’s adviser, Mike Koncz, assistant trainer Buboy Fernandez, and Ariza were overheard discussing the 3 p.m. weigh-in, when in the past, the fighters for the main event are weighed an hour earlier than that.

This should give the boxers a longer period to recuperate and replenish. But in this case, it seemed that the time was pushed an hour late to give Cotto extra time to reduce.

“Baka nahihirapan kunin ang timbang (Maybe he’s having difficulty making weight),” said Fernandez, adding that they don’t really mind tipping the scales at 3 p.m.

“Kahit alas-sinko pa kung gusto nila (If they want, we can do it at 5 p.m.),” he added.

If Cotto makes it, he has 24 hours to replenish, and based on previous reports, the WBO champion from Puerto Rico is planning to climb the ring at around 160 lb for the fight.

“Maganda yun sa kanya (That’s good for him),” said Fernandez.

“Tingnan natin (Let’s see).”

After TIME cover story: Pacman hot pick for SI top award

2009-11-13T22:28:00.001-08:00

LAS VEGAS – Manny Pacquiao, who just recently landed on the cover of TIME Magazine, is now a hot candidate for the Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year award.

The mother of all sports magazines will announce its choice for the 2009 award on Dec. 1 and it shouldn’t come a surprise if Pacquiao, now regarded as the face of boxing, nails it.

He’s been through tough fights and has beaten the toughest opponents, and for this month he landed on the cover of TIME Magazine, becoming only the first Filipino to do so after the late ex-president and icon of democracy, Corazon C. Aquino.

The November edition has turned out to be a best-seller, and this early, there were orders of a reprint of 50,000 copies.

In the SI’s November issue, there’s a six-page feature on Freddie Roach, the trainer, and Pacquiao, the boxer. And Chris Mannix of SI had just placed the name of Pacquiao in the box of nominees.

“If Manny Pacquiao didn’t win a single fight in 2009, he would still be a viable candidate for SI’s Sportsman of the Year. If Pacquiao had not put down once-beaten Ricky Hatton in a stunning second-round knockout last May, he would undoubtedly warrant consideration. If Pacquiao hadn’t cemented his status as the world’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter this year, I would still be touting his candidacy,” Mannix wrote.

“Why? Because Sportsman, by my definition, is about more than just a superior performance. It’s about contributions, to both sports and the world. And in that regard, Pacquiao has no peers. A commonly used cliché in sports journalism is that Pacquiao “fights with the weight of the world on his shoulders.” A little hyperbolic, certainly, but in Pacquiao’s case, it rings true. In the Philippines, Pacquiao borders on deity.

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“He’s an athlete and a rock star, an actor and a politician. He’s Derek Jeter, Jon Bon Jovi, John Travolta and John F. Kennedy rolled into one. His popularity stems from his athletic accomplishments; the Filipino army, in which Pacquiao is a reserve, routinely declares a temporary truce (P-Day, they call it) with insurgents on days Pacquiao fights. But Pacquiao’s impact extends even deeper into the culture,” he added.

Words are not really enough to describe Pacquiao, and his great accomplishments on and off the ring.

But in this case, they may be enough to land him as the top choice for 2009, regardless of what happens this coming Saturday at the MGM.

Manny won't ease up on gym workout

2009-11-13T22:27:00.000-08:00

LAS VEGAS – Even on his last day at the gym, just 48 hours before his anticipated showdown with Miguel Cotto, there’s still no stopping Manny Pacquiao.

The boxer who trains like no other just wouldn’t heed orders for him to call it a day. He refused to take his gloves off when his conditioning coach tried to, and said he wanted more.

Pacquiao pounded the mitts for four rounds with Freddie Roach. It was supposed to be a light workout, one where they were supposed to just go through the motions, but to him it’s not.

Late in the fourth round, Pacquiao threw a booming right hook that sent one of the mitts flying.

“That’s it,” said Freddie, taking the other one off and tossing it toward his corner.

“I quit,” said the trainer. Then he smiled at Pacquiao.

“Sorry, Manny I have to take them (gloves) off,” said Alex Ariza, the conditioning coach, as he approached the 30-year-old superstar.

“What?” Pacquiao protested, and with a little nod, Roach gave Ariza the go-signal to let him go.

Pacquiao got off the ring, and spent some minutes with the double-end bag as Michael Jackson’s music was played inside the gym where a few dozen of his friends and supporters were allowed in.

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Then he worked the speed ball and skipped ropes, after which he climbed the ring once more, shadow-boxed a little more, and did hundreds of crunches. This time, Roach was motioning to Ariza to cut it off.

“You’re done, Manny. You’re done. It’s beautiful. That’s it,” said Roach from outside of the ring.

“It’s like you’re in a horserace, and Manny is one of the horses. He keeps on moving and moving inside his gate, and when it opens, boom! and he’s gone,” said Ariza,

And when Pacquiao was all done, he tipped the scales.

A couple of his training assistants, including a new one, a hulking Brazilian with colorful tattooes on his arms all the way up to his neck and face, and looked like a wrestler, tried to shield Pacquiao from the media as he was on the scales.

“No photos, no photos,” said one.

However, there were moments when Pacquiao fooled around, and when he did, Roach could only smile.

“I like it when he does that especially since it’s our last day of training. I like it when he’s relaxed. I don’t want him getting bored,” said Roach. – Abac Cordero

Manila offers free Pacman viewing

2009-11-13T22:26:00.000-08:00

MANILA, Philippines - The Manila City government will again offer free showing of the Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto fight for city residents at various venues tomorrow.

Mayor Alfredo Lim has advised holders of tickets of the Pacquiao-Cotto fight to go to the site early to avoid inconvenience.

The venues are the Tondo Sports Complex (District 1), Patricia Sports Complex (District 2), Rasac covered court (District 3), Dapitan Sports Complex (District 4), San Andres Sports Complex (District 5) and the Teresa covered court (District 6).

Chief of staff Ricardo de Guzman and city administrator Jesus Mari Marzan have been tasked to coordinate with the distribution of tickets for city residents to watch the fight at any of the city’s sports complexes and covered courts.

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Lim said that each ticket, although bearing a specific venue, can be used in any of the city’s designated sites in each of the six districts on a first-come, first-served basis.

As in past free showing of Pacquiao’s fights, the city government will be shouldering the expenses for the live telecast of the match from the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas.

De Guzman has already coordinated with the police to augment the security marshals and ensure peace and order for the duration of the fight.

De Guzman also said that while ticket holders will be given priority in the admission, those without tickets may also be accommodated provided there would still be available seats. – Sandy Araneta

Pinoys in Puerto Rico unite for Pacman

2009-11-13T22:23:00.000-08:00

Bonn Aure
Contributor

LAJAS, Puerto RicoThe Philippines and Puerto Rico share a common history that diverged after their postcolonial period. Both were Spanish colonies handed to the United States after the signing of the Treaty of Paris on Dec. 10, 1898.

The Philippines went on to become an independent republic while Puerto Rico maintains its US commonwealth status, giving them a measure of autonomy but as an American protectorate.

"The Manny Pacquiao Blog". Click here for stories and updates on the Filipino boxing champ.

This shared history somehow created quite a similar passion for a lot of sporting events, notably cockfighting, basketball, and boxing. (Puerto Ricans love baseball too, a sport that has not taken a hold in the Philippines. The New York Yankee catcher Jorge Posada is from Santurce, Puerto Rico). It is in this light that the Pacquiao-Cotto
fight, La Pelea el Año, is the most-anticipated bout from fans across the islands of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

Like the Philippines, Puerto Rico is a global boxing powerhouse that ranks third in the number of world champions produced. Wilfredo Gomez, who beat Gabriel “Flash” Elorde twice in the 1960s when the Flash went up in weight, held the record for the most title defenses in the super bantamweight division and for the most successive knockouts by a titleholder.

Gomez, in an El Nuevo Dia interview, remembered Elorde as a “strong and hardhitting puncher” like Pacquiao although the latter is more aggressive and has a left-handed
stance. Gomez considered his 1964 visit to the Philippines as very good and maintained that he is enamored by the Filipinos’ sense of hospitality.

“If I were to be reborn as a boxer, I would move to the Philippines,” Gomez said in that interview.

For many Boricuas (as Puerto Ricans refer to themselves here), Cotto represents what is best of contemporary Puerto Rican boxing. Cotto is a boxing prodigy from the town of Caguas who won a silver medal in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

He began his professional career then at the age of 21. In 2004, he defeated Kelso Pinto to win the WBO junior welterweight division. He also held the WBA welterweight division before surrendering the belt to Antonio Margarito who knocked Cotto twice in the 11th round.

Cotto rebounded from the loss by capturing the vacant WBO welterweight belt after a lopsided victory over Michael Jennings who was pummeled in five rounds with Cotto’s signature left hook bombs.

Boxing pundits here however are well aware of Pacquiao’s advantage in this fight. Jorge Perez, a sports columnist of El Nuevo Dia, compares the Filipino boxer’s combination of velocity and power as hurricane-like and that if Pacquiao imposes his speed on Cotto and delivers a series of combinations every time he goes in, then
most likely he will win in a fashion similar to how Bernard Hopkins won against Tito Trinidad.

A boxing expert, Margaro Cruz of Puerto Rico, remarked that Pacquiao is a spectacular fighter.

“If Cotto does not come out 100 percent prepared for the fight then he will surely lose,” he said.

Even Hector Camacho, the legendary Puerto Rican fighter, said in the Manila Times interview that Pacquiao will stop Cotto because of the Filipino’s speed and unorthodox boxing style.

The Puerto Rican boxing fans however are sure of Cotto’s victory.

In El Nuevo Dia’s online poll of 20,863 respondents (as of Nov. 11), 86.8 percent believe that Miguel Cotto will win compared to a measly 13.2 going for Pacquiao.

In my personal interviews with Puerto Ricans, they all agree that Cotto has an advantage because he is bigger and got more power punches but Pacquiao is going to be a tough fight for him.

A boxing fan, Juan Romero, wrote to El Nuevo Dia saying that Cotto had defeated equally fast fighters like Paul Malignaggi, Zab Judah, and Shane Mosley, a master of the jab.

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He remarked that “Pacquiao has a hard time fighting aggressive punchers and is unable to fight when pressed. I think when he feels Cotto’s punches, he will have to go backwards. On the other hand, Pacquiao is underestimating Cotto and has had problems in training. I will bet on my countryman and am betting a case of beer.”

The megafight also brought to attention Filipinos living on the island. In the Nov. 8 issue of El Nuevo Dia, a story on the family of Edgar Guerzon, a biologist who married Francelin, a Puerto Rican microbiologist, occupied a two-page spread on the newspaper.

The news feature relates the couple’s love story and their opinion on the coming fight. Francelin, who hails from Dorado, is not a big boxing fan but she wants Cotto to win. Edgar, on the other hand, is a Pacquiao fan and has already taught their two-year old daughter, Gaby, to chant “Pacquiao!”

That story in El Nuevo Dia served as a venue for Filipino expats to connect with each other. After a series of e-mails with Edgar Guerzon, my family is set to join a Christmas party for the very few paisanos in Puerto Rico.

Meanwhile while Christmas is not yet around, we all will be glued to the TV on fight day. Like Edgar and Francelin, the outcome of the fight is not that important compared to the sense of solidarity that all Filipinos and Boricuas feel during the fight, and more importantly, the communitas that we all will share after the blood and gore is over.

The author is a professor of the University of San Carlos Sociology-Anthropology Department. He is currently in Lajas, Puerto Rico to study the Patas Monkeys.)

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on November 14, 2009.

Mendoza: Manny does not predict; I do the predicting

2009-11-13T22:22:00.001-08:00

Al S. Mendoza
All White

MANNY Pacquiao has never predicted the outcome of his fights.

“I will just do my best, and hope to win,” is his usual reply when asked about his chances.

Yet, in his last 20 fights since 2001, he was almost always installed the heavy favorite to win. By knockout.

"The Manny Pacquiao Blog". Click here for stories and updates on the Filipino boxing champ.

Only in his first fight against Marco Antonio Barrera in 2003 and in the first two bouts of his trilogy with Erik Morales in 2004 and 2005 was Pacquiao not picked to prevail.
Pacquiao knocked out Barrera in the 11th, and stopped Morales in 2006 twice in succession to more than avenge his 2005 loss on points in their first encounter.

The reason he refused to predict outcomes could be his innate humility. And his devotion to God.

“I always ask God to help me, protect me, when I fight,” he says time and again. “And I also pray that my opponent won’t get hurt by my punches.”

Yet, he has floored so many opponents (36) and has hurt so many of them--the last one being Ricky Hatton.

Only last May 2, lefty Pacquiao tagged Hatton in the jaw with a mighty left that decked the Briton cold in the second round.

It was a deathly scary blow as Hatton lay almost motionless on the canvas for quite some time before he was bodily carried to his corner.

In his fight against Miguel Cotto, the reigning WBO welterweight champ (147 lbs) at a catch weight 145 lbs, Pacquiao as usual has remained mum over which round he would knock out the Puerto Rican.

But not Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s American Hall of Fame trainer.

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“It could either be Round 1 or Round 3,” said Roach. “Otherwise, Round 9 should be it.”

Totally forgotten—intentional, as confidence is part of psy-war?—is Cotto’s impressive 34-1 record, 27 by knockout.

Oh, well, Pacquiao has become bigger than life, larger than reality, that it’d seem more of a suicide than anything now if you don’t pick him the winner yet again on Sunday (Saturday, Las Vegas time) at the MGM Grand Arena.

I am for Pacquiao if only to state the obvious.

But unlike Pacquiao, I predict outcomes of his fights.

And so, it will be Pacquiao.

By knockout.

(alsol47@yahoo.com)

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on November 14, 2009.

Weight Over: Cotto, Pacquiao Ready to Lock and Load

2009-11-13T22:09:00.000-08:00

By Jake Donovan

There was no need to pay by the pound, in the weigh-in to tomorrow night’s Vegas superfight between welterweight titlist Miguel Cotto and pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao.

Faced with the threat of having to pay a cool million for every pound over the 145 lb. catchweight limit, Cotto (34-1, 27KO) managed to keep his money in his pocket. The soft-spoken yet ferocious Puerto Rican weighed in at 145 on the nose, one pound heavier than Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37KO), who hit the scales at a career heaviest yet shredded 144 lb.

The bout tops tomorrow evening’s highly anticipated pay-per-view, which airs live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada (Saturday, HBO PPV, 9PM ET/6PM PT, $54.95).

Despite the compromised weight limit, the fight is still billed as a welterweight affair, with Cotto’s alphabet strap on the line. The bout will be the Puerto Rican’s first in Vegas since suffering the lone defeat of his career, an 11th round stoppage at the hands of Antonio Margarito in last summer’s thriller.

Cotto has since won two straight, including a 12-round gut check against Joshua Clottey at Madison Square Garden this past June. In that fight, Cotto suffered a potentially fight-ending gash over his eye, but fought bravely for more than nine rounds, closing strong to escape with a close and debated split decision victory.

There isn’t a fighter in the sport on a greater roll than Manny Pacquiao. Amidst his current 10-fight win streak have come title wins in three separate weight classes, including his two-round destruction of Ricky Hatton this past May. The win made the insanely popular Filipino the only fighter in boxing history to capture lineal world championships in four separate weight classes.

A win on Saturday allows Pacquiao to further add to the record books, as he will become the first fighter ever to capture a major title in seven weight classes.

Three televised preliminary bouts precede the pay-per-view main event. The only other major title bout of the evening will see two-time junior middleweight champ Daniel Santos defend against unbeaten Yuri Foreman.

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Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. moves up in weight, but not in competition, as he appears in the co-feature bout against Troy Rowland in a middleweight bout scheduled for ten rounds.

The one preliminary bout met with considerable anticipation is an expected welterweight shootout between former Contender star Alfonso Gomez and fringe contender Jesus Soto Karass. A regional title is at stake in their scheduled 10-round affair, though Soto Karass will have to sweat off ½ pound in order to be eligible to vie for the vacant strap. Gomez comfortably made weight, coming in at a surprisingly chiseled 145 ½ lb.

Top Rank Inc. serves as the sole promoter for the year’s most anticipated event, which saw an enormous turnout at the weigh-in, with both fighters well represented.

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of Boxingscene.com and an award-winning member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Contact Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com.

Source: http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=23444

James Lawton: Pacquiao can take final step towards clinching the most thrilling fight of all time

2009-11-13T22:07:00.000-08:00

It's rarely a hardship watching Brazilians play, wherever they cast up in their relentless globe-trotting. However, there has to be the suspicion as the sun rises here this morning, that whatever the world's greatest football nation produces tonight against Fabio Capello's England in the Khalifa Stadium, one might just be in the wrong desert.

Manny Pacquiao, who meets Puerto Rico's favourite fighting son Miguel Cotto in Nevada, creates the doubt because in the brilliance of his fighting and the force of his spirit he has made a compelling argument he is not just the most mesmerising performer in boxing, but all of sport.

This might prove a financial reality soon enough if, as expected, the Pacman engulfs the splendid Cotto and sets up with maximum fanfare potentially the fight of next year and possibly many others against the superb, if not easy to like, ring craftsman Floyd Mayweather Jnr.

Meanwhile, promoter Bob Arum argues that tonight's drama in the MGM Garden Arena has an integrity and a potential all of its own. Yes of course, he would say this.

It is also true that notwithstanding his distinguished service on the late Robert Kennedy's anti-mob investigating committee, Arum is notorious even in the cynical old vineyard of pugilism for his admission that some of his words need to be weighed more carefully than others.

When he was once told that his latest statement was in direct contradiction to one he made the day before, he shrugged and said, "Yesterday I was lying." But then if Arum, like most of his trade, can be cavalier with the truth when the challenge is selling tickets and pay-per-view buys, he is nobody's fool – and certainly far too intelligent to expose himself to an avalanche of post-fight mockery.

It is in this light that we should receive his claim that Pacquiao-Cotto might just prove the most eviscerating collision since the one at Caesar's Palace between Marvin Hagler and Tommy Hearns 24 years ago. "Yes," said Arum, "this fight could turn out the same way. If Cotto is aggressive enough, it could be Hagler-Hearns all over again."

Talk about loading up expectation. Hagler-Hearns may not have been the greatest fight any of us have ever seen – the verdict here would be that as an all-round test of nerve and will and ability, Hearns-Sugar Ray Leonard, four years earlier, was superior – but as a sensation, a firestorm, a shooting star burning its way across the desert sky it was, surely, unsurpassable in one lifetime.

The sight of Hearns leaning back against the ropes and pounding the head of Hagler repeatedly, and then the awesome refusal of Hagler to stop for a second in his relentless pursuit, is unforgettable for anyone who ever saw it. The great screenwriter and boxing aficionado Budd – On the Waterfront – Schulberg was a ringside companion and memorable too was his reaction to this onslaught on the senses.

"I never expected to see anything so intense outside of war," said the man who wrote the scene that had Marlon Brando, as the failed fighter, telling his corrupt brother, played by Rod Steiger, "I coulda been a contender."

When Arum talks of Pacquiao and Cotto walking in the steps of Hagler and Hearns he goes to the heart of boxing's most thrilling but sometimes most troubling appeal, the prospect of men going to their absolute limits.

How far did the beaten Hearns go? This is him on the desperate impulse that carried him so ferociously into a fight that would, and perhaps only could, go just three rounds: "Man, that was a night. I knew I had to go to my limit. I had to gamble. But when I lost the gamble I didn't have any regrets. I made an honest decision about my best chance of winning – and winning well.

"Maybe I should have stayed away from him [Hagler] more, used my reach, tried to outbox him. But I knew how strong he was, how he would keep coming at me and I decided I would go for him. I would hang out there, on the edge.

"I'd worked so hard for the fight. When I got into the ring, I didn't believe I could go 12 rounds with a fighter as strong as Hagler. I felt I had to get him out of there. I don't blame Manny [trainer Steward] - we had our rows but they were never about how good he was at his job.

"Manny tried to rein me in. Unfortunately, you cannot get your time back. If I could have done, I would have fought Hagler differently. I would have trusted my legs a little more, tried to fight my way through that feeling of tiredness. I would box him, use my reach, attempt to drive him crazy with frustration. That was always going to be the strategy. I'd fought the fight a thousand times in my head. But then the bell rings and you are in reality.

"People still tell me that was the greatest fight they ever saw, even though it went less than three rounds, and that they will remember it when they forget my other fights against such men as Sugar Ray Leonard and Wilfred Benitez and Roberto Duran, all great fighters. Me, I just wish I could have it again."

Boxing, of course, can never get enough of such fights, and maybe the yearning has never been greater in an era when someone like Manny Pacquiao emerges part hero, part saviour.

Tonight, certainly, he pursues rather more than Cotto's WBO welterweight crown. He seeks to confirm himself as boxing's best pound-for-pound fighter, and one of the champions of the ages.

It means, surely, that it is no insult to the beautiful game of Brazil, or the ambitions of the new England, to suggest that one desert wind may well blow somewhat forcefully into another at some point in the next 24 hours.

Is football finally rising above the diving game?

David Ngog's dive last week was on the face of it more bleak evidence of football's cynical tendency. However, there is maybe at least a little encouragement for the belief that growing nausea in the face of such behaviour is beginning to have some effect.

Certainly Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez, despite the growing extremity of his situation, implied strongly that the point saved against Birmingham had not exactly bestowed heroic status on the young player who had made it possible.

Jamie Carragher also suggested he might be having a word with the miscreant who had otherwise performed well under considerable pressure.

Such reaction goes against a tide which once seemed irresistible, a great weight of evidence that the imperative to win at all costs had become absolutely paramount. Also cause for optimism is reports that the football authorities have finally grasped that institutionalised cheating is something that can only be tolerated at long-term risk to the game's popularity, at least among those who remember that it is supposed to be about sport and not mass prejudice.

The Eduardo affair, which was resolved in so unsatisfactory a fashion in legal niceties, may have been something of a fiasco. But perhaps it did indeed trigger a little bit of thought and, who knows, a hint of conscience.

Relentless spectacles can ask too much of their showmen

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The tragic end of German goalkeeper Robert Enke on a railway line near Hanover reminds us that if professional sport is often a circus, some of the performers are at least as vulnerable as any of the inhabitants of what we choose to call real life.

In fact, when you think about the heightened dramas, the sudden highs and lows, the casualty rate in Enke's profession must be said to be remarkably low.

This, however, does not include all the private fears and suffering and the contributing extra stress in cases of mental illness, that go into maintaining a place in what we are maybe sometimes excused in thinking is nothing so much as an opulent playpen.

It is, anyway, perhaps another reason to nod our agreement that if the glory and the rewards of professional sport have never been so pronounced, nor has the clamour been so great. Enke's tragedy, obviously, could have happened in any walk of life. However, the need to always present a strong and invulnerable front might not have been quite so great if he hadn't been required to be constantly on show. It is at least maybe something to reflect on the next time the howls of derision come rolling in from the terraces.

Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/others/james-lawton-pacquiao-can-take-final-step-towards-clinching-the-most-thrilling-fight-of-all-time-1820453.html

Opinion: Miguel Cotto must survive Round One to stay Safe in the Game

2009-11-13T22:05:00.000-08:00

Published 4 hours ago by Leo Reyes

Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao will be relentless in his quest for his place in boxing history by knocking out his opponent in round one of his Firepower match with Miguel Cotto. The Puerto Rican boxer must survive round one to stay safe in the game.
Miguel Cotto must survive the first round of his 'Firepower' match with Manny Pacquiao to stay in the game. If the Puerto Rican boxer survives the initial assault of the pound-for-pound king, he will have a good fighting chance of prolonging the fight but he must find his mark in the succeeding rounds or Pacquiao will be relentless in his pursuit of his much-desired seventh win in different weight classes.

Round one is critical in the 'Firepower' match as it will dictate the tempo of the fight. Pacquiao needs a window to pursue his ambition to get rid of the Puerto Rican boxer in the first round as predicted by his trainer. Once he sees an opening, Pacquiao is expected to throw his punches in rapid succession while keeping his distance from Cotto.

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If Pacquiao fails to finish Cotto in round one, as many boxing fans believe he won't, his trainer and coach, Freddie Roach will have to activate Plan B which calls for a sustained attack on Cotto while the pound-for-pound king maintains safe distance from the Puerto Rican hard puncher.

Pacquiao is expected to dance around Cotto but will be watchful for a rare opening while Cotto is busy with his defences from the lightning speed of Pacquiao.
Pacquiao's fight plan calls for him to stay in the middle of the ring and avoid being trapped in the rope and corners of the ring. Cotto is expected to throw his dynamite power punch once he sees his target at close range. His much talked about power will send Pacquiao rolling on the canvas once he is hit by Cotto.

Round one is critical because it can make or break Pacquiao's dream of being placed in history books as the first boxer to win seven times in seven different weghts.
Pacquiao's chance of winning the fight in later rounds is lesser than a win in the first round or at least in the first four rounds of the fight while Cotto's chances are greater in the middle or later rounds.

The popular Filipino boxer will collide Saturday with WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto at the MGM Grand Garden arena in Las Vegas Nevada. Bob Arum of Top Rank Promotions is promoting the fight which will be shown on worldwide television and is available on pay-per-view.

Source: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/282080

Manny Pacquiao on a mission

2009-11-13T22:03:00.000-08:00

LAS VEGAS - Manny Pacquiao, or at least his image, is everywhere these days.

It’s on the cover of the Asian edition of Time magazine, a blow-up of which is on an easel in the corner of the press room at the MGM Grand as if it’s a work of art. Considering how difficult it has been in recent years to get a boxing article even in Time’s sister publication, Sports Illustrated, one can see why people think so.

He’s on the front page of the Sunday New York Times [NYT] sports section, which apparently rediscovered boxing existed this week after its sports editor took a public lambasting from HBO Boxing analyst Larry Merchant. The story makes Pacquiao sound like the savior of a nation.

He’s in The Wall Street Journal as the financial engine reviving the oft-buried but never quite dead fight game, and on the Jimmy Kimmel Show singing a ballad like the Filipino version of Andy Williams.

Oh, and tomorrow night, in case anyone forgets to mention it, he’ll be in the ring at the MGM Grand Garden Arena performing his real job - boxing better than anyone else in the world.

Pacquiao will be trying to win what, through the use of the kind of loose accounting practices that got the world economy into its present straits, is being billed as a record seventh world title. If Pacquiao does, he will have gone from a 112-pound flyweight title holder to a champion in a division 35 pounds heavier. He will also have fulfilled the expectations of most boxing experts, who feel his speed and power is intersecting with WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto’s physical decline in a perfectly concussive parabola.

Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37 KO) is a delightful fellow, an unusual blend of geniality outside the ring and ferocity in it. He never has a bad word to say about his opponents but that doesn’t dissuade him from brutally dismissing them with a powerful left hand and a sweeping right hook that is a relatively new addition to his arsenal.

Couple that with speed and a strong willingness to engage in hand-to-hand combat at the ringing of a bell, and you have the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world - and the most popular.

Yet his kind of popularity is a double edged sword.

While it has made him wealthy beyond any dreams he had when he ran away from a life of poverty in General Santos City at 14 after his father ate his dog, it has also brought great feelings of responsibility for his many countrymen still in desperate economic straits.

He has given away so much money his promoter, Bob Arum, says he may have to fight until he’s 50, while his trainer, Dedham native Freddie Roach, needs a full-time security detail at his Wild Card Gym in Hollywood during the weeks Pacquiao trains there because the crowds are so large they can’t get anything done otherwise.

“Manny’s a throwback,” Roach said. “He’s like a Henry Armstrong type. You don’t have fighters like that today that move up in weight like this to win championships in all these different weight divisions.

“He’s carrying his punch and his power with him along with his speed. He’s passing people like Sugar Ray Leonard, who was a six-time world champion. He’s on a level of the top five fighters of all time.”

Arum and HBO hope the magnitude of the challenge and Pacquiao’s popularity will drive pay-per-view sales over a million. Early indications hint they could approach 1.4 million, which was a record for a non-heavyweight fight until Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. did 2.4 million two years ago.

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Considering that only 25 fights in boxing history have done over a million buys, it would be a remarkable feat that harkens back to the climate for boxing 25 years ago, in the days of Leonard, Hearns, Hagler and Duran.

“Even Mike Tyson didn’t have the drawing power that Manny has right now,” Roach said. “The way Manny arrived the other day people were swarming to try and get a touch or a look at him.”

Tomorrow night, only one man will be trying to touch him, however, and it will be someone who couldn’t care less about his place in boxing history or in the eyes of his countrymen. The most popular fighter in the world hasn’t lost sight of that, which in his job is a good thing.

“This fight is a challenge,” Pacquiao said. “Cotto is a good fighter and a hard puncher. But I’m confident in my ability. I always believe in my power.”

Inside the ring or out, he’s earned the right to feel that way.

Source: bostonherald.com

Cotto's biggest disadvantage may reside in his corner

2009-11-13T22:02:00.000-08:00

In boxing, a fighter's relationship with his trainer, is either his biggest asset or greatest liability. The bond between the two can't be measured, but its effects can certainly be seen.

Juan Manuel Marquez developed into a three-division champion under a lifetime of guidance from Nacho Beristain. Wladimir Klitschko only emerged as boxing's top heavyweight after Emanuel Steward took over in his corner. And Manny Pacquiao, who has, perhaps, the most successful fighter-trainer relationship, has worked his way to the top of boxing's pound-for-pound rankings after eight years with Freddie Roach. Together, they've forged a bond that Steward says is "unlike any I have ever seen."
Miguel Cotto doesn't have that luxury, or anything remotely close to it. When Cotto steps into the ring to defend his WBO welterweight title against Pacquiao next month, the man dispensing the advice will be Joe Santiago, a longtime member of Cotto's team who will be making his second appearance as lead trainer. The Cotto-Santiago merger was a marriage of necessity: Last April, Cotto and his uncle, Evangelista, who had trained Cotto for the last 18 years, reportedly came to blows after Cotto fired him for refusing to move the training camp from Caguas, Puerto Rico, to Tampa Bay. The fight continued at Cotto's home, when Evangelista allegedly threw a brick at Cotto, which smashed through the window of champion's 2009 Jaguar.

"The trainers could be a factor," said Steward. "Going down the stretch in these types of fights, [the corner] could swing it. Having your longtime trainer there is definitely an advantage."

Trainer-less for the first time in his career, Cotto asked his promoter, Bob Arum, for a list of potential replacements. After reviewing the list, Cotto elected to go with Santiago, a longtime protégé of Evangelista who has played a variety of roles in his training over the past seven years.

"I think Miguel feels comfortable with Joe," said Arum. "You have to understand [my] position. As the promoters, we're not responsible for the fighter getting into shape. That's up to the fighter and his team. We went along with whatever they decided ... whether Santiago is the right trainer for him is hard to tell."

The uncertainty surrounding the choice stems from Santiago's shaky performance in Cotto's fight against Joshua Clottey last June. In the third round, an accidental head butt opened up a grotesque cut on Cotto's left eyelid. A more seasoned trainer might have lobbied for the fight to be stopped. But Santiago allowed the fight to continue and watched helplessly as a blinded Cotto absorbed a beating from Clottey. Only a late rally saved Cotto from an embarrassing and costly defeat.

"I think [dealing with the cut] was a very dicey moment," said Arum. "Miguel was winning the fight quite handily and the eye was severely cut. I don't think Joe made any mistakes. I don't know if any trainer would have handled it different."

Added Santiago, "There were really no mistakes about the way we wanted to do the fight. I think the strategy was fine. I have known [Cotto] for seven years and I know they had talked about bringing in well-known trainers, but I think the fact that I have known him a long time and he feels comfortable with me gave me an advantage over all those guys. I think it's just a question of getting everybody on the same page and I think we've done that."

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Those that argue that the change in trainers won't impact Cotto when he faces Pacquiao point to the estranged relationship between the fighter and his uncle. The problems between the two date back to 2007, when Cotto confronted Evangelista after he berated Cotto's brother, Jose, during Jose's world title fight against Prawet Singwancha. The confrontation was caught by the Telefutura cameras.

Because their relationship has been so bad for so long, the argument goes, Cotto has effectively been training himself.

"Cotto and his uncle were like a married couple that just grew apart," Steward told SI.com. "You could feel the distance between them. They went years barely speaking. And Cotto makes great adjustments on his own. When he fought Muhammad Abdullaev [in 2005], I was amazed at how he got on his toes and boxed beautifully. And against Zab Judah [in 2007], he got very physical. He's just an adaptable and adjustable guy."
Still, both Arum and Steward agree that in a fight that is predicted to be as closely contested as Cotto-Pacquiao, having an experienced and familiar voice in your corner is a tremendous advantage.

"Chemistry between the trainer and fighter is very important," said Arum. "Manny and Freddie are a finely tuned team. That doesn't mean that Joe can't do a good job for Miguel, but in the nitty gritty, I'd like to have Freddie."

Source: sportsillustrated.cnn.com

No Excuses, Says Roach

2009-11-13T22:00:00.000-08:00

After the IRS imposed exile to Baguio, followed by the malaise of Manila, trainer Freddie Roach was satisfied with where his charge, Manny Pacquiao, was- physically and mentally- as they headed down the home stretch of their training camp at their familiar haunts of the Wild Card Boxing Club, last week. This Saturday night, they face WBO welterweight champion, Miguel Cotto, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, in the years most anticipated event.

"Manny told me,’I’m back’," said Roach, last Thursday afternoon, one of their last days in Hollywood before they took off for Las Vegas."He’s back, no problem, at all. Focus is there, the conditioning was never a problem. We worked everyday. Baguio, Manila, wherever we were. We never missed a day of working out and running and so forth. So we got back here, his running has been really great, boxing’s been really good. He sparred eight rounds the other day, looked really good, 100-percent."

On this afternoon, Pacquiao went through six rounds of sparring( three each with Urbano Antillon and Ray Beltran) before finishing off his days work with an energetic session on the heavy-bag and a few rounds on the double-end bag, jumping rope and then shadow-boxing. His workout took approximately three hours and it was marked by Filipino’s trademark energy and enthusiasm. For all that surrounds ’Planet Pacquiao’, nobody works harder in the gym then he does.

"My training camp for this fight is good," said ’the Pac Man’ after his days work."We’re doing great and we work hard for this fight." He added," I feel strong, I feel strong enough for a 12-round fight."

Their last week in Hollywood was hectic, as it included an appearance on ’the Jimmy Kimmel Show’ and a media day at the Wild Card. But Roach says that these obligations do not overload his fighter.

" Jimmy Kimmel, we filmed that at like 5:30 in the afternoon. So it wasn’t really late day. It loosened him up a little bit because he likes the singing part of it. Media day, is actually like a day off because we don’t really show that much, just give you guys a taste of what we’re up to because the whole workout would be impossible with as many people that came to the gym," said the well-regarded trainer."Yesterday, we ran him really hard in the morning on the track and then we just went four rounds on the mitts, a couple on the speed-bag and on the rope, stuff like that. The mitt day before was 16 rounds, straight."

Pacquiao said of his appearance on the late night ABC talk show,"It was very fun. I was very happy for that show. It was funny, I sing one song."

There is always the lingering question of whether Pacquiao is distracted or not. It’s become a permanent storyline of any fight he participates in. But Roach, says with a grin,"Y’know what? We like drama. We have enough in our lifetime that we must like it. Otherwise, we would change things. We’ve always had problems, there’s always something going in Camp Pacquiao."

The large focus of this camp has been the on-going animosity between strength-and-conditioning coach, Alex Ariza, and adviser Mike Koncz, who had a well-documented physical altercation while in the Philippines. Roach laughs this off as being a non-issue. The trainer has been through it all with Pacquiao. From when he was getting fleeced by Murad Muhammad or the multitude of fans that swarmed the gym on a daily basis before the first match-up with Erik Morales.

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Those were real distractions that hindered his focus. The extra-curricular stuff he’s now involved in? To him, it’s a necessary diversion.

"He enjoys it, he thrives on it," Roach stated."He thrives off it, it’s a challenge. People say he can’t do it. It’s just like after the fight, he’s in concert at the Mandalay Bay."

Win, lose or draw on Saturday night, there will be no alibi’s from them.

" No excuses for this fight," said Pacquiao."I’m ready to fight and I will do my best."

Roach echoes those thoughts," No excuses, 100-percent. No excuses."

COTTO

So what are Pacquiao’s thoughts on his upcoming foe?

"Everyone knows he’s bigger than me, he’s stronger. I know he hits hard but I’m very confident in myself and my speed, my power."

But Roach wonders if Cotto is irrevocably damaged following his loss to Antonio Margarito last year.

"To be quite honest, studying his tapes, he was a very good fighter early in his career but he’s not the same guy after the beating he took with Margarito. I don’t think he has his confidence back, his defense seemed to be poor in the Clottey fight and he was very slow," he opined."I think everyone reacts differently on the first knockout loss, some people never get over it, some people get over it quickly. They say, ’Well, Manny should be the one shot because he got KO’d twice.’ But yeah, that was 20 years ago. We’re obviously gotten over that. So he’s one of those guys who can get over it.

"Can Cotto get over his KO loss? I don’t think so. He hasn’t shown it, yet."

BUZZ

Judging by the reaction the two fighters received on Tuesday afternoon at the MGM Grand, there’s no doubt that ’Firepower’ is building a lot of momentum. I’m told it was the biggest reception ever for a promotion.

One way you can gauge just how well an event will do is to see just how many fans show up to the weigh-in( which takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena at 3:00 on Friday afternoon, with the main event fighters getting on the scale at 3:10). I expect to see a raucous crowd there.

Just a hunch, but I think this fight will exceed one million pay-per-view buys, and perhaps even rival what the Pacquiao-De La Hoya fight did last year( which did right around 1.4 million.)

Source: maxboxing.com

No Anxiety - Cotto already at 144

2009-11-13T21:58:00.000-08:00

LAS VEGAS - A lengthy training of over 12 weeks that included 130 rounds of sparring, two months of their barracks in Tampa and another 12 days of intense work in this city, ended yesterday.

"I feel very happy and satisfied with their work. I am in top condition and now what remains is to relax and wait for Saturday, "a relaxed Miguel Cotto to speak to the press after finishing the training at the Top Rank gym, which for an hour and a half did work floor and several rounds of gauntlets.

"We're comfortable, and the weight is fine. There is anxiety, the anxiety begins moments before climbing into the ring, meanwhile still normal. Tomorrow (today) we will run if necessary, "said Cotto, who left the gym at 144 pounds, below the maximum weight of 145 pounds that make today will have both fighters weighed in will be at 3:00 pm (7:00 pm ET, Puerto Rico), at the MGM Grand Garden Arena and will be open to the public.

The WBO welterweight champion vowed that tomorrow will see a Miguel Cotto better than we have seen before. We know who leads Pacquiao in force, we who have fought in this division for three years and we know also that he excels in speed and we have prepared for it with great defense, with many lateral movements. I'm ready for my fight, no matter what pattern Pacquiao fight will do. We'll see if he was prepared for what Miguel Cotto brings.

At home in Las Vegas

Cotto said he has been very beneficial to get to Las Vegas on November 1, two weeks before the fight, when his habit was to arrive a week earlier.

"Make a difference, we are used to the schedule. The four-hour time difference makes a dent, most of us athletes. And we acclimated to the schedule, the low-rise city of Las Vegas and we feel good. "

Yesterday, Cotto was back in the betting at a rate of two and a half to one, but that does not lose sleep at boricua. Nor is his promoter Bob Arum that he referred to as an icon Pacquiao and him as a great fighter.

"I know nothing about gambling or interest me. Whether or not the favorite does not add anything extra. I'm not here to become an 'icon' or the best pound for pound. I am here to do what I do, make my money, go with health and enjoy what I did with sacrifice and sweat through all these years, "said the boxer, who trained in the presence of his mother, his wife and three children.

"My children are the main reason for what I do every day and are here to support me full of happiness and it helps to distract me and spend the better days and happy," said Cotto who lost no time to kiss and smile at their children within minutes of rest between training.

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Meanwhile, Coach Joe Santiago, expressed his dissatisfaction with the time of weighing, which will be at 3:00 pm Las Vegas.

"Every boxer weighing wait that long to bother him. It must have been earlier but this is something we have to work and Miguel will weigh eaten (without starving). Before weighing decide if for some light exercise.

Evangelist in mind

On the other hand, Santiago thanked the expressions of Evangelista Cotto, who backed him in a recent interview.

"I expected nothing less from Mr. Evangelista Cotto. Everyone knows it was my teacher and although he is in Puerto Rico, my heart and I still appreciate. One gives you more confidence to have the support of those who have been their teachers, "said Santiago.

The fledgling 32-year coach said recently over a week spoke with Evangelista, who supplanted as head at the corner of Cotto from the bout against Joshua Clottey last June.

"We talked about boxing, but do not talk about Miguel Cotto or this fight. I am the 'matchmaker' promotions Miguel Cotto and discussed plans to continue with other boxers in the business. "

Source: especiales.elnuevodia.com

Roach goes from 'coach' to 'master'

2009-11-13T21:57:00.000-08:00

There would have never been a Karate Kid if Mr. Miyagi didn’t show Daniel Son how to “wax on, wax off.” It took the Zen Master, Phil Jackson, to understand and accelerate the undeniable talents of Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls and mold the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant en route to claiming nine NBA championships in 18 seasons as a coach.

And then there’s “Master” Freddie Roach.

There’s a reason why Manny Pacquiao calls Roach his “master.” With Roach calling the shots in Manny’s corner, the Pac Man has amassed a record of 17-1-2 while wreaking havoc and earning titles from featherweight to light welterweight. It’s difficult to not crown the Pac Man as the current king of boxing. It makes it even more difficult to not call Freddie Roach the best trainer on the planet.

Roach has transformed Pacquiao from a one punch wrecking machine into a multi-faceted monster that no fighter seems to have an answer for. Ask Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera what it’s like to be on the wrong end of a Pacquiao blitzkrieg.

On Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden, “Master” Roach prepares Pacquiao for what looks to be an all out firefight with true welterweight Miguel Cotto. If Pacquiao comes out on top – as Roach predicts – the Pac Man will add yet another championship in a record seventh weight class.

Roach sat down to discuss what makes his relationship with Pacquiao unique and why his fighter will make Miguel Cotto quit.

Roach provides the guidance figure that Pacquiao needs. There’s a special relationship between the two that only Roach and Pacquiao truly understand. Roach keeps his fighter grounded and focused at the task at hand – no matter what else is going on around Pacquiao.

Prime example would be Pacquiao’s love for his Filipino countrymen. What Pacquiao represents to his homeland is a glimmer of hope. He is the biggest star by far in the Phillipines and the weight of his country lands squarely on Pac Man’s shoulders. When the devastating typhoons hit his native Phillipines, Pacquiao was stretched thin between his country and preparing for what could be the biggest fight of his career. Roach understands the balance but does his job to keep things in perspective for Pacquiao.

“I’m honest with him,” Roach explains when having to pull his fighter away from being a public figure and turning him back into the boxer that means the world to his country. “His focus in Manilla sucked. We had a long talk about it and he apologized to me. The second day in LA during workouts he said ‘I’m back!’ and I know Manny he’ll get back on track. Manilla wasn’t the greatest. It was rough to be around death. He knows his countrymen need something to lift them up and a win will do that. He likes that pressure and he will perform for them.”

Roach says that Pacquiao understands him and knows that Roach has his Pacquiao’s best interests at heart. Once away from the distractions of the Philippines, Roach states that Pacquiao has focused totally on the upcoming fight and is easily in the best shape of his career. That is the way he is going to have to come in when fighting Cotto if he wants to bring another victory home to his countrymen.

Interestingly enough, Roach doesn’t see this fight panning out much different than the destruction of Ricky Hatton. If you recall, Pacquiao obliterated Hatton with a left hook that separated his body from his spirit. To make things even more interesting, Roach explains that, at this point in his career, Cotto is not much better than Ricky Hatton.

“I think he was (better than Hatton) but what I saw in the (Joshua) Clottey fight, no,” Roach explains. FightNews asked Roach if he was at all impressed with Cotto’s gutsy win against Clottey.

“No,” Roach flatly stated. “He got hit too much. He holds his hands up high and drops them when he’s ready to throw. He got hit with a lot of punches down the middle and uppercuts. He makes a lot of mistakes and he hasn’t corrected them.”

Roach has paid very close attention to Cotto before and after the Margarito beating. Regardless of what Cotto says, Roach believes that the Puerto Rican still has yet to recover mentally from the brutal stoppage.

“It takes a lot to get over a loss like that. But he just hasn’t gotten over it yet. He’s going in the right direction though,” Roach explains. “The first fight back he didn’t look that good. The second fight he looked a little better and that’s why in the first round of this fight we’re going to have Manny make a statement. We’re not going to allow him to gain momentum. If you let him get momentum, he’ll get stronger. We’re going to start quick. That’s our game anyway, we always start quick.”

While it’s Pac Man’s job to step into the ring and put his physical abilities on display, Roach’s job is to prepare his fighter for what his opponent may throw at Pacquiao. Roach doesn’t believe that Cotto has the skill set and the mentality to put together a game plan that will give Pacquiao problems.

“Either he’s going to use his strength and come forward to show us he’s the bigger and stronger guy or he’s going to try and become Juan Manuel Marquez like a lot of people try to do because he gave us trouble being a counterpuncher,” Roach explains as if he’s seen this strategy before when other fighters attempt to dethrone Pac Man as the king of boxing. “You can’t become somebody else in an eight week period. I’m ready for whatever he brings. We have the perfect game plan.”

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As for Cotto’s game plan, Roach made a statement during HBO’s 24/7 show that he doesn’t believe Cotto’s corner has the experience to help his fighter adjust after he gets smacked with the brutal reality that Manny is stronger and faster than he. When FightNews asked Roach if he feels Cotto and his corner will be able to make any adjustments during the fight, Roach quipped back with a resounding “No.”

“Once he gets hit, he’ll go back to what he knows. Our job is to keep the fight in the middle of the ring,” Roach says confidently. He truly believes that Cotto’s trainer Joe Santiago won’t be of any help as the fight progresses. With that being said, the combination of an inexperienced corner and a shell shocked fighter makes for the perfect opponent for Pacquiao to impose his will upon.

“I think at one time Cotto made adjustments but since the Margarito fight he hasn’t been the same. I’ve been studying tapes before and after the Margarito fight and he’s a different fighter now. When he fought Mosley and others he made adjustments but his last two fights he hasn’t shown that,” Roach said.

And then Roach peers through his spectacles and makes a statement that lingers in the air as surrounding media stare in amazement at the supreme confidence that Roach has in his fighter.

“I honestly don’t think we’re going to knock him out,” Roach says. “We’re going to make him quit.”

To make a fighter quit is far more than a devastating punch that knocks a fighter out cold. It is far worse than beating a fighter until a referee steps in to save a courageous fighter from harm. Making a fighter quit is the ultimate statement. It simply means that the fighter’s will has been broken and, with no other way out, simply reverts to the Roberto Duran’s statement against Sugar Ray Leonard with 15 seconds left in the eighth round of their 1980 bout.

“No Mas.”

To say that Pacquiao will do that to Cotto is the ultimate statement. And if Pacquiao is able to demolish Cotto as he has his past few opponents, it should put him in line for a monster clash with Floyd Mayweather Jr. If that fight were to happen, Roach says that he would like it to be his last fight.

“I’d personally like to see him fight Mayweather and be done,” Roach says when talking about the future. But the problem with making the fight lies in the money. Ultimately, if the fight were to never happen, Pacquiao wouldn’t be hung up by any means.

“He doesn’t care about (the Mayweather fight). Whoever comes next, he’ll fight. He doesn’t care.”

The only thing he does care about is his homeland. As long as he is giving back, Pacquiao will remain pleased.

“He loves the big stage and he loves to make them happy. That’s his drive,” Roach says.

And truthfully, that’s the only thing that matters.

Source: fightnewsextra.com

Weights from Las VegasWeights from Las Vegas

2009-11-13T21:55:00.000-08:00

Manny Pacquiao 144 vs Miguel Cotto 145
(WBO welterweight championship/WBC Diamond belt)
Alfonso Gomez 145.5 vs Jesus Soto-Karass 148**
Matt Korobov 160.5 vs James Winchester 158
Eden Sonsona? 121 vs Eilon Kedem 119.5
Abner Cotto 133 vs Lupe Guzman 134.5
Ernie Marquez 112 vs Richie Mepranum 113.5
Rodrigo Garcia 150 vs Martin Guerra 152
**Soto-Karass stripped down naked and reweighed at 147.5. Has to lose 1/2 pound.

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Source: fightnews.com

Photos: Pacquiao and Cotto Face to Face in Vegas

2009-11-12T20:51:00.000-08:00

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Las Vegas, Nevada --- (L-R) Six-time world champion pound-for-pound king Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao,General Santos,Philippines and three-time world champion and the pride of Puerto Rico Miguel Cotto, Caguas, Puerto Rico pose during the final press conference for their upcoming "FIREPOWER" World Welterweight championship fight. Pacquiao vs Cotto is promoted by Top Rank, in association with MP Promotions,Cotto Promotions,MGM Grand and Tecate, will take place, Saturday,November 14 at the sold out MGM Grand in Las Vegas and will be available live on HBO Pay Per View. --- Photo Credits : Chris Farina/Top Rank

Source: boxingscene.com

Pacquiao vs Cotto: Final Press Conference - Las Vegas

2009-11-12T20:48:00.000-08:00

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Pacman wields power, speed; Cotto unfazed

2009-11-12T20:46:00.000-08:00

LAS VEGAS – Miguel Cotto has the power but not the speed. Manny Pacquiao, the pound-for-pound champion, has both.

In Wednesday’s final press conference, the media had a field day at the Hollywood Theater of the MGM Grand, and threw so many questions that both boxers almost ran out of words to say.

Cotto, the WBO weltwerweight champion, spent lesser time with the media. It was Pacquiao, the challenger from the Philippines, who took most of their time, gamely fielding questions regarding boxing, politics and his dog.

Pacquiao referred to his speed, and his power as well, as the key to the fight, set this Saturday at the MGM. ( Related stories P22, A-34)

He said moving up in weight, as a champion in the flyweight, super-bantamweight, featherweight, super-featherweight, lightweight and junior welterweight divisions, wasn’t much of a problem because all along he was able to maintain his speed.

“I started at 105 pounds but now my speed is still the same,” Pacquiao told a pack of mediamen that stayed with him up in the stage after following the one-hour press conference.

“My speed is still there. My goal in boxing is to keep my speed even if I move up in weight because if you have speed, you have power,” added the Pinoy icon, who will face Cotto at 145 lb, two pounds short of the welterweight limit.

Pacquiao admitted that Cotto, who turned 29 last Oct. 29, is the stronger fighter, practically born as a welterweight.

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“But of course, we believe in our power, too. We believe in ourselves that we have the advantage,” said Pacquiao, too fast and too strong he stopped David Diaz, Oscar dela Hoya and Ricky Hatton like he was the young Mike Tyson.

But Cotto, the underdog, said he’s ready for anything, adding that Pacquiao made the big mistake in moving up to challenge him in his territory.

Cotto trained nearly three months for Pacquiao, hoping for a win that would put him back at the center of everything after a bitter loss to Antonio Margarito in 2008, his first defeat as a pro, and a close, shaky win over Josh Clottey last June.

He said his conditioning coach, Phil Landman, is making everything possible.

“In our camp, he always comes with a lot of feeling to work. He makes me work better. I feel like I’ve never felt before in my last fights. He makes me work very well. With more energy and more power,” said Cotto.

A reporter said he visited Cotto in his recent workout, and found the heavy-handed boxer a little stronger than he was in the past.

“It’s because we work better than before. I’m pretty happy and comfortable to be here. And I trained like never before because I know the skills of the man. But we created our gameplan for the fight. I’m pretty sure it’s gonna be a great night,” he said.

Pacquiao looked more relax during the press conference, and in his face-off with Cotto, in front of a hundred cameras, he couldn’t take the smile off his face.

He was asked about his political plans.

“There is no connection with my political career here because this is boxing,” he said. “But yes, it’s (his running for Congress in 2010) because I want to help the people by giving them livelihood even if the priority is peace.”

Then he was asked about the old story wherein he said he ran away from home because his father ate his dog. The story caught the attention of many, and with the question he had the chance to clear it up.

“It was my neighbor who ate my dog,” he said of what turned out to be “a good story that never happened.”

Pacquiao was running out of things to say when Top Rank’s publicist, Fred Sternburg, ended the session.

And Pacquiao was just glad it did.

“Grabe. Sumakit ang panga ko (That was too much. My jaw hurts),” he said.

Roach to Cotto: Feel Pacman's fury early

2009-11-12T20:44:00.000-08:00

LAS VEGAS – Freddie Roach wants Miguel Cotto to feel what Oscar dela Hoya and Ricky Hatton felt in the opening rounds.

He wants Manny Pacquiao to dictate the pace and even go for the kill if and when the opportunity arises.

“I really hope he comes out and shows his strength early on,” said Roach as he spoke to mediamen following Wednesday’s official press conference at the MGM Grand.

Roach said Pacquiao should try to get into Cotto’s mind very early in the fight, and make his presence felt the way he did with Dela Hoya, whom he stopped in eight rounds last December, and Hatton, whom he crushed inside two rounds last May.

“We have to set the pace in the first round. We can’t give Miguel the momentum and confidence because he will grow. And if we can put that in his head right away, like most people say, ‘what the f___k is this?’”

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“Just like what we did with Oscar and Hatton. Although Oscar said he can take punches from Manny all day because he doesn’t punch that hard. Then why did he quit?” he said.

Roach said Pacquiao is so ready to fight that after Wednesday’s workout at the IBA Gym he tipped the scales at 144 lb.

It’s been that way the last couple of days here in Vegas, and the great American trainer said Pacquiao should show up for tomorrow’s official weigh-in right under 145 and then climb the ring the following day at 149 lb.

He expects Cotto to show up for the fight at around 160.

“I wish him the best. I know he’s powerful. I respect Miguel Cotto but he’s gonna get knocked out in this one. What round? Before the twelfth,” said Roach.

Manny will need all the luck, warns Santiago

2009-11-12T20:41:00.000-08:00

LAS VEGAS – Give this round to Joe Santiago.

After taking big hits from his counterpart, Freddie Roach, the 32-year-old trainer of Miguel Cotto landed a good one during Wednesday’s final press conference at the Hollywood Theater of the MGM Grand.

“Good luck to Manny. He’s gonna need it,” said Santiago as he took his turn on the microphone and faced the media. He took a quick glance at the Pacquiao side of the presidential table then went back to his seat.

Santiago is the former nutritionist and training assistant of Cotto, and took the helm after the Puerto Rican champ had a bitter parting of ways with his uncle and chief trainer, Evangelista Cotto, a few months ago.

But Santiago, so young, so neat to look like a champion’s trainer, is being criticized for his lack of experience. He never fought as a boxer, and Roach said Cotto’s trainer “doesn’t really know what it feels to be inside the ring.”

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But during the press conference he had the balls to wish Pacquiao luck because, in his mind, the Filipino icon would need it.

“Miguel is in the best shape he’s ever been. And I hope Manny Pacquiao will be in the same level,” said Santiago, who was taking his first steps when Roach, 17 years his senior, was making his pro debut at the famed Boston Garden in 1978.

In a purple sweater, dress jeans and leather shoes, Santiago proclaimed victory for Cotto.

“We’re only three days away and it will be a great victory for Puerto Rico,” he said.

A week ago, in Los Angeles, Roach said he received word that Santiago was telling him to “f***k off,’ because I talk too much they say.”

But the most successful trainer in the sport today wouldn’t stop.

“I heard he said ‘why don’t I put my trophy (as Trainer of the Year) on the line? Well, we’ll see about that after the fight. I have a thousand or a million trophies in boxing and he’s never fought before. He’s never fought in his life. Never in his life,” he said.

“He doesn’t know what it means to be inside that ring. He puts the towel over his (Cotto’s) shoulder and gives him drinking water and all of a sudden he’s a coach. Believe me, Cotto trains himself,” he said.

Roach stayed no more than 30 seconds in front of the microphone Wednesday.

“Miguel, good luck to you and your camp. See you on Saturday,” he said. – Abac Cordero

Pacman a fighter like no other

2009-11-12T20:37:00.000-08:00

LAS VEGAS – The best little fighter you will probably ever see had the seat of honor on the bus carrying him to his grand arrival at the MGM Grand casino. Manny Pacquiao had some more promoting to do, some more hands to shake, some more fans to meet.

This is boxing, and every sale counts. Pacquiao has been doing it long enough to understand that the more people who buy his pay-per-view fight with Miguel Cotto, the more his guaranteed $13 million purse goes up.

You get the feeling, though, that he might be doing it even if it didn’t make him an extra dime.

“I’m enjoying it,” Pacquiao said as the bus moves along the Las Vegas Strip. “I never thought I would be this popular in the United States.”

Asked to explain his popularity, Pacquiao said, “I’m a very friendly person. I’m nice to everybody.”

Perhaps too nice at times. At home in the Philippines, where he is revered for his success inside the ring and his generosity outside of it, Pacquiao gives away money and sends kids to school on scholarships. After a recent typhoon, he bought wood so coffins could be built.

“The Philippines has only one social welfare system, and it’s Manny Pacquiao,” promoter Bob Arum said.

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The Philippines also has only one star. Pacquiao’s face is everywhere, singing on TV with his band, promoting his action-figure movie that opens next month. He plans to run for Congress next year, and there’s talk of him becoming president one day.

But right now he’s preparing to uphold his status as the best pound-for-pound fighter in boxing.

He gave a beating to Oscar De La Hoya, made him quit on his stool. He followed that by barely breaking a sweat in flattening Ricky Hatton.

He’s fought in six weight divisions and won six titles, and now he’s winning over the hearts of the most hardened fight fans.

“For me, boxing is kind of entertainment,” Pacquiao said. “You have to entertain people. You have to earn their respect.”

Pacquiao plans to do just that on Saturday when he takes on the once-beaten Cotto, of Puerto Rico, in a 145-pound (66-kilogram) fight that could set up a megafight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. On paper it shapes up as perhaps his toughest fight yet, but fights are held on canvas, not paper.

Pacquiao has prepared well, sparring endless rounds until trainer Freddie Roach begs him to quit. Still, there is time to entertain actors in Roach’s Hollywood gym, and time to croon along with the house band on late-night TV show “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” something far more nerve-racking than getting hit in the face.

There also is time for the entourage, many of whom have been sleeping in hideaway beds in Pacquiao’s 60th floor hotel suite at the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino. House rules are spelled out in signs on the wall that impose a 9 p.m. curfew and prohibit ringing the bell on the champ’s bedroom door. There are also visiting hours for friends, relatives and fans - 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., tickets required.

Roach remembers the day Pacquiao walked into his gym eight years ago looking for a new trainer.

“We did a round with the mitts and he went back to his people to tell them he had found a trainer,” Roach said. “I went back to my people and told them we had found a great fighter.” (AP)

Pacquiao-Cotto bout at Hyatt

2009-11-12T20:36:00.000-08:00

MANILA, Philippines - The WBO welterweight title fight between Miguel Cotto and Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao will be aired live via satellite at The Ballroom of Hyatt Hotel and Casino Manila on Sunday, starting at 8 a.m.

The Hyatt management said the fight would be shown on 3’x12’ widescreens with movie quality output and superior stereo sound system for P900 net inclusive of snacks and soda, iced tea and local beer.

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The Music Bar’s seven ultra-chic and uniquely designed Music Pods, which can accommodate from 6 to 30 people is also being offered to those who want exclusivity for only P1,300 net per person.

The hotel is also throwing in 15 percent off at The Market Café and Li Li restaurants to the ticket holders if they dine in any of the two outlets on the same day.

Reservations, inquiries: The Concierge at 245-1234 or e-mail hyattmanila@hyattintl.com.

Boxing: No challenge is too great for Filipino hero Pacquiao

2009-11-12T20:35:00.000-08:00

LAS VEGAS, Nevada : Manny Pacquiao says even at his maximum fighting weight he still has the lightning hand speed and ring savvy to counter the raw power of Miguel Cotto.

"I feel stronger at this weight than I ever have," Pacquiao said. "My punches are harder, my speed is intact. I keep getting warned about Cotto's body attack. Cotto should be worried about my body attack."

Pacquiao, who turns 31 next month, is seeking to win his fifth major title in five different weight classes when he steps into the ring Saturday to face Puerto Rican champ Cotto for the World Boxing Organization welterweight title.

Pacquiao's camp says a win over Cotto would give him seven titles in seven classes but some in boxing circles dispute that figure because there were no major titles on the line in victories over Marco Barrera (featherweight) and Ricky Hatton (junior welterweight). The Hatton fight was for an lightly regarded IBO belt and the Barrera bout was for an WBC international title.

Oscar De La Hoya stands as the only fighter to have won major championships in six different weight classes.

Still what Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37 KOs) has done in the ring is remarkable. His major titles have came in a weight classes ranging from 112 to 140 pounds and he is the first Asian to win four or more major titles.

He weighed just 106 pounds in his pro debut in 1995 and captured his first title in the 112-pound flyweight division.

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And he has managed to achieve what many other boxers failed to do and that is to maintain his speed and power as he moves up to challenge heavier opponents.

"My speed is still there. If you have speed then you generate your own power," said Pacquiao, who is the odds on favourite to win Saturday and take Cotto's (34-1, 27 KOs) belt.

"We know that he is bigger than me and stronger than me but we studied his style for the past two months and we have our strategy.

"Speed, power and being smart will lead to success."

Pacquiao reiterated on Wednesday that he won't fight any higher than welterweight.

"No, no, no that is enough," he said. "It is amazing to even myself and I can't believe I can fight at 147 pounds.

"I started at 105 pounds but right now my speed is still the same. My goal in my boxing career is to always keep the speed even if I move up to high weight division because if you have speed you can create your power."

Challenger Pacquiao's last defeat was in March 2005 to Erik Morales. He has won 10 straight fights, including seven by knockout since losing to Morales.

"Cotto is the champion for this fight and he is not that easy as what people think. I don't take this fight lightly. He trained hard for this fight that is why we have to focus.

"I am prepared for anything Miguel Cotto has to offer," Pacquiao said. "I have studied all his tapes, and I feel like I know him like I know myself. It's going to be a great fight between two great fighters. "

Freddie Roach has been Pacquiao's trainer for the past eight years.

"We had a great training camp," Roach said. "Manny is 100 percent. We are in great shape and I have never seen my fighter looking better. Miguel, good luck to you and we'll see you Saturday.

"Going in I thought 147 would be Manny's limit, but after this training camp I don't know where his boundaries end."

Roach said neither Pacquiao's widespread popularity or humanitarian work in the wake of a series of deadly typhoons were a distraction to his training for this fight.

"We never missed a day of training," Roach said. "We had a lot of chaos around us. But when he goes into the gym, everything else stays outside and he is the hardest worker I have ever seen."

Promoter Bob Arum says the interest in this fight is higher than he has seen in a long time and it has elevated boxing back onto the front pages of newspaper sports sections.

"Manny Pacquiao has meant a lot to the sport of boxing," Arum said Wednesday.

Longtime boxing trainer Nazim Richardson said too many people have underestimated Pacquiao in the past and got burned.

"I think Manny Pacquiao is going to steal the fight that night," said Richardson who trains Shane Mosley.

"Calling Pacquiao little in his weight class is like calling Mike Tyson a little heavyweight. Pacquiao is a solid guy but his size fools people. He knows how to make the round look like the little guy is dominating the big man."

Cotto’s chance

2009-11-12T20:34:00.000-08:00

By Edri K. Aznar

AFTER Miguel Cotto suffered his first defeat at the hands of Mexican banger Antonio Margarito, a lot of people believed that he was never the same fighter he once was.

However, Cotto believes that 11th round stoppage by Margarito last year has not haunted him and that he has moved on from that devastating loss.

“That fight (with Margarito) is in the past.. I don’t think about it and this is the new chapter of my career. I don’t think about it at all,” said Cotto in a report posted at boxingscene.com.

"The Manny Pacquiao Blog". Click here for stories and updates on the Filipino boxing champ.

Cotto’s face was bloodied in that fight after enduring the brutal blows from the heavy-handed Margarito.

However, Margarito was discovered to have used illegal hand wraps in his next bout, a loss to Sugar Shane Mosley, and that raised questions whether his victory against Cotto was aided by something similar.

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Word war

Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, has been waging a war of words with Cotto’s camp and he has consistently said the 29-year-old Puerto Rican boxing icon will be knocked out by the pound-for-pound king in their mega-fight this Sunday (RP time).

However, Cotto is unfazed by Roach’s predictions and is confident of a win over the 30-year-old Gen. Santos native.

“On the night of the fight, it’s going to be the two of us and the referee. Nobody can come in and help Pacquiao beat me. We can only rely on our mental state and our preparation. Ultimately, that will define the fight,” said Cotto, who will be defending his World Boxing Organization welterweight crown.

Roach has also criticizing Cotto’s corner, especially young trainer Joe Santiago, for their lack of experience.

Roach feels that it will be instrumental on the outcome of the battle.

“We all have the opportunity to grow. I’m not the same fighter that I was when I first started the sport. I trust Joe Santiago and my whole team. We’ll see after the fight, when we win, what Pacquiao’s team will say about my corner,” said Cotto.

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on November 13, 2009.

Cotto takes a backseat to Manny mania, but has shot at Pacquiao in the ring

2009-11-12T20:33:00.000-08:00

By Tim Dahlberg (CP) – 2 hours ago

LAS VEGAS — Miguel Cotto didn't need to be reminded what his role is supposed to be against Manny Pacquiao.

Not after signing for half the money Pacquiao is getting paid. Not after having to agree to fight nearly a kilo (2 pounds) under his normal weight just to get the fight. Not after spending months training for a fight a lot of people in boxing don't really believe he has much chance of winning.

Promoter Bob Arum took time at the final pre-fight press conference to remind him anyway.

"Psychologically he knows it and I know it," Arum said. "In this fight he is not the star of the show."

No, the star of the show is boxing's latest sensation, a mild mannered Filipino who gave Oscar De La Hoya such a beating he quit on the stool and destroyed Ricky Hatton with a single punch. Pacquiao is the face of this event, the boxer who brings the Philippines to a virtual standstill every time he steps into the ring.

But Cotto has a country behind him, too. Puerto Rico has long been a breeding ground of top fighters, and this fight is probably the most anticipated in his country since Felix Trinidad won a disputed decision over De La Hoya a decade ago.

Almost lost in the Manny mania that has made this perhaps the most anticipated fight of the year is that Cotto has some serious credentials of his own.

"I don't want to be Manny Pacquiao," Cotto said. "I just want to be Miguel Cotto."

For a long time that was good enough. Cotto was a rising star himself, a relentless puncher who won two titles, knocked almost everyone in front of him out, and had no trouble selling out Madison Square Garden.

But along came Antonio Margarito and Cotto found himself on the receiving end of the kind of beating he usually handed out. He fought valiantly before finally being stopped in the 11th round of a brutal slugfest, a devastating loss tempered later only by the suspicion that Margarito had plaster inside his gloves like he did in his next fight against Shane Mosley.

"When things about Margarito came out after the fight it made me feel better about the situation," Cotto said.

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He came back to win a tuneup fight, then had to rally to beat Joshua Clottey by split decision in the Garden in June. Pacquiao was there at ringside to watch a bloodied Cotto barely pull off a win to retain his piece of the welterweight title, and it wasn't long before negotiations for their fight began.

Though Pacquiao is careful not to say so, his trainer, Freddie Roach, believes Cotto is not the fighter he once was.

"I've studied the tapes of Cotto before and after the Margarito fight and he's not the same person," Roach said. "It's a good time to fight Miguel Cotto."

Oddsmakers think so, too, making Pacquiao a 2½-1 favourite in a fight that will be held at a catch weight of 66 kilograms (145 pounds), something Cotto had to agree to if he was going to get the fight. Pacquiao wanted the weight concession because he is the smaller fighter, having made his way up from 48 kilos (105 pounds), and fought Hatton at 63½ kilos (140 pounds).

Cotto insists he has put the Margarito fight behind him and is even better than he was before, but there are not only questions about his confidence, but his conditioning. He parted ways with his longtime trainer this year and has been using 32-year-old Joe Santiago, who has no experience in big fights, for the biggest fight of his career.

Pacquiao, whose marathon sparring sessions are legendary, believes that his preparation and his corner will both be factors.

"It's a big help to have a great trainer in your corner," he said.

There aren't as many questions about Pacquiao on the eve of the fight, though there are those in boxing who say he may be getting too much credit for his last two fights because De La Hoya was clearly past his prime and Hatton may have never been ready for prime time.

But the body of his work - six titles in six weight classes over the years - and the fact that Roach has managed to turn his right hand into as big a factor as his left hook make Pacquiao dangerous to anyone in front of him. He not only seems to have carried his speed with him as he moved up in weight, but the punch is there too, as evidenced by the tremendous left hook that floored Hatton in the second round of his last fight.

"We believe we have the advantage in both speed and power," Pacquiao said. "My speed is still there and if you have speed you can create power."

Cotto has power of his own - 27 knockouts in 36 fights attests to that - and neither fighter thinks much about defence. The promise of a lot of action led to a quick sellout in the arena and promoters believe they will do strong business on pay-per-view.

The promise of at least $6.5 million helped sell Cotto on the fight. But the promise of greatness should he win means even more.

Because he knows that a win against Pacquiao might just make him boxing's next big star.

Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5gWVXjzytVuaw38dggf-VzZ0gA0xA

Manny Pacquiao will send Cotto packing, says trainer

2009-11-12T20:31:00.000-08:00

By Gareth A Davies, Boxing Correspondent
Published: 9:18PM GMT 12 Nov 2009

Glory awaits should Pacquiao defeat the teak-tough Puerto Rican. Pacquiao, already a major crossover star in Asia who intends to move into politics next year, will become the first boxer ever to win world titles in seven divisions.

Roach added that Cotto "will not be the same" since suffering an 11th-round technical knockout against Antonio Margarito in July 2008. "A fighter is never the same following a knockout like that. It takes time to recover from it. Our guy is getting him at the right time."

Roach, whom Pacquiao admits is like a father-figure to him, is adamant that the boxing community should celebrate Pacquiao's greatness.

"Henry Armstrong was the last to do that kind of thing," Roach told The Daily Telegraph. "Manny's a throwback. He's unbelievable. People ask me 'When are we going to see the next Manny Pacquiao?' We're not, not in my lifetime, or in your lifetime going to see another Manny Pacquiao. He's a one-off.

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Fighters like him don't come around that often.

"Manny saved my life eight years ago. He walked into this gym, and an hour later I was his new trainer. A month later, he won his first world title [at flyweight] against Ledwaba. He's a guy who still wants to work so hard, and that makes it so much more enjoyable."

"Manny now has great power, great speed. And he's now a very dangerous guy. He's a machine. You wind him up, you let him go. He's so different now. He's gone from 112lbs to 147lbs and yet he is still being competitive. It's incredible."

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/boxingandmma/6555917/Manny-Pacquiao-will-send-Cotto-packing-says-trainer.html

Pacquiao, Cotto Presscon Recap

2009-11-12T20:30:00.000-08:00

By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 13 Nov 2009

With both pronouncing they’re ready, Filipino Manny Pacquiao and Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto brace themselves for their 12-round welterweight championship fight Saturday (Sunday in Manila) at MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas.

Pacquiao, the reigning International Boxing Organization junior-welterweight champion, is eyeing Cotto’s welterweight diadem in the hope to becoming the only man in the entire planet to wear a seventh crown in seven weight divisions.

Cotto, on the other hand, will not only be defending his 147-pound championship, but, likewise, will try to deny Pacquiao the honor of making boxing history and, at the same time cast doubt on the Filipino’s grip of the title pound-for-pound king in the sport of sweet science.

Last Wednesday (Thursday in Manila) Pacquiao, ‘Pacman’ to the boxing world who is also the reigning ‘Fighter of the Year’ and box office king, and Cotto, the ‘Bocicua’ three-time world champion, met for the final press conference where they were both handed the Keys to the City by Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman in the presence Bob Arum, president of the promoting Top Rank, their handlers and many of their followers.

Pacquiao, being the challenger, was the first of the two boxers to speak to the press and, as usual, begun by thanking God, the media and various other organizations present at the conference.

“This fight is the most important fight in my boxing career, he said signifying the importance of the fight in his 14-year boxing career that started as a 108-pound fighter and climbed to 145-pound, the catch-weight agreed upon for the bout.

“If I win this fight I think it’s another history in boxing”, he said as be brought laughter from his audience when he thanked his chief trainer Freddie Roach, whom he said he will now call “Master.”

“Of course I have to thank Freddie Roach, my master… my master in boxing. Before I call him coach Freddy, but now I call him my master,” he said before proceeding on how he trained, first in Baguio City in the Philippines where he spent the first five weeks of preparations, then at the Roach-owned Wild Gym in Hollywood then in Las Vegas.

Commenting on the exchange of harsh words between his camp and that of Cotto, particularly between roach and the Puerto Rican trainer Jose Santiago, Pacquiao said he has not been bothered by all those, adding that he will let his fists do the talking atop the ring.

Cotto, also in his usual self, kept his comments short and to the point. “The only left to say is that there is only 3 days left, and we have worked hard, we have worked like never before.”

“I feel good, I’m in excellent condition and it’s going to be a great night for all boxing fans in general, but specially for the Latino fans, and most of all the Puerto Ricans. We’re prepared for everything and specially to win,” he averred.

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Executive secretary of the World Boxing Council, Mauricio Suliman, executive secretary of the World Boxing Council, was also present, representing his father, WBC president Jose Sulaiman, in presenting the ‘Diamond Belt’ which will be rewarced tothe winner of the bout.

“The WBC voted unanimously from all around the world to recognize this as one of the greatest fights in recent years”, the young Suliman declared. “The WBC diamond belt was voted and produced for the winner of this fight as recognition of the greatest fighter of today.”

“It is not a new title, it is not a new championship, it is not a new confusing thing, it is just a trophy for the winner of Saturday night. The winner will take home the belt, it has 600 diamonds, so they can give 600 engagement rings to some girls,” he concluded Sulaiman drawing laughter from the fighters and crowd.

Roach, in his turn to speak also kept his comments short and polite stating they had a great training camp and thanking all members of his camp.

Santiago was a bit livelier when he remarked: “Miguel Cotto is in excellent shape and we hope our opponent is as well. There’s only 3 more days until the fight, and a great victory for Puerto Rico. Manny good luck, you’re going to need it.”

Source: http://philboxing.com/news/story-29498.html

No Holds Barred: A Different Kind of Pacquiao - Cotto Preview

2009-11-12T20:29:00.000-08:00

PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 13 Nov 2009

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman presents a preview of the Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto welterweight title fight, which takes place Saturday, November 14, in Las Vegas, and will be televised around the world, including on HBO pay-per-view in the U.S.

This is a different kind of preview, however, from that offered almost everywhere else, in that we do not limit ourselves to the question of which fighter stands the best chance of winning this fight in the ring.

We open by noting the damage suffered by the sport of boxing as a whole by placing such major fights on pay-per-view. We play an excerpt of a media conference call held prior to the November 7 Fedor Emelianenko-Brett Rogers mixed martial arts fight, which was telecast live in the U.S. on CBS and was viewed in 5.46 million households, with Kelly Kahl, Senior Executive Vice President, CBS Primetime. He opined why boxing is no longer on network television in the U.S., and why MMA is.

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We next play an excerpt from the November 8 edition of The Boxing Truth Radio (http://www.theboxingtruth.com/), hosted by Ricardo Lois and John Chavez, where Eddie Goldman explained the global economic, political, and social factors which work in Pacquiao's favor. This type of analysis is essential to understanding the historical context in which this fight is taking place, and also what factors other than who deserves to win might play a role in the outcome of the fight.

In the longest segment on this edition of No Holds Barred, we discuss this fight with our correspondent, the award-winning boxing writer Charles Farrell. He is of the opinion that Cotto has the best chance of legitimately winning this fight. Cotto, he argues, unlike Pacquiao, is a true welterweight whose power and size should have him prevail. He also dismisses Pacquiao's dominant wins over Ricky Hatton and Oscar De La Hoya as victories over shot fighters, which the 28-year-old Cotto is far from being.

We discuss these views, as well as the opposing arguments which favor Pacquiao, regarding both his skills and power as a fighter and the advantages he has with the boxing establishment. While Charles is fairly certain that Cotto will win, Eddie is not, so various possible scenarios for this fight are outlined.

We also discuss what possible fights lie ahead for both men, including the likelihood of the winner facing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and these next fights taking place in a major league baseball stadium. And we explain why we have no problem with people watching this fight for free online, even on so-called pirate streams. But we all agree that whichever fighter wins Saturday night, the real winner will be promoter Bob Arum, who promotes both men.

Source: http://philboxing.com/news/story-29495.html

Opinion: Overconfidence coudl send Pacquiao to Dreamland

2009-11-12T20:28:00.000-08:00

Published 51 min ago by Leo Reyes

Overconfidence kills. Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao will enter the ring oozing with confidence that he will win in his 'Firepower' fight with popular Puerto Rican boxer Miguel Cotto. But overconfidence is another thing and it could spell defeat
Freddie Roach is confident that his ward will surprise the crowd with a first round knock out as he predicted earlier. Pacquiao's conditioning expert Alex Ariza says that the pound-for-pound king is perfectly conditioned and ready to confront his opponent. All members of Team Pacquiao are confident that the Filipino boxing idol is in his peak and ready to square off with the powerful Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico.
The entire Pacquiao team is confident of a Pacquiao victory, But overconfidence kills. And that may just happen on fight night. Pacquiao could lose the fight due to overconfidence.

Team Pacquiao believes that Cotto is an easy target as the Puerto Rican boxer is known to be a slow foot and stationary boxer when inside the ring. Cotto relies on his power. And if he catches Manny Pacquiao with his fully charged power in the early rounds, the Filipino boxer could find himself in dreamland as Cotto tries to leave him in that state for good.

Pacquiao has been conditioned by his coach to spot opportunities for a first round knock out. Certainly, he will try to please his trainer and go for it when the door opens up for him to deliver his powerful left hook. If he is successful in his first round attempt, he will make his coach the happiest man on earth.

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Joaquin Henson of Philstar.com says: 'If Pacquiao is looking beyond Cotto and conjuring visions of a megabuck showdown with Floyd Mayweather Jr. or a third meeting with Marquez, he should wake up to present reality. He can’t afford to take Cotto lightly, no matter if his entourage continues to belittle the Puerto Rican for being a bleeder, slow and easy to hit. What Pacquiao shouldn’t do is to give Cotto some momentum in the fight. Pacquiao should dictate tempo from the start and take away Cotto’s'
Only a few can possibly dispute Henson's observation that overconfidence is one of Pacquiao's weaknesses. In particular Team Pacquiao sees Cotto as a slow foot fighter and an easy target for the speedy Pacquiao. But then again overconfidence kills and Team Pacquiao should remind the Filipino boxing icon about its repercussions.

The Filipino boxing superstar will face Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico in their 'Firepower' match this Saturday at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. At stake is Miguel Cotto's WBO welterweight belt.

The fight will be telecast worldwide and available on pay-per-view.

Source: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/282046

WBC grabs Spotlight from a WBO Title Fight Press Conference

2009-11-12T20:26:00.000-08:00

By Alex P. Vidal
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 13 Nov 2009

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- A World Boxing Council (WBC) show in a World Boxing Organization (WBO) affair. This apparently what transpired during the final press conference for the “Pacquiao vs Cotto: Firepower” at the Hollywood Theater in MGM Grand, here, November 11 afternoon.

It happened after WBO president Paco Valcarcel, who was supposed to join the presidential table as originally scheduled, did not show up.

Top Rank chief Bob Arum said Valcarcel, Cotto’s compatriot, is expected to plane in November 12 and will be the one to award the WBO championship welterweight belt for the winner on Saturday.

In a stroke of fate, WBC executive director Mauricio Sulaiman, whose name was listed as “vice president of WBC" in the original “final press conference running order”, surfaced toting a WBC championship belt laced with 600 diamonds.

Sulaiman, son of WBC top honco Don Jose Chagnon, handed the belt to HBO pay-per-view chief Mark Taffet, to be displayed on the table but Manny Pacquiao grabbed it in jest and placed in front of his table.

“This WBC diamond championship belt will be awarded to the winner (between Pacquiao and WBO welterweight ruler Miguel Angel Cotto),” beamed Sulaiman. “That means that whoever will get it, he can give 600 diamonds to 600 girls.”

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Sulaiman later allowed Cotto, who was proudly displaying his WBO belt, to touch the WBC diamond strap.

When both Cotto and Pacquiao posed for press photographers, Pacquiao carried the WBC diamond belt while Cotto raised his own belt vertically.

Sulaiman said it was a perfect occasion to announce the awarding of the belt, the first time in the annals of world boxing championships, although Cotto’s belt is the one up for grabs in a 12-round duel on November 14.

It was part of the WBC project dubbed “WBC Asia Relief Fund—Philippine Disaster”, the WBC’s “modest support to the great people of this extraordinary boxing country (Philippines)”, which was recently slammed by deadly typhoon “Ketsana” that killed hundreds of people and rendered thousands of families homeless.

It is selling commemorative key-rings of the first WBC Diamond Belt to raise funds.

Source: http://philboxing.com/news/story-29493.html

Weightin for Pacman

2009-11-12T20:24:00.001-08:00

Nov 12, 2009 10:16 PM | By Julia Beffon

From what I've seen of the bout, it was dire. Many of the fights I've seen so far this year have fallen into that category. With the heavyweight division the preserve of the giant Klit-schko brothers, who refuse to fight each other because it would upset their mum, and the unlovable Floyd Mayweather Jr having to come out of retirement to show Juan Manuel Marquez how thin the middle divisions are, there are few international fights that have been worth staying up for.

Locally, too, there are few fighters who capture the public imagination, with the likes of Cassius Baloyi coming to the end of their careers.

This week, however, there is some really good boxing on the cards. Tonight (SS5 at 11pm), Lovemore Ndou, a former South African favourite now fighting out of Britain, tries to resurrect his career against Matthew Hatton. Considering that it's taking place in Stoke, I fear the ageing Ndou is being offered up as cannon-fodder to Ricky's little brother.

The early hours of Sunday (SS2 at 4am) should cough up the real deal: Manny Pacquiao against Miguel Angel Cotto for the latter's welterweight title, although it will be fought at a catchweight 145 pounds.

Pacquiao is a modern-day legend in boxing, rated the sixth wealthiest active sportsman and on Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world this year.

He's starred in movies, makes millions from endorsement deals and has run for the Filipino parliament, all interspersed with the occasional visit to the US to beat the bejesus out of whichever fool is willing to step into the ring with him.

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I first noticed Pacquiao in 2001 when he came in as a late replacement and promptly relieved Lehlohonolo "Hands of Stone" Ledwaba of his super-bantamweight title via a technical knockout.

Pacman is a hero to non-boxing purists like myself, who secretly prefer to see a fighter with heart rather than skill. He's won titles in six weight divisions and the list of his victims reads like a who's who of the best of the lighter divisions of recent years: Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera and even the Golden Boy himself, Oscar de la Hoya.

Pacquiao comes from the breed of fighters, like Kostya Tszyu and the late Arturo Gatti, whose motto seems to be: I'll win because, no matter how many times you knock me down, I'll get up again and knock you out.

Each time he has stepped up a division, the naysayers have predicted that he will fail, suggesting the extra weight will put paid to his awesome speed and power. Each time they've been wrong.

He'll have his hands full with Cotto, whose record shows only one loss. That came against Antonio Margarito, who was later found to have entered the ring with a little assistance, reported to be cement dust, in his gloves. It gives a whole new meaning to "hands of stone".

I can't see Pacquiao resorting to such tactics, or, even if he's doesn't win, saying "No mas" like the original "Hands of Stone", Roberto Duran, and quitting on his stool.

Source: http://www.timeslive.co.za/opinion/columnists/article192509.ece

Why boxing world will be urging on the Pacman against Cotto

2009-11-12T20:23:00.000-08:00

Miguel Cotto may be loved by his loyal fans in Puerto Rico but the rest of the boxing world will be hoping Manny Pacquiao knocks him out in Saturday’s welterweight title bout to keep the Filipino on course for next year’s super-fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr.

American Mayweather did his bit by coming out of retirement and oozing class against Juan Manuel Marquez in September and now, as he rests up and has so far avoided the temptation to fight Shane Mosley, we can expect Mayweather-Pacquiao negotiations to begin soon – providing the Pac Man wins on Saturday.

Pacquiao’s legion of fans are confident he will beat Cotto, the bookmakers are confident and his revered trainer Freddy Roach approved the fight meaning he must be confident, but there is a nagging doubt that all won’t go to plan and that is because Cotto is a classy fighter.

His only defeat came at the hands of disgraced Mexican Antonio Margarito, who was subsequently banned for fighting with illegal padding in his gloves, and he is a strong, fast and a natural welterweight.

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However, since that fight he has had two mediocre contests.

Firstly he knocked out the hopelessly mis-matched Britain Michael Jennings in five rounds before claiming a hard fought split-decision against Ghanaian Josh Clottey in June.

But Pacquiao is a different beast. His ability to waltz through divisions and claiming world titles is borderline genius and, as with nearly all sports, there is no defence against speed, which he has in abundance.

Boxing needs a mega clash like Pacquiao v Mayweather and I think they will get it once Pacquiao knocks out Cotto in 10 rounds on Saturday.

Source: reuters.com

Pacman-Cotto fight just what boxing needs

2009-11-12T20:21:00.001-08:00

LONDON - Anyone who still loves boxing probably still is wincing at the description of the puffed up cruiserweight and new world heavyweight champion David Haye's defeat of lumbering Russian giant Nikolai Valuev in Nuremburg last weekend as both a masterclass of defensive fighting and the redemption of the whole abused business.

However, at least there is an almost instantly available antidote in Las Vegas on Saturday night to the onset of physical nausea. Not only is Miguel Cotto-Manny Pacquiao the real thing, real fighting that is, it also is potentially a stupendous example of what happens when exceptional talent is given a proper test.

Some fight people even believe the contest for Cotto's WBO welterweight title just might make it into the kind of terrain occupied by Marvin Hagler and Tommy Hearns at Caesars Palace 24 years ago. This is perhaps saying too much. When Hagler finally overwhelmed Hearns in the third round of the most astonishing action, the late Budd (On the Waterfront) Schulberg at ringside shivered and said: "I never expected ever to see anything so intense outside of war."

Yet when promoter Bob Arum projects Saturday's fight into such company an old quote of his does not automatically spring to mind. Arum once was challenged on a statement because it was in sharp contradiction of something he had said the day before. "I was lying yesterday," he shrugged.

Now he declares: "The way Manny and Miguel are talking about it, it could be like the three-round Hagler-Hearns war. The conventional wisdom is that Cotto is best when he is aggressive but I don't know if he feels he can be aggressive with this guy from the get-go. If he is aggressive enough, though, sure, it could be Hagler-Hearns all over again."

The fact is that history settles lightly over the MGM Garden Arena ring on the weekend because The Pacman against anyone decent is the nearest thing we are probably going to get to a guarantee of authentic fighting.

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It also happens that his 29-year-old Puerto Rican opponent Cotto is rather more than decent. Indeed, he is currently rated in the pound-for-pound league behind only Pacquiao and, talking of masterclass defensive performers, Floyd Mayweather Junior. Cotto, strong and sleekly aggressive, has just one defeat to his name and it is one that became surrounded by question marks after his conqueror Antonio Margarito was found to have illegal fist wrappings in his next contest.

Certainly Cotto insists that he is something more than a stepping stone to the fight that already has boxing aficionados counting the days: Pacquiao versus Mayweather.

Cotto declares: "I'm prepared for the speed of Manny. My hand speed is pretty equal to his. But is Manny's speed equal to the power of Miguel on Saturday night? You know, I'm very calm. Yes, Manny is a special fighter but I've been doing this for many years and know how well I can fight. He may be looking down the road but I'm just focusing on this fight. He can fight whoever he chooses when I've beaten him."

Cotto is the naturally bigger man. He last fought at welterweight while Pacquiao was a division lower when eviscerating Britain's Ricky Hatton last spring.

The Filipino is the fighter's fighter, the most searing example of the benefits of beautiful timing and the will to exploit it at any point. His experienced coach Freddy Roach says that his man is unique, a force of nature as much as a superbly programmed pugilist. It is an opinion endorsed by an adoring public, thousands of whom gathered at his hotel entrance when he arrived in Vegas last week. There is much affection too, most ferociously expressed in his homeland where each year it is estimated he hands over more than a million dollars in cash and food to the poor who regularly arrive outside his house.

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Pacquiao says it is a straight forward way of giving thanks for his good fortune to be such an accomplished fighting man. Roach frequently is required to clear away Pacman fans from his gym in Los Angles.

"Sometimes it is impossible," the trainer said. "You just can't get the work done. The trouble is, Manny just loves to be loved."

The fighter says: "If I could, I would fight every day of my life and if I can help as well, well that is a gift to me also.

"Cotto is a good fighter, I respect him but I believe I can do the job."

It is unlikely to be accomplished quite as quickly as it was against Hatton who fell, beyond any hope of recovery, near the end of the second round.

The suspicion here, though, is that it will indeed be finished some considerable time before the end of the 12th.

Assistant trainer, and former world heavyweight champion, Michael Moorer draws the same conviction from the look in Pacquiao's eyes which announces that he has entered his zone of absolute concentration.

"I know it when I see it," he said. "A look, a light comes into his eyes which I think you could only understand if you have worked long and hard for a fight. His eyes shine in a way that says: 'This is my time, I can doanything I want.'

"You do not see it often but I see it when I look at Manny. He is a fighter so far out of the ordinary that I find it difficult to give any other fighter any kind of chance. He is surely one of the greatest we have seen."

Miguel Cotto no doubt will dispute the theory with much nerve and formidable fighting gifts. It is possible, though, to see only one winner and it is Pacquiao around the fifth round. He will win both for himself and the spirit of boxing, which on this occasion at least is the shortest priced favourite of all.

Source: torontosun.com

Pacquiao, Cotto take the bad out of boxing

2009-11-12T20:20:00.000-08:00

LAS VEGAS – It was a news conference, which only means not a whole lot happened. Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto talked Wednesday like diplomats after accepting keys to the city from the only politician with a title, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman.
If Goodman’s gift included any keys to what might happen Saturday night at the MGM Grand in the most anticipated fight of the year, nobody was saying. Pacquiao said thanks. Cotto said thanks. But their plans might as well have been state secrets, closely guarded by both and one as important to the Philippines as the other is to Puerto Rico.

Their good manners and polite tone are unusual for boxing, which has busted as many ear drums as it has noses over the noisy years. Then again, Pacquiao-Cotto is an unusual bout between fighters likable for lots of reasons, the biggest of which might be the significant absence of redundant trash talk.

It qualifies as a big fight, perhaps one of the biggest in years, without anybody assigned to trite roles. There are no bad guys here. Even Las Vegas resident Floyd Mayweather, Jr., who might meet the winner, hasn’t asked for a ringside seat, promoter Bob Arum said Wednesday.

Without any of the familiar noise, there is a sense that the fighters are conserving their energies and bad intentions for the opening bell. Too many fights over too many years have fallen flat after shout-downs that always promised a beat down, but rarely delivered. Pacquiao-Cotto is loaded with the promise without any of the talk.
“I don’t know what will happen, but I will do my best,’’ said Pacquiao, who is favored to win the 145-pound bout.

The closest thing to braggadocio came from Cotto’s 32-year-old trainer Joe Santiago.
“”It will be a great victory for Puerto Rico,’’ said Santiago, who is only three years older than Cotto. “Good luck to Manny Pacquiao. You’re going to need it.’’
There’s a theory that Cotto looms as Pacquiao’s biggest roadblock in his ascent to international stardom. Cotto’s has been at welterweight longer than Pacquiao, who started his pro career as 106- pound 16-year-old. Cotto is comfortable at the weight. Translation: Cotto’s has power that Pacquiao has yet to feel. The counter is that Cotto has never seen Pacquiao’s kind of speed and will see it only after it comes, goes and leaves him looking up at the Filipino with his back on the canvas.
It adds up to a mix of possibilities that talk for themselves. If that’s not enough, there is a world of media already talking about the fight, mostly because of Pacquiao.

In introducing Cotto, Arum said: “Psychologically –he knows it and I know it – he is not the star of the show.’’

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Pacquiao’s stardom was portrayed at the news conference by a photo of him on a poster-sized cover of the Asian edition of Time. The international edition of the magazine has a reported circulation of about 1 million. An additional 50,000 copies were printed because of Pacquiao, according to a spokesman. Those are just some of the numbers that seem to add up to a pay-per-view bonanza, one million or more customers.

“We now are on track to exceed one million,’’ said Home Box Office senior vice-president Mark Taffett, who said the mid-week sales made the fight “as hot as a pistol.’’

If Pacquiao-Cotto meets the 1-million milestone, it will be the second fight this year to hit the mark. Mayweather’s decision over Juan Manuel Marquez in September had one million customers. The last time there were two pay-per-view fights that surpassed one million apiece was 1999 with 1.4 for Felix Trinidad’s upset of Oscar De La Hoya and 1.2 for the Evander Holyfield-Lennox Lewis draw.
Without Pacquiao, the prospects probably wouldn’t be so bullish. He has been showing up everywhere these days, including a rehearsal Tuesday for a concert at nearby Mandalay Bay. Pacquiao, the lead singer for the band MP, is scheduled to be on stage sometime after his date with Cotto.

Pacquiao doesn’t plan on singing the blues.

NOTES, QUOTES
· Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach played it politically-correct Wednesday. But that might not last until opening bell. For at least a couple of weeks, Roach talked a lot, including a prediction that Pacquiao would win a first-round knockout. Roach placed a $1,000 best at 40-1 on that proposition. Are more head games on the agenda? “A little bit,’’ Roach said. “I’m not done.’’

· Arum said Roach and Pacquiao is the greatest trainer-fighter alliance since Angelo Dundee and Muhammad Ali.

· Roach expects Pacquiao to be at about 149 pounds at opening bell. He said that the Filipino arrives at the gym for workout at 148 and leaves at 144. Roach expects Cotto to beat about 146 pounds at fight time.

Source: 15rounds.com

Cotto 'too powerful' for Pacquiao

2009-11-12T20:18:00.000-08:00

Miguel Cotto is confident he will have too much power for Manny Pacquiao when they meet in Las Vegas on Saturday for one of the biggest fights of the year.
Puerto Rican Cotto will defend his WBO welterweight crown against Philippine superstar Pacquiao, who knocked out Britain's Ricky Hatton in May.

"I'm prepared for the speed of Manny," said the 29-year-old Cotto.

"My hand speed is pretty equal to Manny's. But can Manny's power equal Miguel Cotto's on Saturday night?"

Two-weight world champion Cotto, 34-1 (27 KOs), is the underdog for the bout but said he had been energised by his link-up with new trainer Joe Santiago.

Although Pacquiao's outspoken trainer Freddie Roach has cast doubt on the 31-year-old Santiago's experience, Cotto feels the change has been a positive one.

"The training camp we had, that's going to make the difference," he said.
Pacquiao, (49-3-2, 37 KOs), was mobbed by more than 1,000 cheering fans on his arrival at the MGM Grand Casino on Tuesday and is certain to attract most of the support at the 16,000-seat arena on fight-night.

Cotto, however, was unconcerned: "It is going to be just Manny, Miguel Cotto and the referee inside the ring. Nobody can come and give anything to Manny."

Cotto also brushed off suggestions he was being underestimated by the Pacquiao camp, which has been touting the possibility of a mega-fight with American great Floyd Mayweather Jr early next year.

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"I'm focused on this fight," said Cotto. "When I beat him this Saturday, he can think about whatever opponents he wants."

Cotto was unimpressive in his last encounter in June, edging a split decision victory over Ghana's Joshua Clottey.

In his previous fight he stopped Chorley's Michael Jennings to claim the vacant WBO welterweight crown.

The 30-year-old Pacquiao, a former flyweight world title-holder, is bidding to become a five-weight world champion.

Source: bbc.co.uk

Pac-man no game to Miguel Cotto

2009-11-12T20:17:00.000-08:00

LAS VEGAS - Bob Arum thinks Miguel Cotto understands how the world is looking at him, but he does not.

Yesterday, during a press conference called to hype Saturday night’s welterweight title fight between Cotto and the best fighter in the world, Manny Pacquiao, the promoter of both men stood at a podium a few feet from Cotto and tried to explain the situation.

“Psychologically, in this fight, he is not the star,” Arum said of Cotto, the once defeated WBO welterweight champion he has promoted since he first turned professional nine years ago. “He knows it and I know it. But Miguel Cotto, as Miguel will attest, is the biggest obstacle in Manny’s path.”

Cotto sat stone silent as Arum spoke, but his face spoke for him. It was like a dark cloud had passed over a summer picnic.

In Cotto’s mind he is more than an obstacle for any man he faces. More than a steppingstone between Pacquiao and the biggest fight in boxing, a match with Floyd Mayweather Jr. that is already being talked about. More than they think he is.

Certainly, he knows it is Manny Pacquiao’s picture on the cover of the Asia edition of Time magazine not his. It is Pacquiao who is being written about on the front page of the Sunday New York Times [NYT], not him. It is Pacquiao’s world until Saturday night. Then, if they have forgotten who he is, he believes he will remind them. Harshly.

“What they say and what they do does not concern me,” Cotto said. “They know what they have in front of him. He better be focused on what they will have in front of him in Miguel Cotto.”

Although he has lost only once in 35 fights and is 14-1 in world title bouts with 11 knockouts, Cotto knows how much of the boxing world looks at him. They see him the way his promoter did yesterday. Like he’s yesterday’s news.

Pacquiao is the heavy favorite and his trainer, Freddie Roach, is predicting a knockout, the only matter in question in his mind is whether it will be sooner or later. Cotto remains stoic through all this, but neither blind nor deaf. When WBC executive Mauricio Sulaiman stood holding a diamond-studded trophy belt that will be presented to the winner even though this is a fight for the WBO welterweight title, Cotto watched with dead eyes as Sulaiman first handed the belt to Pacquiao, who put it in front of Roach as if there is no question that is its final resting place.

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Eventually the belt was handed to Cotto, but he touches it as if it were radioactive and then handed it back to Sulaiman. He smiled, but it was the mirthless smile of a fighter who does not agree that he is not still the star.

“It doesn’t matter if the people want me to win or not,” Cotto said later. “It is just a fight and I have worked to win it so we will see.”

He is asked if he feels better and stronger than before his last fight, a tough one against Joshua Clottey in which he won the WBO title, but in which he seemed tentative and tired in the late rounds. With blood streaming from a bad cut over his left eye, he was often retreating, yet found a way to win.

But it was the kind of win that convinced his critics that he has not yet recovered from the terrible beating he took from Antonio Margarito a year ago, a beating that left him not only bruised and bloodied, but down on one knee without having been hit in the 11th round, forcing the fight to be stopped.

In fairness, he’d been hit plenty by then and so there are doubts now whether he will ever recover from the damage of that night. He looked tentative in his first fight back and not much different at times against Clottey and now he is facing the new star of boxing and understands what is at stake.

“Forget about Freddie Roach,” Cotto said. “He can only train Manny the best he can. He may say and think Manny will knock me out, but at the end of the day, it is just Manny and Miguel Cotto in the ring. It’s really not important to me what the boxing world wants to see.

“Once I beat Manny Pacquiao they can continue their plans and do what they want but I am not going home without winning this fight.”

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Source: http://news.bostonherald.com/sports/columnists/view.bg?&articleid=1211337&format=&page=1&listingType=sco#articleFull

Freddie Roach: Miguel Cotto not the same since knockout

2009-11-12T20:15:00.001-08:00

As he has done in the past, Freddie Roach offered a $1,000 award to any of Manny Pacquiao’s (49-3-2, 37 KO) latest sparring partners who could knock down the Filipino during preparations for his WBO welterweight title fight with Miguel Cotto (34-1, 27 KO) this Saturday.

During Wednesday’s pre-fight press conference, Roach said that even after 141 rounds of sparring in Pacquiao’s recent camp, his money is safe.

“I told each sparring partner if they could knock him down, they’d get a $1,000 bonus from me — the money is still in my pocket,” Roach said. “He did get shook once though, he did. (Shawn) Porter hurt him one time, and Manny came back on the next combination and dropped him.”

The incentive offered by Roach might surprise some, considering the trainer’s beliefs on knockouts.

Roach has said many times that Cotto hasn’t been the same since taking the worst beating of his career in an 11th-round TKO loss to Antonio Margarito on July 26, 2008.

That loss, the only blemish on Cotto’s professional record, came under scrutiny when plaster was found in Margarito’s gloves in his next fight against Shane Mosley in January.

According to Roach, whether Margarito had cheated in his fight with Cotto is irrelevant — the impact on Cotto’s mentality is the same.

“It doesn’t matter if Margarito did it in that fight or not, a fighter is still not the same following a knockout like that,” Roach said.

When asked what it takes to get over a devastating knockout, Roach simply answered, “Time.”

If there is an example that contradicts Roach’s theory, it can be found in his own fighter.

Pacquiao has been knocked out twice in his professional career. Filipino boxer Rustico Torrecampo knocked him out in the third round in 1996 and Medgoen Singsurat did it again in the third round in a WBC flyweight title fight in 1999.

Pacquiao responded both times by stringing together double-digit win streaks, although he did admit that both were initially difficult to overcome.

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“After the (Singsurat) fight I was thinking, ‘Oh, I’m going to stop boxing because maybe boxing doesn’t like me,’” Pacquiao said. “But then I started thinking to use them to focus harder for my next fights.”

By the time Pacquiao met Roach for the first time in 2001, he was two years removed from the second knockout and made a promise to his new trainer when the issue came up.

“He showed me both knockouts,” Roach said. “The first time he got knocked out, one of his countrymen hit him with a good shot and he was out. The second time he didn’t make weight and had lost his WBC title on the scale. He fought anyway and got knocked out by a body shot.

“I asked him, ‘Do these still bother you?’ He said, ‘Nah, they are no big deal. It will never happen again.’”

The final verdict on whether Cotto has lost something from the Margarito fight might reveal itself by the end of Saturday night’s event inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Some agree with Roach that the 29-year-old fighter looked different in a 12-round split decision with Joshua Clottey at Madison Square Garden in June.

It was the first split decision ever in Cotto’s career and just the third time in his last 14 wins he hadn’t stopped his opponent.

Others believe Cotto, who says the fact he won the Clottey fight is enough to prove he’s put the knockdown behind him.

“The Margarito fight is out of my mind, out of everything about me,” Cotto said. “If it was still in the way, I wouldn’t have made the comeback I already made this year.”

Source: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/nov/12/freddie-roach-says-miguel-cotto-not-same-after-kno/

Manny Pacquiao vs Miguel Cotto Official Updates for the Public

2009-11-12T20:14:00.000-08:00

LAS VEGAS
, NEV. – This Tuesday! November 10, boxing’s No. 1 pound-for-pound king of the ring and the box office and the reigning Fighter of the Year, MANNY “PacMan” PACQUIAO, and the pride of Puerto Rico and three-time world champion MIGUEL COTTO, will make their MGM Grand Arrivals, officially kicking off Fight Week for Fire Power -- their sold out welterweight championship mega fight. Pacquiao and Cotto will arrive at the MGM Grand's Front Lobby Porte Cochere at 11:00 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. PT, respectively. The event is open to the public and the media.

Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37 KOs), of General Santos City, Philippines, has won six world titles in as many different weight divisions ranging from 112 to 140 pounds. Defending WBO welterweight champion Cotto (34-1, 27 KOs), from Caguas, Puerto Rico, has held a world title every year since 2004.

Promoted by Top Rank, in association MP Promotions, Miguel Cotto Promotions, MGM Grand and Tecate, FIRE POWER: COTTO vs. PACQUIAO, will take place, Saturday, November 14, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, and will be produced and distributed live on HBO Pay-Per-View, beginning at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT. For Pacquiao vs. Cotto fight week updates, log on to www.pacmancotto.com, www.hbo.com or www.toprank.com.

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HBO's® fast-moving reality series "24/7 Pacquiao/Cotto" returns with the premiere of the finale This Friday! Nov. 13 at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT. HBO will replay episodes No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 consecutively prior to the premiere of episode No. 4. The replays begin at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on Nov. 13. Episodes Nos. 1-3 are also available on HBO ON DEMAND.

Seven of the MGM MIRAGE properties along The Strip will host closed circuit viewing in conjunction with Pacquiao vs. Cotto. The resorts include MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, The Mirage, Monte Carlo, Luxor, Circus Circus and Excalibur. Remaining tickets for the closed circuit telecast at all venues are priced at $50, not including applicable service charges and handling fees. All seats will be general admission and will be available at each individual property’s box office outlets and at all Las Vegas Ticketmaster locations (select Smith’s Food and Drug Centers and Ritmo Latino). To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000, or visit www.mgmgrand.com or www.ticketmaster.com. Ticket sales
are limited to 20 per person.

Source: doghouseboxing.com

Pacquiao vs Cotto Photos: MGM Grand Arena Las Vegas Arrival

2009-11-11T20:10:00.000-08:00

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It was Manny's stage in Las Vegas

2009-11-11T20:02:00.000-08:00

By Francis Ochoa
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 15:48:00 11/11/2009

LAS VEGAS— The lull in between the official welcome laid out by the MGM Grand for the two boxers facing off on Nov. 14 spoke volumes about how this was going to be more Manny Pacquiao’s show than it will be Miguel Cotto’s.

But it’s not like Miguel Cotto has no plans of ruining the storyline.

Pacquiao walked the red carpet of the MGM Grand lobby to deafening cheers and exploding flashbulbs and made his way up a makeshift ring adorned with a centerpiece golden lion statue to a reception fit for a king, a reception that surprised even the boxer-celebrity who is accustomed to crowds mobbing his every public move.

“I am surprised and happy that a lot of people came [to welcome me],” Pacquiao told reporters from both print and broadcast that tried to squirm their way in front of him to capture a sound bite or two even as photographers and cameramen jostled for prime shots at the world’s reigning pound-for-pound king.

After answers to a couple of questions, Pacquiao would turn his back and face the throng that had gathered at the hotel lobby as early as an hour or two before his late arrival to wave at fans, who would respond by shrieking “Manny! Manny!” with fervor.

Pacquiao faces Cotto on Nov. 14 at the MGM Grand’s garden Arena, where the Filipino ring icon will attempt to become the first boxer to win world titles in seven different weight classes. And while Pacquiao has spoken several times about trying to win one for the victims of a string of violent storms that hit the Philippines, or writing about a page in boxing history, he insists he has nothing against the man who will be out to stop him.

“It’s nothing personal, I’m just doing my job to try and make people happy,” he explained.

And then, after a whirlwind of quickie interviews, Pacquiao left—and almost simultaneously, so did the air inside the hotel lobby. The moment the Filipino ring icon hit the exit, life was sucked out of the event organized by the promoting Top Rank, with the crowd—which had swelled to a couple of hundred—thinning to less than a third of its original size.

This was the audience Cotto was left to work with.

Although there was still boisterous cheering the moment Cotto arrived about half an hour later for his public appearance, the noise was seemingly amplified only by the echoes of a few rabid supporters in a relatively emptied lobby.

Not that Cotto minded.

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“Everything Manny has, everything he gets, he has earned,” Cotto told reporters with the stoic nonchalance of a person who is familiar with the throng his opponent can attract, the ones that went off looking for the nearest lunch venue after Pacquiao had left the scene.

“He has earned the right to enjoy it all.”

While Cotto has accepted that he cannot do anything about the gulf in popularity between him and his upcoming foe, he knows he is in control of the most important aspect of this whole event—fight night.

And for all the adoring worshippers that collect at his feet with every step, Manny Pacquiao, Cotto said, will be left to fend for himself once the two boxers are let loose in the middle of the ring on Nov. 14.

“Nobody can come in there to help Manny,” Cotto told reporters present. “Once the fight starts, there is only going to be me, Manny and the referee. No one else will be there in the ring. Nobody can help Manny or give him something to hit me with.”

Pacquiao arrived at the venue wearing a brown coat over a green shirt. And although he came late for the event, there was a palpable sense of excitement in the air, one that caught fire each time television cameras panned to groups carrying Philippine flags or fight-related shirts and souvenirs.

He waltzed through interviews with his usual canned responses of doing his best for his countrymen and fighting hard enough to cement his legacy.

“If I win a seventh title in another weight, it will be history,” said Pacquiao. “This is a very important fight for me and I am very focused for this fight.”

For his part, Cotto said he wasn’t worried about Pacquiao’s speed, the overwhelming factor that has placed the General Santos City native as the odds-on favorite in possibly every proposition cooked up by sports bookies, because his camp has come up with solutions to negate that.

“We’ve studied him and we’re prepared for his speed,” said Cotto. “I have hand speed like Manny.”

“But can Manny's power equal Miguel Cotto's on Saturday night? I am very calm. I have been doing this for many years,” Cotto said in an interview with Reuters.

Cotto also dismissed claims that he was struggling to make the weight. Although the Puerto Rican’s cheeks looked more hollowed out than usual, there was none of the signs, indeed, of a person crash-dieting to make a certain weight limit.

He had a light spring in his step and he wasn’t cranky at all. “I’m not worried about my weight,” he said. “I’m eating well.”

Source: http://sports.inquirer.net/breakingnews/breakingnews/view/20091111-235604/It-was-Mannys-stage-in-Las-Vegas

Miguel Cotto vs Manny Pacquiao Preview

2009-11-11T20:00:00.000-08:00

By Trent Pusey November 11, 2009

After months of waiting, Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto will finally meet in the ring this Saturday at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. It should be an exciting fight and the action begins at 9pm ET on HBO pay-per-view. The undercard features Julio Cesar Chavez Jr as well as Daniel Santos vs Yuri Foreman.

Miguel Cotto vs. Manny Pacquiao (WBO Welterweight Title)
Money Line: Cotto +190; Pacquiao -250

Miguel Cotto, 34-1 (27 KOs), was once the most feared welterweight in the world. After a thrilling loss to Antonio Margarito, in which Margarito may or may not have had illegal hand wraps, Cotto was no longer invincible. After a less than impressive win over Joshua Clottey, Miguel Cotto is looking to regain some of the luster that Margarito wiped away. Cotto is an exceptional boxer with amazing heart and toughness. Pacquiao represents his biggest fight, but the Puerto Rican is no stranger to the big stage. He headlined Madison Square Garden against Zab Judah and again with Shane Mosley. This will be his second time on pay-per-view from the MGM Grand. His first was with Margarito. The X-factor with Cotto will be how he looks during the weigh-in. The 145 pound catchweight helps Pacquiao. A drained and fatigued Cotto would help even more.

Manny Pacquiao, 49-3-2 (37 KOs), has been making history with every fight and this one is no different. He is attempting to become the first boxer to win a world title in seven different weight classes. As meaningless as boxing titles have become, it is still a mighty impressive feat. Pacquiao’s run has been amazing but his aura of invincibility really started to form after he made Oscar De La Hoya quit on his stool last year. Pacquiao followed with a quick dismantling of Ricky Hatton in May of this year, only adding to the aura. Manny appears unstoppable. His lightning fast hands and desire to engage have not only lead him to a slew of wins, but have garnered him millions of fans. There is bound to be a ceiling on Manny’s ascent up the weight classes. We will see if Miguel Cotto is in fact that ceiling this Saturday.

Fight Predictions

Trent: Both of these men are dangerous fighters, but the current wave of momentum greatly favors Manny Pacquiao. Freddie Roach has done an excellent job of scouting Pacquiao’s opponents, and his confidence in Pacquiao alone is enough for me to side with Pacman. If Cotto comes out of the weigh-in looking strong then I might want to change my opinion. Miguel Cotto is the biggest puncher that Manny Pacquiao has ever been in the ring with. He can most certainly put an early end to Pacquiao’s evening. But all the other intangibles are in Manny’s favor. Cotto also has a propensity to cut easily; never a good thing when you are in the ring with Manny Pacquiao. As long as Manny is careful in his exchanges, I see a 116-112 win for Pacman.

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Paul Magno: The pressure is all on Cotto in this one. A loss for Manny means a brave effort against a bigger warrior; A loss for Cotto means a loss to a naturally smaller fighter and the end of the line in his quest for mega-fights and the accompanying mega-paydays. Stylistically, Pacquiao represents the type of fighter that has given Cotto problems in the past: a quick-fisted southpaw who throws from unorthodox angles. A much bigger Margarito never wobbled Cotto as much as “Chop Chop” Corley or, even, Zab Judah in the past. Cotto will have to deal with his two achilles heels in this contest: mental pressure and a lightning-fast lefty. Pacquiao rides the wave of history and beats a game, but befuddled Miguel Cotto via shockingly quick stoppage in the 5th.

Corey Willinger: Miguel Cotto has been getting the raw end of this deal since the beginning, and I don’t expect things to get any better for him on fight night. He’s been forced to put his title on the line without reason, and he’s battling history as Pacquiao attempts to become the first “seven-division” champion. The fact that he is a natural welterweight was Cotto’s only real advantage coming in, and Freddie Roach has effectively taken that away by having him weigh in at 145 pounds. The speedier Pacquiao will start finding his range after a round or two and will be ahead on the cards when he forces a tenth round stoppage over a bloodied Cotto. Hopefully Miguel finds the beating, both in and out of the ring, worth every penny.

Bryan Trafford: My prediction for the Pacquiao/Cotto fight is Pacquiao by unanimous decision. I don’t think he will knock Cotto out, but I do see him outboxing him over twelve rounds. I think Pacquiao will look to give Cotto angles, and get in and get out. I don’t think Manny will engage in a slugfest, to his own better judgment. This fight will be more competitive than his last two fights, but Pacmania will continue to run wild.

Source: http://insidefights.com/2009/11/11/miguel-cotto-vs-manny-pacquiao-preview/

Pacquiao truly a ring rarity

2009-11-11T19:57:00.000-08:00

By Robert Morales, Staff Writer
Posted: 11/10/2009 10:39:00 PM PST

HOLLYWOOD - Manny Pacquiao has won major world championships in four weight classes. Some publications - not this one - are giving him credit for having won titles in six weight classes because of victories over Marco Antonio Barrera at featherweight and Ricky Hatton at junior welterweight.

There were no major belts on the line in those two fights. But Barrera and Hatton were, at least, people's champions at the time.

Either way, what Pacquiao has accomplished is rare, to be sure. On Saturday he will try to add a fifth major title in as many divisions when he challenges Miguel Cotto for his welterweight world title at MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum, has been in the game more than 40 years.

Among the fighters he has promoted is Oscar De La Hoya, the only fighter to win major championships in six weight classes. But his sixth came in a middleweight title fight against Felix Sturm, and many thought Sturm beat De La Hoya, who clearly struggled to carry his power up that high. Bulking up also slowed his hand and foot speed.

Pacquiao, who won his first title in the 112-pound flyweight division, had no such trouble when he knocked out Hatton in the second round at 140 pounds last May at MGM Grand. He was lightning quick and powerful.

"Manny Pacquiao's entire career has been incredible," Arum said. "I mean, I have never in all the time I've been in boxing seen a fighter who keeps going up in weight and keeps getting better rather than diminished. Because there's always, when a guy goes up in weight, does he bring his punch with him? And does it slow him down going up in weight?

"Well, Manny seems to be getting faster and his punches seem to be getting stronger. So it's a phenomenon that we have never seen before in boxing. I mean that. The body of work that Manny Pacquiao represents is something that is completely unique in the sport."

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Pacquiao is a special athlete, and that certainly has played a big part in what he has achieved. But as he sat in his dressing room at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood last week - wearing that infectious smile - he talked about another aspect of his success.

School was in.

"Aside from hard work in training, I study how to make boxing easy," Pacquiao said. "Everybody knows that boxing is a hard sport and it's something where I say, `How can I make it easier than what it is?"'

In other words, as he has moved up he has analyzed what he must do to succeed in the heavier divisions.

"For example," he said, "tomorrow you have an exam for science. So, you have to now study the science subject, not mathematics. That's what I mean."

Freddie Roach has trained Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37 KOs) for more than eight years. He said Pacquiao's willingness to learn is one of the key factors in Pacquiao being all he can be.

"Manny is never satisfied," Roach said. "People win world titles, they get satisfied and they don't learn anymore. Pacquiao is really hungry for knowledge, he wants to improve himself. His work ethic is unbelievable.

"The thing is he's like a throwback. People say, `Who's the next Manny Pacquiao?' I say, `We're not going to see another Manny Pacquiao in our lifetime.' Things like this don't happen every day."

Pacquiao's last loss was to Erik Morales in March 2005. Since then, Roach has worked hard to make Pacquiao more of an all-around boxer rather than just a wild-swinging brawler. Pacquiao has been more than a willing disciple of Roach's tutelage. Had he not been, it's doubtful he would be where he is today.

It's not like he has become a boxer who dances and runs his way to victory because he is not carrying his power up in weight either, or because he can't handle bigger punches coming his way. Since that narrow loss to Morales, Pacquiao has won 10 consecutive bouts, seven by knockout.

There's another element to Pacquiao's success. He wants to give the best he can and he wants his supporters to be wildly excited about his performance. He never wants to be accused of being in one of those yawn-fests where 12 rounds seem like 20.

He still is very explosive.

"My responsibility of being a fighter is not only for myself and for my family, but of course, you have a responsibility to make people happy, especially people who love boxing," said Pacquiao, 30.

"You have to do your job. You have to work hard and make people like your fighting, the way you fight in the ring.

"Not like somebody who doesn't care about the fight, you know, as long as he wins he doesn't care how the fight is, if it is a good fight or not."

Pacquiao never is in a dull fight, regardless of the inordinate amount of weight classes in which he has toiled. Even prestigious peers like Bernard Hopkins admire him.

"Pacquiao is going to chop Cotto up," Hopkins said. "Manny is the Bruce Lee of boxing. You can't tell where his shots are coming from. Unlike Rocky, Bruce Lee was a real dude and so is Manny."

Oh, absolutely.

Source: http://www.presstelegram.com/sports/ci_13759914

"Pacman's going to chop Cotto up"

2009-11-11T19:56:00.000-08:00

Bernard Hopkins says Manny Pacquiao is boxing's 'Bruce Lee', and will chop up Miguel Cotto.

The Pacman will bid for his seventh world title when he challenges for Cotto's WBO welterweight strap inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Once again Pacman will be naturally the smaller man, having already disposed of Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton in devastating fashion in the last 12 months.

But former undisputed middleweight king Hopkins says size really won't matter come fight night.

"Pacquiao is going to chop Cotto up. Out of respect, Cotto will get some rounds, but Manny is the Bruce Lee of boxing," said B-Hop.

"His basketball and martial arts background give him that speed and agility. You can't tell where his shots are coming from. Unlike Rocky, Bruce Lee was a real dude and so is Manny."

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Another man picking Pacman to prevail on Saturday is Britain's former super-middeweight king Joe Calzaghe. He too believes speed and not size will the key to a fascinating match-up.

"I think Manny Pacquiao is going to be too quick for Cotto," said Calzaghe.

"I was ringside when Cotto fought Clottey. He seemed to struggle a bit in that fight and it is hard to say what he will do against a faster, quicker Pacquiao. I know people say Cotto is the bigger guy but I still think Pacquiao beats him in a decision."

Former heavyweight king Mike Tyson is also picking Pacquiao for another massive win, and doesn't believe Cotto will make it to the final bell.

He said: "I pick Manny Pacquiao by knockout. I think he will knock him out in 7 or 8. Manny just has too much for Cotto."

Source: http://www.espnstar.com/other-sports/news/detail/item351818/%22Pacman%27s-going-to-chop-Cotto-up%22/

Manny Pacquiao best pound-for-pound fighter ever?

2009-11-11T19:54:00.001-08:00

by OldSchool

An argument can be made, and a darn good one, that if Manny Pacquiao wins his seventh weight-class title Saturday in a welterweight championship fight against Miguel Cotto, Pacman legitimately could be considered as the best pound-for-pound fighter ever.

I’ve got a lot of admiration for Pacquiao, but I have to point out that (through no fault of his own), his achievements are somewhat watered down.

There are so many weight classes, champions and sanctioning organizations, it’s hard to take the word “champion” seriously.

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Even if Pacquiao wins on Saturday, he will be only one of five recognized welterweight champs.

Of course none of this is Pacman’s fault. He fights in this era and this era is watered down. As a fighter, Pacquiao is anything but watered down.

But pound-for-pound the best? That’s a tall order. I hate to sound like an old-school old fogie here, but when it comes to pound-for-pound greatness, Pacquiao — and anyone else — would be hard-pressed to match up with Sugar Ray Robinson.

In an era when there was only one champion for just eight divisions, Robinson won the welterweight and middleweight titles, and he was on his way to winning the light-heavyweight championship when he was overtaken in the 13th round by heat exhaustion.

Source: http://oldschool.blogs.pressdemocrat.com/10505/manny-pacquiao-best-pound-for-pound-fighter-ever/

All eyes on 'Pacman' Saturday night

2009-11-11T19:53:00.000-08:00

Hector Longo

As the clock ticks down to Sunday night's "Game of the Year," the New England Patriots at the Indianapolis Colts, thoughts of non-Big 4 sports have crept into the sports landscape.

Saturday night looks to be the perfect Pats-Colts prelim when you consider the pay-per-view offering of Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto for the WBO welterweight championship.

Pacquiao goes by the brand of the "No. 1 Pound for Pound Boxer on the Planet." Who's going to argue? The guy is 49-3-2 and will attempt to win a record seventh world title.

If you watched him systemically destroy Ricky Hatton in his last fight, you understand the greatness of Pacquiao. He simply is a ring machine with a nasty streak that flips on when he hits the ring.

Cotto can't be discounted for a minute, either.

The man has one loss at the plaster-casted hands of Antonio Margarito back in July of 2008. Well, the speculation is that some hardening agent was applied to his hands because Margarito was caught attempting to lay it on thick again against Shane Mosley.

Pacquiao-Cotto from Vegas on Saturday night? Now that's must-see TV, even at the steep price of $54.99.

Quiet Man speaks again ...

Yeah, but is anyone listening? And, does anyone really care?

Give it up for North Reading's Bob Trieger, one of the nicest guys in the business and a heck of a publicist for a handful of pro boxing enterprises, including Methuen-born former "heavyweight champ" John Ruiz.

Trieger reports that the 37-year-old Ruiz remains a "clear and present danger" in the heavyweight division.

Ruiz, a heck of a nice guy in the handful of times we've spoken, has squeaked every ounce of production he could out of his body. At his age, I just wonder if a victory over David Haye for the WBA championship will make a difference in Ruiz' ring legacy.

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Ruiz has been the consummate overachiever throughout his career. His former trainer/manager Norm "Stoney" Stone belongs in the Boxing Hall of Fame in Cazenovia, N.Y., for the job he did nurturing Ruiz and rolling up the paychecks.

At some point, though, it has to end.

Go get 'em, Rob

At 29, Rob Oppenheim still hasn't reached his prime years in golf, but now would be the perfect time for a step up.

Andover's Oppenheim faces a giant challenge in Stage 2 of the PGA Tour's qualifying school next week at Mountain View Country Club in Georgia.

A veteran with Canadian Tour and New England Pro Tour victories on his resume, Oppenheim will be gunning for a Stage 3 spot, which guarantees at least work on the Nationwide Tour — golf's Triple A tour — next summer.

Of course, the ultimate goal is a PGA Tour card for Oppenheim, who has made the cut in one of the two bigtime tour events in which he's competed. Stage 2 action begins a week from today.

Hopefully, 2009 is the year.

Another fresh face wins bracelet

We watched the final table of the World Series of Poker last night on ESPN as David Cada, a 21-year-old out of Michigan, took home over $8 million for the title.

Clearly, the drama surrounding this event, which began with 6,494 players at the Rio in Las Vegas for eight full days in July, makes for incomparable television.

Of course, TV pares three-plus days of final table action — a total of 364 hands into a couple hours of coverage. The drain, the mental toll and the anguish of players, who when you come down to it are all pretty much equal and have their fate determined by the flip of the flop, turn and river, can't seriously be displayed in two hours.

While 78 percent of the poll participants at wsop.com had predicted pro/poker celeb Phil Ivey to win, he took home seventh overall, denied again poker's greatest prize while yet another youngster burst out of nowhere to beat the best.

I admit it, if I could have watched the final table action live, from beginning to end, I would have been transfixed.

To me, the World Series main event has become the gambling equivalent of the Boston Marathon.

If you play the game and can afford the $10,000 entry fee, isn't it a shot every poker player has to take? Now, if I could only convince my wife.

Source: http://www.eagletribune.com/pusports/local_story_315004409.html?keyword=topstory

Crowd goes wild: 'Manny, Manny!'

2009-11-11T19:50:00.000-08:00

LAS VEGAS – He was 30 minutes behind schedule, late as usual, but the moment Manny Pacquiao stepped into the main lobby of the MGM Grand on Tuesday the place went crazy.

The crowd that packed the lobby of the grand hotel here in Sin City chanted his name ‘Manny, Manny’ and clicked away with their cameras as the 30-year-old Filipino superstar inched his way to a makeshift ring that was put up days before.

Once in, Pacquiao, very casual in jeans, running shoes and an army-green jacket, raised his arms and acknowledged the cheers from his fans. He faced all sides of the ring, and looked more like a leading presidential candidate.

It was a grand welcome ceremony for Pacquiao who takes on the new pride of Puerto Rico, WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto, at the hotel’s Grand Garden Arena on Saturday for what should be the biggest fight of the year.

Promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank said it could even be more than that, even more than being the fight of the decade, saying it could go down in history as one of the great classics ever. He may be wrong but he may be right.

Pacquiao, whose popularity has grown 10 times with each win over the last couple of years, is well-loved not only in the Philippines but in every corner of the world, including the United States, Mexico or, sad for Cotto, even Puerto Rico.

The kind of reception he got Tuesday was a very clear sign.

“Floyd Mayweather never had it like this,” said Top Rank publicist Fred Sternburg as he chased Pacquiao out of the ring. Of course, he referred to the undefeated American who, after a long layoff and a recent win over a smaller foe, still claims to be the best.

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Pacquiao smiled all the way, and couldn’t control his laughter at times, as he fielded questions from the media, which should come in full force for Wednesday’s final press conference. There he will face more questions, and should be ready with longer answers.

He faced the media and fielded questions on top of the ring, but it was so crowded, so noisy you could barely hear him two feet away.

But the kind-hearted fighter who can easily knock out an opponent with one punch was heard saying the coming fight is “nothing personal” between him and Cotto, and should be “nothing personal” between their trainers as well.

Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s trainer for eight years now, is on a shooting spree, having said some nasty things against the other camp, including his counterpart, Joe Santiago, who “has never fought and doesn’t really know how it is being inside the ring.”

Again, Pacquiao said it shouldn’t get as personal as this.

The Pinoy pound-for-pound champion was scheduled to come in at 11 a.m. but jumped out of his customized bus that took him from his hotel, the Mandalay Bay, which is just five minutes away, 30 minutes behind.

But no one really cared.

“I’m happy. I am focused on the fight, and I believe in myself. I don’t want to say anything before the fight. I will wait. But I’m ready now. I’m ready to go,” said Pacquiao.

He left after 15 minutes, taking the backdoor. An hour later Cotto came in. That’s a different story
.

Cotto doesn't mind being the underdog

2009-11-11T19:49:00.000-08:00

LAS VEGAS
– Miguel Cotto is the underdog. And he doesn’t mind at all.

“I expected it to be like this,” said the wide-bodied champion from Caguas in Puerto Rico during Tuesday’s welcome ceremony at the MGM Grand, just three days before his head-on collision with superstar Manny Pacquiao.

Cotto, who turned 29 just days ago, was welcomed an hour after Pacquiao left and took with him more than half of the crowd, of course, predominantly Filipino, that packed the hotel’s main lobby as early as 10 in the morning.

After Pacquiao left, the excitement died down a bit, but Cotto just felt fine with it. He had his own following, his own pack of fans that shouted his name and waved the Puerto Rican flag, but not as boisterous as that of Pacquiao’s.

It’s understandable, Cotto being the underdog.

“Everything that Manny has, he has earned,” said Cotto of Pacquiao’s immense popularity, and not to mention the Filipino’s fat bank account.

Cotto came in wearing a tracksuit, and looked so serious as if the actual fight was to start in a few minutes. With cheekbones a little more prominent that a week ago, he said he’s ready to fight.

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“I’m prepared for the speed of Manny. I have equal hand speed and prepared well with my sparring partners. I’m prepared for anything,” said Cotto, who stakes his WBO welterweight (147 lb) crown at a catchweight two pounds less.

Again, he brushed off reports that he’s starving himself to death, just to make the weight, and avoid being fined $1 million for each pound in excess of 145.

“I’m eating well and I’m not worried about my weight,” he insisted before the media that crowded him in one corner of the ring.

Cotto must have been told that just a while ago, the hotel’s main lobby was jumping like crazy with Pacquiao. Again, he said he didn’t mind, because on the night of the fight, the battle turns one-on-one.

“It’s going to be just Manny and me and the referee. There’s nobody else. And we have the key to the fight. Our camp will make the difference.”

All he wants now is the last laugh. – Abac Cordero

Pacquiao's meteoric rise impresses Bob Arum

2009-11-11T19:48:00.000-08:00

LAS VEGAS
- Even Bob Arum, in his more than 40 years in boxing, can’t find the answer.

“Let me tell you this. I have never in my 40 or 46 years in boxing seen anything like this. This is not supposed to happen,” said Arum at the main lobby of the MGM Grand in the morning of Tuesday as he waited for the arrival of the greatest boxer in the planet today, Manny Pacquiao.

Arum, a legendary promoter, said it’s just unbelievable, phenomenal, in fact, how Pacquiao has risen from the day he first fought professionally at 105 lb to those days he won world titles in the flyweight, super-bantamweight, featherweight, super-featherweight, lightweight and junior welterweight divisions.

On Saturday, the 30-year-old Filipino shoots for a seventh world title in a different weight class, the WBO welterweight crown being held tightly by Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico. No boxer in history has won as many titles in as many divisions. And Pacquiao is on the threshold of that very rare distinction.

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Arum raised a few more questions that should be answered at the MGM Grand Garden Arena three days from now.

“When somebody goes up, the question is does he take his punch with him? I mean does it have an effect when he’s fighting bigger guys? Manny is punching harder now so the question is how much of his speed does he lose as he goes up in weight? But Manny is getting faster and nobody has ever seen anything like that in boxing,” said Arum.

It’s not difficult to agree with the ageless Top Rank president and Harvard lawyer.

“This is a phenomenon we’re seeing before our very eyes. Here you have Manny Pacquiao going up in weight goes from one division and he’s fighting probably the toughest welterweight in the world. A guy who punches hard and takes a good punch -- a real, real top welterweight,” said Arum.

“And Manny’s going up against him (Cotto). Who knows what’s going to happen? People ask me all the time who’s gonna win? The truth is, ‘I don’t know. I really don’t know. If this fight is going this way or that way I don’t know.’”

Arum said he’d be waiting to find out if Pacquiao could take or handle Cotto’s punch. If he does, then good.

“The question is will Miguel be able to catch Manny with those devastating left hooks and if he does how will Manny handle that punch because I’m pretty confident that Manny, if hit, will never have been hit harder than he would. How does Manny react? Those are the questions,” Arum raised.

Pacquiao was asked how he managed through the years, going up from one division to the next, and in the process beating great champions like Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, Juan Manuel Marquez, David Diaz, Oscar dela Hoya and Ricky Hatton.

“It just happened. I watched the tape [when a 105-pounder] and I’m a kid, cocky. I struggled to make weight and lost my flyweight belt because I couldn’t make weight. Now, I feel strong. Like David and Goliath, as an example. But if you believe in God and train hard, if you love your opponent and love everybody, it is good,” he told fightnews.com.

Arum needs a little more proof. And that should come Saturday.

Roach wary of Cotto's smarts

2009-11-11T19:47:00.000-08:00

MANILA, Philippines - Trainer Freddie Roach isn’t taking any chances in Manny Pacquiao’s fight against Miguel Cotto in Las Vegas this Saturday night (Sunday morning, Manila).

When Roach was in Baguio City supervising Pacquiao’s workouts, he confided that Cotto presents a unique challenge for the Filipino ring icon who’s shooting for a record seventh world title in as many weight divisions.

“Cotto can come forward or he can hit and run,” said Roach. “He’s coming off a hard win (over Joshua Clottey) and I’m sure his confidence is back (from losing to Antonio Margarito). We’re studying tapes of his fights, not to pin down his style but to list down his mistakes, things that he won’t be able to change. We’ve got to do our homework in putting together a gameplan and it’s not easy because Cotto’s pretty smart.”

Cotto’s ability to switch-hit is a concern but Roach said when the bell rings, Pacquiao will be ready for whatever the defending WBO welterweight titlist from Puerto Rico dishes out.

A natural left-hander, Cotto fights orthodox. He is expected to counterpunch in the fight, emulating what Juan Manuel Marquez did in two close contests with Pacquiao.

“We chose our sparmates based on what we expect Cotto to do against Manny,” said Roach. “(Jose Luis) Castillo) and (Danny) Escobar come forward while (Shawn) Porter and (Urbano) Antillon like to move around,” said Roach. The four sparring partners took turns in the ring with Pacquiao during the Baguio camp. At the Wild Card Gym, Roach brought in fresh sparmates Rashad Holloway and Raymundo Beltran to alternate with Porter and Antillon.

Despite Cotto’s vaunted resiliency, Roach predicted a convincing win for Pacquiao because of his speed and power.

“Cotto won’t last, that’s for sure,” continued Roach. “I don’t know if he’ll go as quickly as (Ricky) Hatton but Manny will knock him out or stop him because of cuts. Cotto’s a bleeder and Manny will take advantage of that. Cotto won’t last the distance. I’m 100 percent sure Cotto isn’t going 12 rounds with Manny.”

Cotto’s reputation as a bleeder was enhanced when he was cut above the left eye in his split decision win over Clottey last June. He managed to finish the fight on his feet but his face was a crimson mask. The gash took 20 stitches to close. Last year, the same left eyebrow was ripped open in Cotto’s knockout loss to Margarito. What makes Roach wary of Cotto is the Puerto Rican’s versatility.

“He’s not one-dimensional like Hatton,” said Roach. “He’s naturally left-handed but fights right-handed. He switch-hits. His strong hand is the left. Against Manny, he might go southpaw. He’ll try to confuse Manny by also going orthodox. He’s a clever guy and makes good adjustments during a fight. That makes him dangerous because you’ve got to be on your toes when he makes his move.”

Roach said even as Pacquiao weighed in at 138 for the fight against Hatton and will likely come in close to 145 at the weigh-in tomorrow, his body has adapted to the build-up of functional muscle that conditioning coach Alex Ariza worked on.

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“It’s incredible how Manny has matured into his new weight,” said Roach. “Most guys lose a little bit of their speed and power when they move up. But not Manny. He’s hitting harder and stronger than ever. I can feel his power when we do the mitts.”

Former world welterweight champion Carlos Palomino, however, doubts that Pacquiao will be able to take care of Cotto in the same way he manhandled David Diaz, Oscar de la Hoya and Hatton who were all bigger than the Filipino.

“I believe Cotto will be a little too strong,” said Palomino, quoted by William Dettloff in The Ring Magazine. “I’m still not sold on Pacquiao being able to truly beat a full-fledged welterweight. Cotto is very strong, very dangerous. Pacquiao is, too, but I just don’t feel he can beat a legitimate 147-pounder. I still see a small guy who’s very talented and I love his hand-speed and conditioning but I still have doubts about how he can beat a legitimate welterweight.”

Roach said De la Hoya never went down against Pacquiao because the Filipino held back. It wasn’t an indication that Pacquiao’s power isn’t as potent against bigger opponents, he added.

“Once Manny lets go of that left, watch out because it’s so deadly,” said Roach. “His right hand is strong, too.I think the left will do the job on Cotto. As for pressure on Manny to win his seventh world title, that’s no problem. Manny loves pressure. Going for his seventh world title is a huge motivation. He wants it, 100 percent.

Writer Eric Raskin said “Cotto has the potential to saw Pacquiao in half with body shots or turn out his lights with a single left hook to the jaw” and described the Puerto Rican as “a legitimate superstar, one of the most reliable ticket-sellers in boxing.” As for the showdown this weekend, Raskin said, “it’s a fight where the risk-reward ratio might be just right for both boxers.”

‘Marvelous effort’

2009-11-11T19:46:00.001-08:00

By Edri K. Aznar

IT’S not only Manny Pacquiao who will be in a world title fight this month.

The 18-year-old “Marvelous” Marvin Sonsona, who is also from Gen. Santos City, but is now based in Cebu is gearing up for the first defense of his World Boxing Organization super flyweight champion Marvin Sonsona against former world title challenger Alejandro Hernandez on Nov. 21 at the Casino Rama in Ontario, Canada.

“He’s ready to go. I can say that he’s 100 percent,” Nonito Donaire Sr., who acts as Sonsona’s coach along with Jun Agrabrio, told Sun.Star Cebu in an interview yesterday.

"The Manny Pacquiao Blog". Click here for stories and updates on the Filipino boxing champ.

The 18-year-old Sonsona did 10 rounds of sparring and two rounds of punch mitts yesterday at the IPI Gym in Mandaue City.

Donaire Sr. and Agrabio have been working on Sonsona’s battle plan for Hernandez and they’re opting for Sonsona to fight a chess game.

“I saw him fight once in the US, he has no power but is slippery. He always moves that’s why we’ll just wait and counterpunch,” said Donaire Sr.

Athough Hernandez has never been knocked out in his career, Donaire Sr. is confident that Sonsona is capable of stopping the 23-year-old Mexican.

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“If Marvin catches him, there’s a huge chance that he’ll get knocked out,” said the famed Filipino trainer and father of interim World Boxing Association super flyweight titlist Nonito Donaire Jr.

Sonsona, who won the WBO title from veteran banger Jose Lopez just last September, has a perfect record of 14 wins and 12 knockouts, while Hernadez is 22-7-1 with 11 knockouts.

Donaire Sr. will be leaving tomorrow for a stopover in Las Vegas before going to Canada.

He will be in the corner of veteran journeyman Federico Catubay when he faces Mexican Juan Alberto Rosas in an International Boxing Federation super flyweight title eliminator on Nov. 13 at the House of Blues at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, a day before the much -anticipated bout between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto.

Donaire Sr. will then skip the Pacquiao-Cotto fight because he will be leaving for Toronto on the same night.

Sonsona and Agrabio will be leaving this Saturday for Canada and will have their media workout this Sunday.

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on November 12, 2009.