EVEN though World Boxing Organization welterweight king Miguel Cotto is the naturally bigger fighter, Manny Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach is confident his ward will win their Nov. 15 (RP time) match.
Roach is certain Pacquiao will beat Cotto because of his superior boxing skills and speed. He also taunted Cotto and said the Puerto Rican world champion was never the same since his first loss at the hands of Mexican warrior Antonio Margarito.
“We’re not going to stand in front of this guy and trade with him. Manny’s a much smarter fighter. Now he’s boxing very smartly and we’re going to expose Cotto. His skills are not quite where these used to be, I feel we’re going to expose him,” said Roach in a report posted at FightHype.com.
Cotto was demolished by Margarito in the 11th round of their world title fight last year.
It was reported that Cotto won’t be defending his WBO welterweight belt and will instead vacate the title to face Pacquiao—a move Roach criticized.
“Him giving up the title is kind of ridiculous I think because he’s going to lose it anyway so it doesn’t matter. I’m going to push for the title to be on the line and the sanctioning body, I think, will honor that because Pacquiao is definitely in the top 10 of the 145 because that is the welterweight division. I mean, anything over 140 pounds is in the welterweight division,” said Roach.
Contender
The pound-for-pound king Pacquiao is currently the No.1 contender in the welterweight division of WBO.
Roach said he won’t allow Cotto to dictate the terms of the fight because Pacquiao is the biggest draw in boxing.
“He’ll probably want 10-ounce gloves also, but we’re going to push for eight-ounce gloves,” said Roach.
As of now, no contracts have been signed for the mega match.
On the other hand, future hall-of famer Shane Mosley’s offer to Pacquiao is still on if negotiations with Cotto bog down.
“Tell them, what I offered is still on the table. The ball is in their court,” said Mosley in a report posted at philboxing.com.
Mosley offered to fight Pacquiao at a catch weight in the welterweight range of 141 to 147 pounds.
Published by Sunstar.
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