Pacquiao VS Cotto

Freddie Roach offers US$1,000 to anyone who can floor Manny Pacquiao

• Trainer challenges sparring partners to take on Filipino
• Pacquiao faces Miguel Cotto in LA on 14 November

Manny Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach has offered US$1,000 [£611] to any sparring partner that can knock down the Filipino.

Pacquiao, widely regarded as the world's best pound-for-pound fighter, started training on Tuesday at Hollywood's Wild Card club in Los Angeles ahead of his 14 November bout with the Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto.

"The money is still with me and I am telling the new sparring partners that they will be rewarded with $1,000 if they score a knockdown over Manny in sparring," Roach told the Manila Bulletin newspaper's website.

Pacquiao's last fight was his second-round knockout of Ricky Hatton in May.

Pacquiao VS Cotto

Pacquiao-Cotto 24/7: Episode 1 (October 24)
By Randy

Pacquiao vs Cotto 24/7

Number 1 pound-for-pound boxer in the world Manny Pacquiao will be making his third appearance in the HBO documentary series “24/7”. The Emmy Award-winning series will feature the preparations leading to the “Pacquiao vs Cotto” match this coming November 14 at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, Nevada.

The new four-episode series will debut in the US on October 24 with the remaining episodes on October 31, November 7 and the final episode will air on the eve of the fight, November 13.

“The ‘24/7′ franchise provides an engaging and accurate look into the lives of boxers as they toil and sacrifice to get ready for a huge showdown in the ring,” Ross Greenburg, president of HBO Sports.

“Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto are dynamic individuals in and out of the ring, and our cameras will be there to capture all the drama prior to their fall face-off,” he added.

Manny Pacquiao was first featured in the 24/7 series when he was preparing to fight boxing legend Oscar de la Hoya whom he defeated last December 2008. His second was with Ricky Hatton whom he knocked out last May in just 2 rounds.

Watch: Pacquiao vs Cotto 24/7 build up video


Watch the fight live on November 14 here: Pacquiao vs Cotto free live stream

Pacquiao VS Cotto

Pacquiao vs. Cotto: Miguel Will Send Manny Into Retirement
By Manuel Perez

Manny Pacquiao is thinking he’s going to be fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr. sometime next year, but I think World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Miguel Cotto is going to have a lot to say about that and I’m counting on Cotto beating Pacquiao bad and sending him into retirement rather than into mega fight with Mayweather. Cotto, 28, will be facing Pacquiao on November 14th at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Pacquiao and Cotto will be fighting with Miguel’s WBO welterweight title on the line at a 145 pound catch weight.

I still think it’s absurd to fight with the title on the line if there’s a limit that requires the champion Cotto from fighting at the normal weight for the belt. That is so wrong. It won’t matter, though, because Cotto is still going to beat the stuffing out of Pacquiao and will do badly enough where Pacquiao will have to retire rather than continue on. That’s my prediction!

Pacquiao has been beating up weight drained fighter like Oscar De La Hoya and nearly defenseless ones like Ricky Hatton. Now Pacquiao is facing a real threat and he’s going to have a real mess on his hands on November 14th, and I can’t wait to see Pacquiao getting beaten up.

It’s going to give me a lot of pleasure to see Pacquiao’s face getting rearranged by Cotto. I can’t express how much satisfaction I’m going to get watching Pacquiao get knocked down a peg. I just hope that Cotto does it slowly and methodically because I want the beating to last as long as possible.

If Cotto ends things too quickly, Pacquiao won’t suffer all that much and will likely still move ahead and take the fight with Mayweather in 2010. That rightfully be Cotto’s fight, but I know that Mayweather will probably still fight Pacquiao anyway, leaving Cotto, the victor, to have to scrape up whatever he can put together as far big money fights go.

Okay, so back to the beating. I want Cotto to focus on working over Pacquiao’s midsection, but he has to be careful that he doesn’t hit Pacquiao too hard because I don’t want Pacquiao flopping around on the canvas like a fish out of water, gasping for breath after Cotto lands a big body shot. Cotto needs to throw to the sides to make sure he doesn’t knock the air out of Pacquiao’s tiny body.

You can’t have the fight ending early from a body shot. I can just see the excuses that will role in on that one. ‘Ah, I was blinded by flash from a camera and, ah, didn’t see Cotto throwing to my stomach area.’ Next, after working over Pacquiao’s midsection, Cotto needs to go for the face. He’s got to hit him but no too hard. I want the eyes to puff, the lips to bleed and the nose to get flattened, but Cotto mustn’t try to brain Pacquiao with anything too hard because that will be letting him off the hook.

Source.

Pacquiao VS Cotto

The fight will take place in a 20-foot, and not 24-foot, ring.

Promoter Bob Arum today said that the Pacquiao/Cotto fight would be contested in a 20-foot ring, contradicting a report in Primera Hora yesterday in which Cotto's trainer, Joe Santiago, stated that it would be held in a 24-foot ring. Santiago was under the impression that the ring would be 24-feet square because that is apparently what Pacquiao's team requested in the negotiations. But the Nevada State Athletic Commission adheres to a standard ring size of 20 feet and rarely makes exceptions. Arum claims that he doesn't know where the rumor of a 24-foot ring started, but it's not true. Most observers believe that a larger ring would be to Pacquiao's advantage, allowing him more space to box against a fighter many deem to be much slower than him.

Freddie Roach says the fight will go the distance.

In this interview with David Tyler over at Doghouse Boxing, Freddie Roach predicts that Pac/Cotto will go the distance. "Cotto certainly has his hands full but he has some advantages against us," Freddie says. "By fight time he will be 20 pounds heavier than us. He will be the bigger, stronger fighter who is a very resilient guy. Of course he has started to cut lately and I’m hoping that will be a factor for us. Manny’s speed will bust him up a little bit, I hope. I just believe that Cotto is taking this fight more serious than any fight he has had."

No site yet determined for Pacquiao's training camp.

Because Pacquiao is unable to hold his entire training camp for the Cotto fight in the U.S., other sites are currently being sought by his team, although nothing has been decided yet. Cancun is supposedly high on the list of potential locations. Pacquiao wants to train in the Philippines, but Freddie Roach is against it, feeling that their would be far too many distractions for the native hero. When one considers that the fighter is currently over there shooting an action movie (his eighth action movie, actually), well, you kind of have to think Freddie might right about that. Speculation is rampant on the internet that the confused state of Pac's training plans and that the movie-star distractions may catch up with the mighty Filipino when facing a bigger fighter of Cotto's caliber, but for myself, I seriously doubt it. He's had distractions in his camps for years, and he always shows up on fight night focused and in tip-top shape. I've seen it with my own eyes - the guy has a Jedi-like quality in the midst of chaos.

Anticipation high for press tour kicking off at Yankee Stadium.

The first official presser for the fight will be a gala event, open to the public and held at Yankee Stadium on September 10. It's well-known that members of the Yankees are Pacquiao fans, including Derek Jeter, who likely will be ringside for the Pac/Cotto fight. From New York, the press tour moves to Cotto's hometown of Caguas, Puerto Rico on September 12, and then moves to AT&T Park in San Francisco on September 13 with an open-to-the-public event after a Giants/Dodgers game. The tour concludes with a press-only event in L.A. on September 14.
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I think this fight will end in round 8 with Pacquiao gnashing Cotto.

And still!... It's the Hawaiian Punch

Viloria’s Made-for-TV Performance
Dennis Principe

Based on the scorecards, world light flyweight champion Brian Viloria strutted his stuff in a seemingly dominating fashion that made Mexican challenger Jesus “El Azul" Iribe look like he was beaten black and blue, at least for those who failed to watch the GMA-7 telecast.

The official scores of the 12-round bout read 118-110, 117-112 and 117-111, all for Viloria, which means Iribe won three rounds, at most, in the Honolulu, Hawaii card dubbed “Island Assault."

For boxing purists who saw the fight, the point of discussion may well be the 12th and final round when Viloria, already way ahead on points, decided to fight toe-to-toe, thus giving Iribe one final chance to steal a win and ruin Viloria’s goal of giving boxing a rumbling resurgence in the volcanic island.

Strategically, the Waipahu-raised Viloria may have done a foolish decision in the 12th canto as all he needed to do was, metaphorically speaking, go island-hopping and eventually enjoy the fruits of his labor.

But Viloria had other things in mind, something that may have boosted his stock and realize his personal aspiration for Hawaii boxing.

Thanks to Manny Pacquiao, boxing nowadays is about giving fans toe-to-toe action that has to be punctuated by a knockout.

Sure, Viloria may have failed to score an emphatic stoppage but his decision to slug it out in the final round, given the fact he was way ahead, proves that he has the unyielding will of admired champions in the class of Pacquiao.

Boxing is about business and when you talk of business in boxing, you talk of selling tickets, pay-per-view buys and free TV advertisements. That can only be realized by giving fight fans what they want - explosive endings.

Many thinks Viloria adhered to the adage of boxing “protect yourself at all times" in the most modern, suited-for-TV way.

That Viloria indeed protected his stature as a modern-day world champion who won't just sit on big leads but will instead always go for a knockout at any given time.

That fittingly, the thrilling 12th round was the Hawaiian Punch’s cherry on a sundae. - GMANews.TV
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Congratulations to the Hawaiian Punch.
More of the fight review.

Pacquiao VS Cotto

Ticket Alert: Pacquiao-Cotto
"FirePower" On Sale Aug. 17

The date is set for the mega-fight between boxing’s No. 1 pound-for-pound king Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao and three-time world champion Miguel Cotto. Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto, “FirePower” will take place Saturday, Nov. 14 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena and will be televised live on HBO Pay-Per-View beginning at 9 p.m. PST/6 p.m. PST. Tickets priced at $1,000, $750, $500, $300 and $150 go on sale Monday, Aug. 17 at 10 a.m. Ticket are limited to 10 per person and ticket sales at $150 are limited to two (2) per person, with a total ticket limit of 12 per person. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets also are available for purchase at www.mgmgrand.com or www.ticketmaster.com.

“Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto have reached an agreement to fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Saturday, Nov. 14,” said Top Rank Chief Executive Officer Bob Arum. Top Rank is currently working on a major media tour to commence immediately following Labor Day weekend. Details will be announced in the near future.

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. His performance in 2008 was described as “Henry Armstrongesque” as he won world titles at 130 and 135 pounds with victories over Juan Manuel Marquez and David Diaz, respectively, and knocked out Oscar De La Hoya at 147 pounds to complete the trifecta. The winning streak continued in 2009 when he won another world title in a new weight division, dealing defending junior welterweight champion Ricky Hatton a second-round knockout in May at MGM Grand.

Cotto (34-1, 27 KOs), from Caguas, Puerto Rico, has held a world title every year since 2004. Puerto Rico’s most exciting fighter, Cotto held the World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior welterweight crown from 2004-2006. He successfully defended it six times before vacating it to capture the World Boxing Association (WBA) welterweight title at the end of 2006, a title he held for nearly as long. He won his second welterweight title earlier this year as he knocked out Michael Jennings in the fifth round at Madison Square Garden to become the WBO Welterweight Champion. Notable victories on Cotto’s belt include Sugar Shane Mosley, Zab Judah, Joshua Clottey, Pauli Malinaggi and Demarcus Corley.

The Pacquiao vs. Cotto pay-per-view telecast, beginning at 9 p.m. EST/6 p.m. PST, has a suggested retail price of $49.95.

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Reserve/Buy the ticket now.
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Tough Pacquiao-Cotto Fight

ONE of boxing’s legendary trainers sees a tough fight between pound-for-pound king Manny ‘PacMan’ Pacquiao and World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Miguel Cotto.

In an interview with eastsideboxing.com, Emmanuel “Manny” Steward said it’s unfair to give the Filipino boxing icon a clear edge over Cotto when they square off on November 14 in Las Vegas.

While Cotto was not impressive in his last fight against challenger Joshua Clottey, Steward said the latter is actually a tough fighter who could have given welterweight legends Thomas Hearns and Sugar Ray Leonard a rough time in the ring.

“Based on Miguel having such a tough fight there [against Clottey] and Manny looking like a million dollars knocking out Ricky Hatton and Oscar [dela Hoya], that’s why the odds are totally going out of proportion and I don’t think that’s a fair assessment. I see it [Pacquiao-Cotto] as almost a toss-up fight, myself,” Stewards was quoted as saying.

The legendary trainer said a lot of people are actually underestimating Cotto’s size advantage over the Filipino, explaining that the champion from Puerto Rico is a natural welterweight.

Steward also said Pacquiao is a natural junior lightweight or lightweight, which puts the Filipino boxing icon at a disadvantage over Cotto. The Puerto Rican has been listed at 5’7” while Pacquiao is 5’6”.

However, Pacquiao has won the admiration of Steward, who has trained legendary champions like junior welterweight Aaron Pryor and heavyweights Evander Holyfied and Lennox Lewis, and multi-weight titleholders Hearns and De La Hoya. He presently trains heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko.

“He [Pacquiao] has the instincts of a fighter, the balance, the timing, the stamina—everything—and it’s just natural. He’s a fighter! If anyone was ever born to be a fighter, it would be a guy like him or [Roberto] Duran, but he’s better because he has great rhythm, and his defense and timing are a lot better than people think,” he said.

COTTO WEAKNESSES

Steward also said that Cotto has weaknesses in defense, which can cause trouble for the Puerto Rican.

“His defense right up the middle—he has absolutely no defense for that, because his gloves are so wide, and fighters can punch right between his gloves,” the legendary trainer said.

He said that if Pacquiao is able to penetrate Cotto’s defense and hit the Puerto Rican at will, the Filipino has a chance to win their showdown.

“I think he [Cotto] should not fight with his defense being the way it has been before,” Steward said.

The Pacquiao-Cotto fight has been pegged at a catch weight of 145 pounds, or two below the welterweight limit. Freddie Roach, the Filipino’s trainer, would not allow his fighter to battle Cotto at 147 pounds because the Puerto Rican would have a big weight and size advantage on fight night.

“Freddie knows that Manny is really not a true welterweight, and that’s why he’s [Freddie] trying to at least get some kind of equilibrium in those fights by making the opponents come down in weight as close to Manny as they can for balance,” Steward said.
-- Conrad Carino
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Can't wait to see this big fight.

Pacman VS Cotto