PACQUIAO HAD SOME INJURIES TOO

Las Vegas, NV: Manny Pacquiao won his 7th division world title fight with a magnificent TKO over a very strong and tough Miguel Cotto.

But he did not escape unscratched.

“Cotto’s punches hurt but I just pretended they did not so as to discourage him” Pacquiao was quoted as saying.

After the 12-round fight, Cotto was taken to the hospital upon advice of the Nevada Athletic Commission as a pre-cautionary measure for routine full body scan. Thankfully, it was announced later that his is fine and will box again another day.

Pacquiao did not have to go but he stayed at the dressing room for several minutes to be attended by a plastic surgeon. Bob Arum indicated that they had to “drain some blood from his right ear to prevent the so called “cauliflower” effect that is prevalent on boxers and wrestlers.

At the post fight press conference the ever smiling world champion came in sporting a huge bandage on his right ear.

But he did not seem affected as he answered questions from the media.

He even sang a few bars of the same song he sung at the Jimmy Kimmel Show a week ago and invited everyone to witness his concert. “Of course you will have to pay $40.00”, he said.

COTTO: "I'm Completely Recovered From The Margarito Fight"

After so many press conferences, there‘s not much left to say. All the good questions have been asked and answered. And asked again and answered again. So what else is there? It’s late - just over a week until fight night - and if there’s a good question out there that still needs to be asked, no one has heard it. And it might be too late for second chances. Besides, it’s not like Miguel Cotto is running for office, trying to sway undecided voters to his side just before the midnight hour. You have to figure by now, all the important questions have been asked and sides picked. Most have been asked a dozen times or more, stuff like, “How are you going to deal with Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao’s speed,?” Or, “What have you been working on in the gym?” Or, “How is your weight situation?” Good questions, but tired questions. Cotto is not going to convince anyone to come over to his side, not now, not when it’s this close to the Big Night. He must be tired of repeating himself. But that’s part of the fight game and Cotto will play his role in it, quietly and politely answering even the most foolish questions, the ones that have been asked a dozen times already. So on a conference call Thursday night, just nine days before his fight, Cotto went through the drill one more time, if not to win voters, maybe to get more pay-per-view viewers. “I plan on going home to Puerto Rico as the winner,” he said, again. “We wouldn’t have taken this fight (with a 145-pound catch weight) if we didn‘t think I‘d be at my best.” To the many Manny supporters out there, I can promise you this: Cotto is a very confident fighter. And he seems to easily ignore the wild predictions of Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, who says his fighter will win by an early knockout.. Maybe round one. . A great trainer, Freddie is a heck of a psychologist. Asked what he thought about Freddie’s prediction, Cotto didn’t miss a step. “Forget about what Freddie Roach says. He’s not going to be (fighting). All he can do is train Manny the best he can. No matter what Freddie says, I have a very strong mind, but I’m not going to (play mind games) with Freddie.” Might have been fun. The facts of the fight are this: Cotto (34-1, 27 KOs) , of Caguas, Puerto Rico, will put his WBO welterweight title on the line when he faces Pacquiao (49-3-2, 27 KOs) of the Philippines at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Nov. 14 (HBO, pay-per-view). Cotto is expected to make $10 million and Pacquiao will take home about $20 million before taxes. But the guaranteed winner in this fight is promoter Bob Arum, who handles both fighters. “My job as a promoter is to put my fighters into those fights where they can make the most money,” he said on the conference call. “In that regard, I’ve done my job.” In spades. It doesn’t seem right to call this just a fight. It deserves something bigger, something better. But then you think back to other great fights - Ali and Frazier, Micky Ward and Arturo Gatti, Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo - and you realize some fights don’t need any help. They don’t need nicknames, or gimmicks, though they are calling this fight, “Firepower,” which doesn’t have the same ring to it as the “Thrilla in Manila,” or the “Rumble in the Jungle.” While Cotto is defending his WBO belt, Pacquiao is going for his seventh title. Asked what he thought about that, Cotto again didn’t hesitate. “If he thinks he’s going to win a seventh title, he picked the wrong fighter to do it against.” As for Pacquiao’s legendary hand speed, Cotto wasn’t giving out any secrets, but he did say “his speed is not going to be the factor everyone thinks it’s going to be.” Asked if he’s a better fighter since his close win over Joshua Clottey in June, Cotto said he fought nine rounds with a huge gash over his eye against a worthy opponent. How can that not make you a better fighter? “And I won,” he said. “I learned how to deal with huge problems during a fight.” He’ll have to deal with another huge problem on the night of the 14th. Finally, he was asked - again - if he is the same fighter today that he was before he was stopped in a brutal, controversial fight against Antonio Margarito in July 2008. It’s his only loss. “I’m completely recovered from the Margarito fight,“ he said. He’d better be.
......source

Roach bets on Pacquiao victory by KO

HOLLYWOOD — The joke among journalists huddled around trainer Freddie Roach Tuesday afternoon at the Wild Card gym was that they were betting on Manny Pacquiao stopping Miguel Cotto either in the first, ninth or 10th round.

Anybody hoping to make a little money on the side knows that Roach has been spot on with his predictions concerning the Filipino champion lately.

And “I put a thousand on the first, ninth and 10th rounds,” said Roach.

Pacquiao hunts for Cotto’s WBO welterweight belt on Nov. 14 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and the cerebral Roach believes his ward will snatch the crown from an opponent pasted to the canvas.

“Cotto gets hit early and once we hit him early, we’ll take him down,” Roach said.

Pacquiao, who is tapering off as fight night approaches, fought eight more rounds of sparring with Raul Beltran and Urbano Atillano and Roach hopes to have just 10 more rounds—six on Thursday and four on Saturday—of simulated matches before Team Pacquiao heads for Las Vegas.

After the session, Pacquiao went off to his first nationally televised appearance in the United States via the Jimmy Kimmel show where, according to Top Rank in its official website, the reigning pound-for-pound champ even belted out a ballad.

Pacquiao is slated to hold his media workout Wednesday afternoon at the Wild Card gym.

“I’m happy with everything and he’s where I want him to be,” said Roach, who has been on target with his predictions in Pacquiao’s last two fights.

Against Oscar De La Hoya in December 2008, Roach predicted a knockout by Pacquiao in the ninth round. After helplessly staying on the receiving end of a relentless barrage, De La Hoya did not answer the ninth-round bell.

Five months later, Roach predicted a second-round KO victory by his ward over British sensation Ricky Hatton. True enough, Pacquiao ended Hatton’s night—and possibly the Briton’s career—in the second round with a powerful left which his current foe, Cotto, described as a punch that could have brought down even Mike Tyson.

Roach said the only way Cotto is going to escape the fury of Pacquiao is to fight dirty, but the multiawarded mentor said he is counting on Kenny Bayless to keep things clean on fight night.

Roach said the game plan is to stay off the ropes and to keep the fight in the middle of the ring. The American has also tipped off Pacquiao on a Cotto mannerism that may help in fulfilling his predictions.

“Cotto cocks the left hook before he throws it,” Roach said of the Puerto Rican champ’s pet punch. “He basically tells you it’s coming.”

ROACH WANTS PACQUIAO TO TRAIN IN BAGUIO IN HIS NEXT FIGHT

Baguio City, yes. Manila, no.

This was how famed trainer Freddie Roach answered a query whether he would again allow Filipino boxing hero Manny Pacquiao to establish his training camp in Baguio for his future fights.

“Baguio is very good. The weather is cold and very pleasant. It’s an ideal place for altitude training needed by any fighter to prepare for a bout,” Roach said after the world junior- welterweight wound up his five-week training stint Saturday at the Gerry Penalosa Gym in Mandaluyong City.

“The most important thing is in Baguio, there were no disturbance,” he said.

“Had it not for the typhoons that hit the city, we could have stayed there for five weeks and attain fully what we planned to accomplish,” he said, reiterating that if he will have his way and Pacquiao again decides to train here, he will recommend it.

The 49-year-old Hall of Famer added though that Manila, where Pacquiao undergone the last week of his preparation, will be his last choice, if ever the capital city will again be considered owing to what he said were distractions that, in one way or the other, affected Pacquiao’s training.

Roach was referring to a pair of workouts that were canceled because of sign of tiredness on the part of his boxer, which he attributed to his staying late at night entertaining visitors, mostly politicians and movie personalities.

“There’s just too much going on in Manila, but we were forced to be here because of the typhoons,” Roach said.

Despite the disruptions Roach assured that the preparations went well and that whatever delay incurred, the training team will make up when the group arrive in Los Angeles where Pacquiao will stay for two weeks before proceeding to Las Vegas where he will battle world welterweight champion Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico.

The welterweight championship fight titled “Firepower,” is set November 14 at the MGM Grand Arena.

“I’m not really worried. He’s (Pacquiao) in great shape he just got to get his mind on track and we’ll have no problems,” said Roach hours before they left for the United States Saturday evening.

Pacquiao himself expressed satisfaction with the way his training went.

“Gumanda ang kondisyon ko. Pagkatapos ng lamig sa Baguio, init naman dito sa Maynila. Medyo nakatulong sa endurance ko,” he told GAZETTE.

Pacquiao opted not to train in Hollywood because he is nearing the limit of his maximum allowable stay, as a non-US resident, in the United States.

Under the Substantial Presence Test, Pacquiao, if he stays beyond the limit, would have to pay taxes based on his earnings worldwide.

Meantime Pacquiao arrived in Los Angeles Sunday morning (Manila time) where he will undergo two more weeks of training at the Roach-owned Wild Card Gym in Hollywood starting today.

Top photo: Six-time world champion pound-for-pound king Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao (R), General Santos, Philippines gets help with his gloves from chief trainer Freddie Roach (ctr) and members of Team Pacquiao at the Wildcard Boxing Club in Hollywood Monday during his first day of training since arriving in the United States on Saturday. Pacquiao is preparing for his upcoming "FIREPOWER" World Welterweight championship fight against three-time world champion and the pride of Puerto Rico Miguel Cotto, Caguas, Puerto Rico. 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.

Pacquiao training in full tilt as Castillo sparring begins!

Read on for the latest news from Camp Pacquiao as ‘The Pacman’ is hard at work in Baguio City, Philippines for his Nov. 14 super fight with Miguel Cotto!



It’s full speed ahead for Manny Pacquiao in his Philippines based training camp. Two weeks into the sparring phase of training, the pound-for-pound king has over 31 rounds under his belt. Thus far Pacquiao has been sparring with highly regarded Mexican upstart Urbano Antillon and undefeated junior middleweight prospect Shawn Porter. Things will no doubt intensify this week as Pacquiao is set to begin sparring with former world champion Jose Luis Castillo. Castillo is now on location in Baguio City and he will engage Pacquiao for the first time Tuesday when the two are set to spar for several rounds. Shawn Porter and Urbano Antillon have been giving Pacquiao some tough work, as head trainer Freddie Roach has an open offer of $1000 cash to anyone who can drop ‘The Pacman’ in their sparring sessions. So far the task has proved to be a daunting one.

“He dominated both guys last week,” Roach told Filipino media outlet Philstar.com after putting Pacquiao through his paces in the swimming pool (a substitution for road work last week as the weather in Baguio City continues to be tumultuous).

With the arrival of Castillo, Roach expects Pacquiao to benefit from being hit by a big strong world class opponent.

“I believe he is weighing around 160 right now,” Roach said of Castillo. “According to him, he has a fight scheduled next month, so he must be in good shape.”

With over thirty rounds of sparring under their belt, Roach intends to have Pacquiao up to 150 rounds by the end of their sparring phase of training.

Pacquiao opened camp in the secluded confines of Baguio City in late September as American tax laws prevented the Filipino champion from operating for too many accumulative days on US soil. As a result, Pacquiao decided to begin training in the boxing crazed Philippines before moving his camp to Los Angeles on Oct. 24. That puts him back in the Pacific time zone three weeks prior to his November 14 super fight with Miguel Cotto.

Pacquiao’s road work had been going well in the high altitude surroundings north of Manila, but devastating storms have hampered his outdoor training and have wreaked havoc on the Philippines as a whole.

A deadly Typhoon and several storms have triggered dozens of landslides and killed nearly 500 people nation wide. Despite being hard at work for the biggest fight of his life, Pacquiao halted his camp in early October to distribute food and supplies to the hundreds of people who have been affected by the country’s worst flooding in 40 years.

The distractions aren’t anything new Pacquiao, who’s fame in his home country is unparalleled around the world. Weather it’s politics, entertainment, family, or natural disaster… the hardest working man in boxing keeps moving forward as his biggest fight always seems to lay right around the corner. This time it comes in the form of Miguel Cotto on Nov. 14, and based on his intense training regime, it is not something Pacquiao is taking lightly.

Pacquiao-Cotto vs Mayweather-Marquez: Top Rank over Golden Boy in the Early Rounds (Plus ask Freddie Roach!)

Two mega bouts just months apart and Top Rank has won the promotional fight by fueling the media with doubts. Of course I’m referring to the Manny Pacquiao / Miguel Cotto fight. Bob Arum may be a genius or is it raw luck? Since he announced that the Ninja and Cotto had agreed to throw down in November the following events have captured the boxing fans attention:

- Arum goes on vacation leaving both camps to negotiate a deal.
- Both teams can’t agree on money or the weight limit.
- Pacquiao’s camp says they might fight Mosley instead of Cotto.
- Arum gets back from vacation and settles all disputes, maybe.
- The Ninja wants belt number seven but Cotto and the WBO say he gets it at 147lbs. not 145 lbs.

Now let’s take a look at the other mega fight set for next month. That would be Floyd Mayweather Jr. / Juan Manuel Marquez. What’s happening in this camp? No news is not good news in the world of boxing promotion. Why is Mayweather Jr. not talking to the media? Where are the controversial statements? Why the trouble selling out this event? Could it be no publicity coming from Golden Boy Promotions? Oscar where are you when we need you? Are you counting on 24/7 to draw the PPV viewers? Haven’t we already seen Marquez up in the mountains pounding tires with a hammer? How about Mayweather Jr. bragging how he is the greatest boxer in history? Been there done that!

Do you really believe that Cotto would turn down a fight against the Ninja which would fill his bank account with millions and millions of dollars? Do you think that a two pound difference would cause the fight to come to a screeching halt? Mosley belongs to Golden Boy and Cotto belongs to Top Rank. Let’s do the math together, if the Ninja fights Cotto then Arum gets all the promoters share of the fight. If the Ninja fights Mosley then Arum splits the money with Oscar De La Hoya. No way Mosley takes Cotto’s spot against the Ninja.

In a nutshell….Pacquiao / Cotto was a done deal the night of the Cotto / Clottey fight when the Ninja told Bob Arum he wanted to fight Cotto. The rest is all hype benefiting the promotion of the event.

Super trainer Freddie Roach says “he is tired of the back and forth nonsense, I just want my fighter in camp preparing for the fight.”

Lee Samuels of Top Rank believes that Pacquiao/ Cotto is capturing the public’s attention because “both fighters are so evenly matched no clear winner, it’s up for grabs.” Hmmm…not so sure about that Lee. The last time I saw the Ninja he was throwing power punches so fast they left vapor trails.

Early on it looks like the Mayweather Jr. / Marquez fight will have trouble selling PPV buys. The flip side of the coin is everyone can’t wait for the Ninja to do his thing against Cotto. Fireworks for sure!!!

....source

Cotto vs. Pacquiao In Jeopardy?

As reported by some media outlets, the proposed mega fight between Miguel Cotto & Manny Pacquiao On November 14th might not go forward. The reason is simple, but not so simple. Manny Pacquiao is now demanding that the fight be for Miguel Cotto’s Welterweight title. Manny Pacquiao is on the verge of being the first seven time world champion in seven weight divisions and the prospect of that clearly has Freddie Roach wanting the fight for Cotto’s Title. Cotto and I quote, states “If Pacquiao wants the fight to be for the title, it will have to be at 147 pounds… My decision is final and firm.” But Pacquiao’s camp is equally insistent that the fight remain at 145 with the title at stake. “We don’t need the fight if the title is not on the line,” Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s trainer, told The Manila Bulletin. “I want Manny to do this for a reason. I want Manny to win seven world titles. Titles are overrated but I would like to see Manny do this.”

My question is why all of a sudden is this coming out, especially after the fight had been announced? Surely, Manny Pacquiao’s camp was fully aware of the title not being up for stake when the fight was announced, Bob Arum has been stating this all along, or is Manny starting to reconsider the fight altogether with Cotto, who at 145 will be only one pound lighter than the 146 he weighed in at for the Clottey fight?

Is the stance by Cotto a relevant one as well? Should a challenger such as Manny Pacquiao (who IS the challenger in this case) be dictating the terms without any challenge from the actual champion, in this case Miguel Cotto?

Cotto, in my OPINION, has swallowed his pride and has taken a lot of abuse the last few weeks since this fight has been announced . He has taken abuse from Pacquiao’s fans and from Manny’s camp as well. He has not been given the respect by the boxing community and has been seen as the weakest opponent for Manny to fight, hence the reason Pacquiao did not jump on Shane Mosley’s proposition to give into Pacquiao’s terms.

It seems Cotto is finally getting aggravated by all of this and putting his foot down. Miguel has settled on the demands of coming down weight to 145, Cotto has given in on the purse of the fight, which from all accounts will be a 65-35 split for Pacquiao. Miguel has given in on the location of the fight which will take place At the MGM Grand in Vegas. I know what some of you are going to say ” Manny is the Pound for pound king, he should call all the shots” But I disagree. That is a STATUS given to a fighter by the fans and boxing experts, NOT AN OFFICIAL BELT. Miguel Cotto holds a Belt and is the reigning WBO champion in the welterweight division, which the last time I checked is at 147 pounds nothing more.

It would be a hypocrisy for the World Boxing Organization to strip Cotto of his belt( which has been the buzz), when Cotto has a legitimate right to state, that if you want to challenge the champion of a specific weight for his belt, you fight him at that weight. If Cotto wanted to fight Manny for his junior Welterweight title I am sure that Manny would say the same thing. Its common sense folks. If Manny wants the fight for Cotto’s belt, then it should be at Cotto’s 147 that is where the belt resides not at 145, which is fair and only right especially if the roles where in reverse.

I am a huge Manny Pacquiao fan quite possibly one of the biggest, but I am a huge fan of boxing which supersedes any fighter. I am starting to think that Freddie Roach and Pacquiao are starting to realize that they might have bitten off more than they can chew. Just a day before this title situation, in which Pacquiao has created, Miguel Cotto recently sent a stern message to Freddie Roach after Freddie had some bold prediction about the outcome of there proposed showdown.

I quote, “Hey Roach, I have some news. I am not Oscar De La Hoya at the end of his career. I am not the overrated Ricky Hatton. Roach knows what he will be facing on November 14th, it will be a war.” Have these words finally sunken into the heads of everyone in Pacquiao’s camp? They know that Miguel Cotto will not budge on this title situation and are NOW saying that without the belt they do not need Cotto. Is this their way out of the fight? Who knows, but the timing of all of this in relation to Cotto’s stern warning have to make you think.

Life is about challenging yourself and others when you are a fighter not taking a short cut to glory. I have to say that in THIS case Manny is trying to take a short cut to glory. He wants the rewards of a belt that is in a higher weight division, without actually allowing the champion to fight at that weight. I would hope that this is not just a ploy to get out of this fight with Cotto because I admire Manny Pacquiao’s body of work.

It would be a shame as well for Cotto to be forced to do something that makes complete sense on his part as well. I have a solution to all of this, Manny if you want to make history and win Cotto’s belt then do it the right way, allow Miguel Cotto to fight without a catch weight and then you would have earned a title the right way.

Cotto has given into all of your demands( and he is the champion), now it is up to you to look into yourself and think long and hard whether you are going to fight your own battle or whether you’re going to have your lawyers or the WBO fight your battle for you. Fans of boxing, Cotto is not fighting Pacquiao for his junior welterweight title he has been there done that, it is the other way around. Manny Pacquiao is fighting for Miguel Cotto’s Belt!

In closing boxing fans. If this fight is canceled then it leaves me with this sad conclusion. Someone that I love as a fighter ( Manny Pacquiao) is nothing more than a bully outside the ring in his negotiating tactics and when FINALLY faced with tough opposition, not only inside the ring, but now outside from Cotto he wants to threaten the fight from moving forward, It seems a little too familiar to why he has not fought Juan Manuel Marquez again. That is a cowardly act that threatens us boxing fans the opportunity to see what can be one of the greatest clashes we have ever seen.

....source