Cotto battles to a split decision victory against Joshua Clottey in his last outing – only the third time in his last 14 fights he has failed to stop an opponent. Photograph by Chris Farina.
Manny Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach claims WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto is not the same since suffering an 11th round technical knockout by Antonio Margarito in July, 2008.
Pacquiao will face Puerto Rican Cotto for the title on Saturday in Las Vegas and should he succeed he will become the first boxer ever to win world titles in seven divisions.
The only blemish on Cotto’s record came under scrutiny recently after Margarito was found to have plaster in his gloves in his next fight against Shane Mosley, but Roach insists whether he was cheating or not the effect on Cotto 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.”
As to how to return from such devastating punishment Roach answered, “Time”.
The trainer, widely considered the best in the business, has put his money where his mouth is. Not only is he betting $1000 each on Pacquiao to win by KO in rounds one, nine or ten, he has also offered a cash incentive for any sparring partner who can floor the Filipino superstar in training.
“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.
“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.”
Despite Roach’s criticism of Cotto’s ability to bounce back to top form following his defeat last year, his own charge Pacquiao has succeeded doing just that after being knocked out twice in his career.
Cotto maintains that his fights following the defeat, a comfortable TKO of Michael Jennings and a split decision against Joshua Clottey, prove he is back.
“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://sport.stv.tv/boxing/136769-freddie-roach-believes-cotto-is-damaged-goods/
