I thought the catch weight bouts for Manny Pacquiao were done and finished with his fight with World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Miguel Cotto last weekend, but I guess I’m wrong. Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach, in an article with Philstar, said “ Maybe we can do Marquez one more time and give him a rematch…It will definitely be a big fight.” Roach is speaking of Juan Manuel Marquez as a backup plan to use in case a fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. doesn’t materialize for one reason or another.

This would be great news if Pacquiao fights Marquez. The two have fought twice and both fights have ended up in controversial outcomes. The first fight ended up in a 12 round draw and the 2nd fight resulted in an even more controversial 12 round split decision win for Pacquiao. Many people felt that Marquez won the fight, and there was no effort on Pacquiao’s part to make up for it by fighting Marquez in a rematch.

The one problem for a rematch is that Roach is talking about the fight taking place at 145 pounds. Frankly, I think that sucks. Marquez already showed against Mayweather that he doesn’t have the frame to carry 144 pounds without being drastically slowed down because of it.

But by Roach wanting the fight to take place at 145, it’s as good as saying that wants Pacquiao to have a huge advantage in the fight. I’m tired of these catch weight fights. I don’t know why Pacquiao has to fight at a catch weight for so many of his fights. He did it with Cotto, and although the fight against Oscar De La Hoya wasn’t at a catch weight, it might as well have been because De La Hoya had to come down to 147 for the fight, a weight he hadn’t fought in years.

Marquez won’t have any say in the matter, because he’s not the more popular fighter and doesn’t have the title. He’ll take the fight anyway he can get it if they offer it to him. But that doesn’t mean it will be fair to Marquez. We already saw that Marquez is too small to fight in the mid 140s, so why fight him at that weight? If Pacquiao wants to fight Marquez, why not fight him at super featherweight (130)? I’ll tell you why, because Marquez would be quick and dangerous at that weight and it would be curtains for Pacquiao.

Roach also is looking at Pacquiao fighting the winner of the January fight between WBA welterweight champion Shane Mosley and WBC welterweight title holder Andre Berto. “Maybe the winner of that Mosley-Berto fight can be a great fighter for Manny.” Well, you can figure the winner of that fight will be Mosley, who Pacquiao should have fought last Saturday night instead of Cotto. I’m not holding my breath on Pacquiao fighting Mosley anytime soon, not unless Mosley gets a little older. Pacquiao will lose to Mosley.

SOURCE: http://www.boxingnews24.com/2009/11/roach-wants-pacquiao-to-face-marquez-at-a-145-pound-catch-weight/

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/

LAS VEGAS – Boxing experts are mixed on who will win the Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto mega-fight saying the outcome will be decided not only by the fighters in the ring but the role both corners play.

Nazim Richardson, trainer for Shane Mosley and Bernard Hopkins, likes the way Pacquiao destroys bigger and stronger opponents and says the Filipino also knows how to impress the judges.

“I think Manny Pacquiao is going to steal the fight,” Richardson said. “He is good at letting his size fool people and when they see him darting around the ring looking scrappy, boxing and moving it translates into a round for him.

“Calling Pacquiao little in his weight class is like calling Mike Tyson a little heavyweight. He knows how to make the round look like the little guy is dominating a big man.”

Buddy McGirt, trainer for Antonio Tarver and Arturo Gatti, says Pacquiao has more experience in his corner with trainer Freddie Roach than Cotto’s trainer Joe Santiago.

“Pacquiao might have the psychological edge as he totally trusts Freddie and is very comfortable with him,” McGirt said. “It is a big stage for someone (Joe) who has never been there before.”

Muhammud Ali’s former trainer Angelo Dundee predicts Cotto’s savage power will take the fight into the later rounds.

“I have seen Cotto train twice now and he’s a stone-cold professional fighter,” said Dundee, who also trained Sugar Ray Leonard and George Forman. “He was oblivious to the outside world when I saw him and he’s very focused.

“You have a perfect blend of style in this fight. If I had a fighter fighting Pacquiao I would implement the things Cotto brings to the table. Certain ingredients that spell Cotto will give Pacquiao trouble.

“Cotto is a pressure fighter and he is going to be on Pacquiao from the get go.”

Ronnie Shields, who trained Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield, also likes Cotto’s chances.

“Pacquiao has a lot of speed but I just feel Cotto is going to walk through him,” Shields said.

“There is no way that Pacquiao is going to be albe to wear Cotto down. Cotto is going to get much stronger. Pacquiao cannot take Cotto’s punches throughout the 12 rounds.”

SOURCE: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/sports/11/13/09/predictions-pacquiao-vs-cotto-mixed

LAS VEGAS— The tickets have been snapped up the moment they hit the selling booths and everyone is expecting crazy figures from pay-per-view revenues.

All because the world wants to see how a once skinny, scrawny kid who used to sleep on cardboard boxes in the street can fight his way to the ranks of the big boys, winning not only fame and riches along the way but also boxing’s most revered mythical title: Pound-for-pound king.

“We are watching a phenomenon unfold before our eyes,” Top Rank chief Bob Arum said of the one-time flyweight king who is now on the threshold of becoming the first boxer to win world titles in seven different weight categories.

“I have not, in my 45 or 46 years in boxing, seen anything like this,” Arum said. “This should have never happened.”

Arum is referring to the fact that the devastating combination of speed and power hasn’t deserted Pacquiao despite the Filipino superstar’s ascension into the heavier ranks. Pacquiao faces Miguel Cotto on Nov. 14, where he will be gunning for the Puerto Rican’s WBO welterweight crown at a catch weight of 145 pounds.

“Manny seems to be punching harder now,” Arum said. “People have been asking if he’ll lose his speed as he goes heavier, but Manny seems to be faster now.”

Arum added that while credit goes to trainer Freddie Roach, who has shaped Pacquiao to be a complete and relentless mix of ring power, the boxer should get a lot of pats in the back too.

“Manny is one of the hardest workers in boxing. I’ve never seen any athlete who trains as hard as Manny does,” said Arum.

Arum said, however, that it would be wrong to take Cotto lightly and that the Puerto Rican’s presence on the corner opposite Pacquiao on fight night is actually what makes the highlight match of the card billed as “Firepower” one of the greatest the sport has ever seen.

“It will be a great matchup not only of the year, of the decade but also in history,” Arum said. “On one hand, here’s Pacquiao, who’s going up in weight and here’s Cotto, the toughest welterweight in the world who punches hard and can take a good punch.

While Arum still gets floored with the way Pacquiao has dominated legitimate welterweights, he believes that once Cotto rocks the Filipino, the latter will be in for a jolting surprise.

Because he promotes both fighters, Arum refused to make predictions about the fight. He did, though, tell audiences what to look for the moment the bell rings and the referee unleashes both warriors in the ring.

“I think the major factor will be if Cotto will be able to reach Manny with those devastating left hooks,” Arum said. “I guarantee you if Manny gets hit, it will be the hardest he will ever have felt in his career. It will be interesting to see how Manny will handle the punch if he does get hit.”

SOURCE: http://sports.inquirer.net/breakingnews/breakingnews/view/20091111-235601/Beware-of-Cottos-left-hook-Arum-tells-Manny