BOB ARUM:  We’re really getting close to the fight.  Todd duBoef told me yesterday it really feels like this week is fight week and I know that Manny and Miguel would just as soon have it this week.  Both guys are fit and ready to go.  Miguel worked out in LA on Tuesday and in a Las Vegas gym for some writers on Monday and believe me, he is fit and ready.  We have Miguel on the phone, the welterweight champion of the world, who will be able to tell you how his preparations have been going.

MIGUEL COTTO:  The camp is running very good, first in Puerto Rico and then in Tampa.  Now we move to Vegas for this week and the next one.  Right now, we are just getting ready for the night of the 14th.

What do you think about the history of Puerto Rican boxers and how you fit in?

MIGUEL COTTO:  Puerto Rico has a good boxing tradition with Wilfredo Gomez and Benitez, Carlos Ortiz and Felix Trinidad.  People in Puerto Rico are very interested in boxing.  I am very happy and very proud to be a part of this Puerto Rican history.  First of all, I have to make good work of Manny Pacquiao on the 14th and then I have to go back to Puerto Rico.  I don’t know how the people are going to receive me there, but I hope it is going to be good.

How do you think Puerto Rican boxing fans look at your accomplishments?

MIGUEL COTTO:  I never pay to much attention about the commentators in Puerto Rico.  But I know that some people are happy with my accomplishments in boxing.  Some others do not believe in me but I have to do my work whether the people believe in me or not.  I am here for me, my family and the people that want to follow Miguel Cotto.  For those who want to follow me, they are more than welcome.

How important is it to you that you get credit from the people on the island?

MIGUEL COTTO:  I do not pay too much attention to that.  If I am happy with the work and my family is proud of me..they are the real people that stay beside me.  The people will disband when things go bad.  The real people that are taking care of me, I am here listening to what they say about me.

If you win, where do you think that would put you in the heart of the Puerto Rican fans?

MIGUEL COTTO:  Like I said before, I am going to be wherever the fans put me.  I am never going to claim something that the people won’t give me or where they want to put me.  Wherever they are going to put Miguel Cotto, I am going to be happy.

Pacquiao’s trainer has been talking a lot about knocking out in 1st round…do you hear about that?

MIGUEL COTTO:  Forget about Freddie Roach.  The only thing Freddie can do is train Manny.  He can’t go over the ropes and into the ring to fight against Miguel Cotto.  He can only train Manny the best he can.  He may say and think Manny will knock me out but at the end of the day, it is just Manny and Miguel Cotto in the ring.  No matter what kind of things Freddie Roach says before the fight…I have a very strong mind.  The psyche game?   I’m not going to follow that game.

You are just ignoring it?

MIGUEL COTTO:  Yes.

What kind of accomplishment do you think it is to win seven title is seven weight divisions?

MIGUEL COTTO:  I can only try to reach the goals I have in boxing.  If he thinks he is going to win seven titles in seven weight divisions now, he has picked the wrong moment, the wrong fighter and the wrong opponent.  If he thinks he is going to win the seventh title against Miguel Cotto, he is very wrong.

Where do you think you are now compared to pre-Margarito fight?

MIGUEL COTTO:  That is the problem here in sports.  Wherever you stand, there are ten or twenty people that know about boxing.  I am not going to go to a doctor and tell him how to do his work.  He knows how to do his work and I know how to do my work.  I am pretty recovered from the Margarito defeat.  I showed the world with my last two victories and I don’t have anything else to say about that.

What did you learn in the Clottey fight?

MIGUEL COTTO:  If you ever saw somebody who fought with a huge cut over his eye and had to deal with the cut and an opponent in front of him and win the fight – it is all the things I had to deal with.  I had a huge cut over my eye, a strong opponent in front of me and I was the winner of the fight.  I learned how to deal with huge problems in a title fight.

Pacquiao is talking about dates and opponents – how do you feel about that?

MIGUEL COTTO:  What they say and what they do does not concern me.  They know what they have in front of him.  He better be focused on what they will have in front of him in Miguel Cotto.

Bob, do you want to tell up what you have planned for the 14th?

BOB ARUM:  We are going to do something very unique on the night of the 14th.  We are going to feed the part of the undercard that is not on pay-per-view which features so many aspiring young fighters who are looking to make their mark on boxing and we are going to put it on various channels on inDemand, cable systems, on DirecTV and on Dish Network and that will run from 7 – 8:30 PM ET and it will  feature fighters like Matt Korobov, the young Russian sensation; Rodrigo Garcia from Los Angeles, a real future prospect.  Then at 8:30 PM ET, a half hour prior to the pay-per-view, we are doing  a special 30-minute show which is very exciting and that leads into the pay-per-view telecast which begins at 9 PM ET.

There is a lot of talk about who Manny will fight next and when…

MIGUEL COTTO:  It’s really not important to me what the boxing world wants to see.  Once I beat many Pacquiao they can continue their plans and do what they want but I am not going home without winning this fight.

Are you ready to surprise the world by dealing with the speed of Pacquiao?

MIGUEL COTTO:  You know what?  That’s why we prepare ourselves.  He’s a fast fighter.  We know he has speed.  We know he has a style and we are prepared to beat it.  You’ll find out on the 14th how I am going to deal with his speed.  It’s not going to be a factor even though everyone thinks it is.

Oscar couldn’t fight at the lower weight as well as he thought.

MIGUEL COTTO:  The last fight I spent more than 24 hours doing nothing.  Just waiting for the weigh-in.  My weight was 145.  All I have to do is add a half hour to my work every day and I am going to reach 145 with no problem.

Do you think Manny is too small to beat you?

MIGUEL COTTO:  He is coming from a lower weight division and if he thinks he is going to have the same power as Miguel Cotto, his thinking is very wrong.

Manny is the star in this fight.  Do you feel you have been overlooked by the international media?

MIGUEL COTTO:  I am here to do my work.  I am not an artist.  I am just a boxer and I have to be focused on the things I am going to do on the 14th and that is the reason I am here.

Bob, because of the typhoons, will everyone be able to see the fight in the Philippines?

BOB ARUM:  Probably not.  There were two areas that were badly hit.  One was certain low-lying areas of Manila.  The flooding is gone but some people are still without power.  The spot that was really hit hard was a town up from Manila toward Bagiao to the north, where there were landslides, etc.  I think most of these people have been relocated to other areas so I think viewership will be as big as it has always been for Pacquiao fights.

Do you think his speed is going to be the main factor you will have to contend with?

MIGUEL COTTO:  I am prepared for anything he can bring me that night.  He has a lot of things beside his speed.  I have to be prepared for all he can show me.

Do you think a Mayweather fight would complete your career?

MIGUEL COTTO:  You never can push someone to face you.  My career has to continue no matter who wants to fight or not to fight Miguel Cotto.  I am here for the big names and ready for the hot opponents.  That’s what boxing needs for the guys at the top to fight other guys at the top, like it was 20 years ago.  Make the fights that fans want to watch.   I am here for any boxer that wants to fight Miguel Cotto.  They have to start with my company and I am more than ready to fight the biggest names in boxing.

Bob, compare this fight to the Mayweather – Marquez fight…

BOB ARUM:  This fight for me is a much more intriguing fight, a fight that is getting a lot more attention because it is a much more competitive fight than the Mayweather–Marquez fight.  Most journalists did not give Marquez any chance, and rightly so, against Mayweather and in this fight the journalists are split in their views as to who is going to win.  And even those making a prediction say they really don’t know who is going to win this fight.  This is a much more competitive fight and one of the most competitive fights of the year and that’s what is intriguing a lot of people besides the fact that both fighters are exemplary athletes and are a credit to the sport of boxing and they epitomize the best of what athletes should be.

Was there any trepidation about putting these two stars against each other?

BOB ARUM:  You’ve got to understand when we have a fighter like Miguel who has fought all of his fights with Top Rank and Pacquiao who has done so over the last 4 or 5 years, my job is to put them in fights where they can make the most money.  Where they can get the biggest platforms, so sure it is tough to see one of my fighters beating up on another one of my fighters, but I am confident in this fight these two guys are going to give a great account of themselves.  They are on the biggest stage that boxing can offer and they are going to make a lot of money.  So in that regard, I have done my job.

Are you surprised you are such a big underdog for this fight as much as 3:1 odds?

BOB ARUM:  Before Miguel answers that question, you have to understand odds.  Odds are a reflection of how people are betting.  The money that’s been coming into the sports book is Philippine money coming heavy on many Pacquiao and that has no reflection at all on how close this fight is or who is the better fighter.  In other words, if some millionaires from Puerto Rico got on a plane tonight and bet big sums of money on Miguel, he would be the favorite.

MIGUEL COTTO:  I don’t know anything about the betting business you.  I am just here to try and bring my best every day in the gym and in training camp and I am working to beat Manny.  If the people bet for Manny it is all right with me.  I am here for myself and not any kind of bet.  All the people that are betting for Manny Pacquiao are not going to change the result of this fight.

Do you see yourself knocking him out or claiming a decision?

MIGUEL COTTO:  I never come in to knock any guy out.  I just try to do my work in the ring.  If I hit the guy with a good punch or a combination, I will go for it.  Or if I can get a decision.  I go to do my work and if I hit him with a good punch, I am going for it.

What do you think Manny’s best attributes are?

MIGUEL COTTO:  I don’t pay attention to his details but there are some things in particular that we worked on in training camp.  I try to put myself in the best condition I can and I will try to capitalize on any kind of mistake my opponent will make.  If Manny makes any kind of mistake I am going to capitalize on that.

Do you think the two pounds will have any affect on you?

MIGUEL COTTO:  When we took this fight we decided that we were fine with 145.  We knew we could do it and we knew we would be at our best the next night.  We would not have taken this fight if we didn’t think I was going to be at my best the next night after the weigh-in.

What do you think about the difficult times Pacquiao has had with the Mexican fighters?

MIGUEL COTTO:  Different fighters and different styles, they had their moments with him.  It is going to be totally different with me.  I am going in there and I have prepared myself for anything and everything that he brings.  No matter who talks, trainer or whoever says he is going to win, I know that I am very confident that I am going to come out with a victory that night.

BOB ARUM:  I want to thank everyone for coming and we’ll see you all in Las Vegas and as you heard today Miguel is very confident because when someone prepares for a fight as well as he has it gives him reason to be confident.

MIGUEL COTTO:  I want to thank everyone for being here today and I am prepared.  I have done the right things in my camp to make a great fight on Saturday the 14th.  I have no doubt I am going to be the winner of this fight.  It is going to be a great fight for me and the fans and all the people in the boxing world.

SOURCE: http://www.boxingscene.com/index.php?m=show&id=23338

HOLLYWOOD – Manny Pacquiao grinned from ear to ear and oozed with confidence Wednesday as he faced the media at the Wild Card Gym here.

“I can’t wait for the fight,” declared the reigning pound-for-pound champion as he limbered up, with mediamen lining up three sides of the ring
, clicking away and hoping to get the best shot for the day.

Miguel Cotto’s own media day, which took place Tuesday at the Pound4Pound Gym here in Los Angeles, paled in comparison. For one, it looked like Cotto left his smile in his training camp in Las Vegas.

Miguel hardly smiled at the gym yesterday and here he was looking so happy, Pacquiao was told.

“Ganoon ba? Pag-bigyan niyo na. Nagre-reduce yun eh (Is that so? Let him be. He’s reducing),” said the 30-year-old icon who looked so comfortable he can tip the scales anytime and make limit of 145 lb.

Cotto, on the other hand, must be draining himself going down from 160 lb two months ago. and even if he does make it during the official weigh-in, the question is if he can recover in time for the fight set Nov. 14.

Except when he did four rounds with the mitts with Freddie Roach, Pacquiao did smile most of the time, gladly fielding questions, and even putting his arms around the Tekate girls with bodies enough to warm up the gym.

Obviously, Pacquiao had no worries in mind the whole two hours he looked like he was doing a commercial shoot.

His promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank, was around, and so were Hollywood names like Mickey Rourke and Mario Lopez, just adding up to the very light atmosphere, in contrast to when Cotto faced the media the other day and wouldn’t answer questions about his weight.

Arum said Pacquiao must still be feeling the effect of his rousing appearance in the Jimmy Kimmel Show the other night along Hollywood Blvd. He was a big hit that producers of the nationally-televised talk will air a replay of the episode.

“He brought the house down. And this morning, it was on Sports Center (of ESPN),” said Arum of Pacquiao’s TV appearance where he belted a song (Sometimes When We Touch) and had the crowd “up on their feet and swaying.”

For a while though, Pacquiao looked serious when he talked about the fight.

“This is a huge fight for me. This is a big fight. Because if I win I become the first boxer to capture seven titles in seven weight divisions,” he said.

“My advantage for this fight is my speed. And also I believe I have the power,” he said, adding that as he is right now he’s ready to go 12 rounds with the bigger, younger and stronger welterweight champion from Puerto Rico.

“Kahit tumagal ang fight wala ako problema (Even if the fight lasts long I won’t have a problem),” said Pacquiao, even if his chief trainer had predicted a knockout that could come in the first round or at most the 10th.

“Kanya-kanyang opinyon eh (It’s everybody’s opinion). Pero nire-respeto ko lahat yan (But I respect them all),” he added, before getting hold of the GMA-7 microphone and doing his own stand-up of the situation.

And he had fun doing it.

SOURCE: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=520826&publicationSubCategoryId=69

LOS ANGELES — Miguel Cotto’s handlers say they will carefully scrutinize the gloves and hand wraps of Manny Pacquiao before their World Boxing Organization welterweight title fight in Las Vegas.

Miguel Cotto Sr said Tuesday they blundered by not inspecting Antonio Margarito’s gloves prior to Cotto’s lone career loss in July of last year and vow never to let it happen again.

“We only commit the same error once,” said Cotto Sr. “We will never make that mistake again.”

The increased vigilance comes after Margarito was caught using “loaded wraps” in his following fight against Shane Mosley in January.

Unlike Cotto, Mosley’s trainers entered Margarito’s dressing room prior to the fight. There they noticed that a damp hard white powder had been placed in between the rows of wrapping and tape before Margarito put his gloves on for the fight.

It has never been proven that Margarito cheated by using a plaster of Paris type substance for the Cotto fight but suspicions are strong, especially in Cotto’s camp and that’s the reason for the stepped up inspections of opponents’ gloves and wraps.

Cotto, of Puerto Rico, senses he has the public support on this one.

“A loss is a loss. Nobody knows for sure if he uses it with me, or not, just Margarito and his team,” said Cotto, after a 90 minute workout at the Pound4Pound Gym in Beverly Hills Tuesday. “But it makes me feel better (about the loss). Boxing fans are knowledgeable. They are the judges.”

A classic boxer in the true sense of the word, Cotto is 34-1 with 27 knockouts.

Cotto bristled Tuesday at suggestions by Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach that the first loss is one of the toughest for a previously unbeaten fighter to recover from.

Cotto denied that the loss to Margarito had any negative effect on his confidence in the ring.

“Why don’t you ask Manny that question because he has had three losses I have just one,” Cotto said.

“My commitment is with myself. In my last fight (Joshua Clottey) I could have stopped the fight (cuts) but I decided to stay in the ring because of my commitment to myself and my family.”

“Sometimes when you lose you win. Since Margarito great things have come to my career.

“Where is Margarito right now and where is Miguel Cotto?”

Said Cotto Sr, “We have worked a lot with his mind and staying focused. Mentally he is a strong guy.”

Roach is predicting that the November 14 fight at the MGM hotel and casino won’t go the distance and that the favoured Pacquiao will knock Cotto out capture his seventh title in seven different weight classes.

“This is the problem,” Cotto said. “Freddie Roach is not the guy who is going to climb into the ring. If he prepares Manny for just nine rounds then he has three more rounds.

“He (Roach) can say whatever he wants. One day he says the first round and the next day he says round seven. I’m preparing for 12 rounds and nobody is going to know what will happen until the night of the 14th.”

Cotto said he is focusing on this 145-pound bout and doesn’t listen to talk about Pacquiao (49-3-2, 27 KOs) possibly fighting Floyd Mayweather in a mega title fight if he beats Cotto.

“He can fight Mayweather as many times as he wants after I beat him,” Cotto said.

Cotto respects Pacquiao for the way he has come from modest roots in the Philippines to become a world class boxer who is revered by Filipinos at home and abroad.

“He has earned everything he has,” Cotto said. “Manny looked good against Oscar De La Hoya and (Ricky) Hatton. But I’m not Oscar or Hatton. Manny chose the right time to fight Oscar.”

Cotto is looking forward to wrapping up training camp, heading to Las Vegas next week and says this is the biggest fight of his life.

“It is the most important fight of my career, but we’ll have to see on the 14th if he is the toughest guy I have fought in my career,” Cotto said.

SOURCE: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gPegqXbN7vAT8F8pghDHoDuCp4Mw

HOLLYWOOD—Miguel Cotto is set to hit California on Tuesday for a media workout in a popular Los Angeles boxing gym, where he is expected to showcase the result of several weeks of training.

Team Cotto has already packed up its training camp in Tampa, Florida, and is now in Las Vegas, where he will defend his WBO welterweight crown against Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao on Nov. 14 at the MGM Grand.

The media workout will take place around noon at the Pound4Pound gym on La Cienega Boulevard.

And based on comments coming out of Team Cotto, the 29-year-old Puerto Rican may give sports journalists a peek into how he plans to attack Pacquiao’s weakness—one that was supposedly spotted during the Filipino’s fight against Mexican nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez.

“The same way that Freddie says he has seen weaknesses in Miguel, we know the weaknesses of Manny,” Cotto trainer Joe Santiago told Fightnews.com on Monday.

“If there’s any doubt, just review the eighth round of his second fight against Juan Manuel Marquez.”

Marquez opened up a cut over Pacquiao’s eye with a straight right and then rocked the reigning pound-for-pound king with a left hook, Cotto’s pet punch.

“Not that you can compare Marquez to Cotto,” Santiago added in the interview. “There’s no comparison. Cotto has more tools. He’s a versatile fighter who knows boxing.”

Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37 KOs) will have his own media workout the following day at the Wild Card gym. He is scheduled to spar on Tuesday with Ray Beltran, Rasheed Holloway and Shane Porter.

Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, is expected to cut the number of sparring rounds for his ward as he tapers off going into the final 10 days of training.

The six-division champion, who has thus far logged 130 rounds of sparring, spent Tuesday doing 16 rounds with the mitts with Roach.

Wright picks Cotto

Meanwhile, WBO super bantamweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez, former champion and Cotto victim Carlos Quintana and former light middleweight titlist Winky Wright all told Boxingscene.com that the Puerto Rican should have no problem dealing with Pacquiao in the fight dubbed “Firepower.”

However, Lopez, a rising star in the boxing ranks, said that if Cotto (34-1, 27 KOs) performs the way he did against Joshua Clottey— who the Puerto Rican barely survived—Pacquiao may end up celebrating another big win.

“In his last fight, Cotto was a little tired at the end, and because Manny throws a lot of punches, that could make [Miguel] tired,” Lopez said. “If that happens, he will have problems.”

SOURCE: http://sports.inquirer.net/professional/professional/view/20091104-233905/Marquez-fight-gives-Cotto-idea-how-to-attack-Pacquiao