Manny Pacquiao made his grand arrival at the MGM Grand on Tuesday, marking the first time in the world champion’s career the Las Vegas ceremony didn’t take place at Mandalay Bay.

Although Pacquiao is known to be superstitious — he stays in the same hotel room at Mandalay Bay for each of his Las Vegas fights — head trainer Freddie Roach said Tuesday’s change wouldn’t throw off his fighter.

“He is superstitious, but stuff like that he doesn’t care about,” Roach said with a shrug.

“Of course,” he added, “He’ll still be staying in the same room.”

Pacquiao’s fans certainly had no trouble tracking him down, as they packed their way into the hotel’s lobby to catch a final glimpse of the Filipino before his WBO welterweight title fight with Miguel Cotto at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday.

By the time Cotto arrived 90 minutes later, the scene had noticeably died down a bit.

After months of promoting the fight with the reigning pound-for-pound king, however, Cotto says he’s used to Pacquiao’s crowd and that it hasn’t affected his mindset coming into the fight.

“I’ve known since we agreed to do this fight that it’s just going to be me and him in the ring,” Cotto said. “When we get in there, no one can help Manny. No one can hand him something to hit me with.

“I expected it to be like this. Everything Manny has, he has earned.”

Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37 KO) is seeking a world title in an unprecedented seventh weight class when he takes on Cotto (34-1, 27 KO) Saturday night.

He claimed his first on Dec. 4, 1998, when he defeated Chatchai Sasakul for the WBC flyweight title in his 25th professional fight.

As time progressed and opportunities at world titles in heavier weight classes continued to present themselves, Pacquiao transformed from the 105-pound fighter he started his career as to a legitimate welterweight contender.

A transformation of such magnitude actually, that he says he can barely recognize the kid he once was.

“I watch the tape when I was fighting at 105 pounds and I think, ‘I’m just a kid,’” Pacquiao said. “I think back to moving up to 108, then 112, 115, 118, up to welterweight — I can’t believe it. It’s just happened.”

In addition to world titles, another incentive for Pacquiao to move up in weight (at least initially) may have been a desire to stop cutting weight — a process Pacquiao admits was difficult in the early stages of his career.

“It was a struggle,” he said. “When I captured my first title in the flyweight division, I lost my belt because I didn’t make the weight. I decided after that fight to move up to 122 pounds.”

Cutting down won’t be an issue this week, as Roach said they’re feeding Pacquiao five times per day to keep the weight on.

According to his trainer, Pacquiao weighed 148 pounds Tuesday morning and will weigh-in right at 145 for the Nevada Athletic Commission on Friday.

“When he doesn’t have to miss a meal and can eat before weigh-in, which he’ll do twice, he’s happy,” Roach said. “He’ll weigh 149 to 150 pounds at most on fight night. I don’t like him gaining too much weight before the fight.”

While Pacquiao has shown the ability to maintain his speed no matter how much weight he adds, Roach said he believes this will be the last stop in his move up the weight classes.

“With the right opponent we could move up again,” Roach said. “But for top-level guys, I think this is it.”

The historical implications of Saturday night is enough that Pacquiao’s father, Rosalio, will travel to the U.S. from the Philippines to watch his son box live for the first time.

Pacquiao’s mother, Dionisia, saw her son live for the first time in May when he fought Ricky Hatton in Las Vegas.

“It is the first time my father is coming so I am very excited, he wanted to see this fight,” Pacquiao said. “This is a very important fight for me because I can do it, it’s going to be history in boxing. It’s an honor.”

SOURCE: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/nov/10/manny-pacquiao-miguel-cotto-make-grand-arrivals-mg/

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

HOLLYWOOD – When he opens his doors to the media at noon Tuesday, Miguel Cotto will face some serious questions about the coming fight, probably as serious as pronouncements that he’s going to be knocked out by Manny Pacquiao in the first round.

Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, has been clamoring for an early stoppage on the night of Nov. 14, when the two great champions from different weight divisions collide in what should be the biggest fight of the year.

Just the other day, Roach spoke to Brad Cooney, and said that based on his studies, the WBO welterweight champion from Puerto Rico, dubbed as the younger, bigger and stronger boxer between the two, may suffer the same fate of Ricky Hatton. ( Related story on A-27)

Hatton, of course, is the British cyclone who was undefeated at junior welter until he got to face Pacquiao and got knocked out last May 2 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. It was the kind of knockout that should push a fighter into retirement.

“Cotto makes the same mistakes as Hatton does. We are going to destroy Cotto, he won’t be able to hit us,” said Roach.

What those mistakes are he never really mentioned, but it probably has got something to do with Cotto’s tendency to drop his right hand when he lunges at his opponent or goes for that trademark left hook to the face or the body.

That should leave him open for Pacquiao’s vicious left, the very same punch that brought Hatton down for good.

“Cotto makes mistakes, and he’s been hurt in the first round before. If Manny Pacquiao hurts him in the first round like others have, believe me, he will finish him,” added Roach.

Cotto will face questions surrounding Roach’s bold pronouncements when he holds a media workout at the Pound4Pound Gym in South La Cienega Blvd here in Los Angeles. He faces the media at noon then proceeds with his workout.

Cotto is expected to fly in from Las Vegas. He arrived in Sin City last Sunday after a few weeks in Tampa, Florida, and a few more in Puerto Rico.

Pacquiao holds his own media workout Wednesday at the Wild Card Gym. On Tuesday, he resumes with his sparring, and is expected to do 10 rounds after doing 12 hard rounds against Shawn Porter and company last Saturday.

He did 16 rounds, non-stop, with Roach on the mitts Monday.

On Wednesday, Pacquiao is on tap to make a live appearance in the Jimmy Kimmel along with Cotto. It will be the first live appearance for Pacquiao in a nationally-televised talk show in the United States.

Pacquiao is closer to perfection as he moved just 11 days to the fight. He now has 130 rounds of sparring in the book, and has shown tremendous improvement handling someone as big, as fast as Porter as Cotto is.

In sparring, Pacquiao has gone far in impressing Roach who, before the camp opened, said this should be the toughest fight ever for the 30-year-old pound-for-pound champion, and that he sees 12 hard rounds in the ring.

Now he’s saying it could be over in one.

SOURCE: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=520228&publicationSubCategoryId=69