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EMANUEL STEWARD: COTTO WILL BEAT PACQUIAO
By John Martinez
“This is not going to be a cakewalk for Manny. Cotto throws a lot of jabs that are targeted to disrupt rhythm and timing.”
WBO welterweight champion, Miguel Cotto and Manny Pacquiao, the consensus pound-for-pound champion, are set to square off on November 14th in Las Vegas. The fight is a must-see for boxing fans and a must-happen for the sake of sport itself because it helps strengthen the sweet science community as a whole and brings casual fans into the fold. Many people think that Pacquiao, the Filipino bomber will walk through Cotto, the Puerto Rican who perhaprs has been in too many wars. I disagree and believe Cotto will emerge victorious on November 14th. The task won’t be easy, but it will get done. I spoke with Hall Of Fame trainer Emmanuel Steward, who also predicts a Cotto win. “John, you and me are either gonna look like geniuses or fools, but I got a feeling that though we are in the minority, we will be every gambler’s dream that night that listened to us,” said Steward. “This is not going to be a cakewalk for Manny. Cotto throws a lot of jabs that are targeted to disrupt rhythm and timing,” he continued, “ and he hits very hard and has elusive hand speed too.”
In this writer's opinion, Cotto cannot backpedal against Pacquiao. He must take the fight to him behind a double or triple jab. The jab cannot be a ramrod jab; it needs to be more of a “punch at the target rather than through the target” jab.
Should Cotto push Manny into the ropes or pin him in the corner, Cotto can fall into his usual trap of admiring his work and patiently looking for openings once his prey has fallen into his web.
As soon as Manny’s back is pinned on the ropes or in the corner, Cotto needs to go to work.
It is no secret that Manny Pacquiao has three glaring weaknesses in his game.
The first, Pacquiao generally has no head movement to speak of. His head is very stationary for a man of his pillar. He is very easy to hit. Ask Juan Marquez and Erik Morales if this is true.
The problem there was that neither man had the physical ability to make that punch “stick”. Cotto is a different beast when it comes to punching power. He is physically larger and might weigh 10-17 pounds heavier than Pacquiao on fight night.
The second weakness that Manny possesses is an inability to stop an uppercut. Manny tends to leave his hands mid chest level and relies on cat like reflexes to counter this punch. Cotto will not be intimidated. He will land the uppercut at will.
Steward presents the third weakness. He said, “when Manny throws his lead left hand, he is always out of balance. He overextends the punch and falls over his lead right foot. This is not good when it comes to fighting a guy like Cotto. Miguel will half step and counter with an uppercut or a lead right hand. Cotto is going to push Manny backward. He is going to punish Manny with pressure, weight, size, and punching power.”
The major problem with Cotto's style is his fighting stance. How can a decorated amateur (he was a 2000 Olympian) and an outstanding professional champion get away with holding his gloves next to his ears and leaning over his lead foot? Somehow, this tactic has worked for Cotto, but it won’t work for long. Steward agreed with my assessment and said, “It is unbelievable to me how Cotto has gotten away with that for so long.”
“I can’t stand to see him (Cotto) in that stance. That stance leaves him wide open for uppercuts and if you’re facing Manny, you’d better correct that gloves on the ear thing that you’re used to doing cause it may land you in trouble on that night,” he said.
For the record, I loathe catchweights. To me, if a “fighter” calls out a champion at a higher weight class, then meet that champion at his weight class. Catchweights are meaningless. Don’t issue a half-ass challenge. You call someone out, and then whoop their ass at the weight that they campaigned at and won a title in. Plain and simple. Its like picking on a guy that you know has been weakened somehow and you beat him. The question is simple. Did you really beat your foe or did you beat a shell or percentage of your enemy?
By John Martinez
“This is not going to be a cakewalk for Manny. Cotto throws a lot of jabs that are targeted to disrupt rhythm and timing.”
WBO welterweight champion, Miguel Cotto and Manny Pacquiao, the consensus pound-for-pound champion, are set to square off on November 14th in Las Vegas. The fight is a must-see for boxing fans and a must-happen for the sake of sport itself because it helps strengthen the sweet science community as a whole and brings casual fans into the fold. Many people think that Pacquiao, the Filipino bomber will walk through Cotto, the Puerto Rican who perhaprs has been in too many wars. I disagree and believe Cotto will emerge victorious on November 14th. The task won’t be easy, but it will get done. I spoke with Hall Of Fame trainer Emmanuel Steward, who also predicts a Cotto win. “John, you and me are either gonna look like geniuses or fools, but I got a feeling that though we are in the minority, we will be every gambler’s dream that night that listened to us,” said Steward. “This is not going to be a cakewalk for Manny. Cotto throws a lot of jabs that are targeted to disrupt rhythm and timing,” he continued, “ and he hits very hard and has elusive hand speed too.”
In this writer's opinion, Cotto cannot backpedal against Pacquiao. He must take the fight to him behind a double or triple jab. The jab cannot be a ramrod jab; it needs to be more of a “punch at the target rather than through the target” jab.
Should Cotto push Manny into the ropes or pin him in the corner, Cotto can fall into his usual trap of admiring his work and patiently looking for openings once his prey has fallen into his web.
As soon as Manny’s back is pinned on the ropes or in the corner, Cotto needs to go to work.
It is no secret that Manny Pacquiao has three glaring weaknesses in his game.
The first, Pacquiao generally has no head movement to speak of. His head is very stationary for a man of his pillar. He is very easy to hit. Ask Juan Marquez and Erik Morales if this is true.
The problem there was that neither man had the physical ability to make that punch “stick”. Cotto is a different beast when it comes to punching power. He is physically larger and might weigh 10-17 pounds heavier than Pacquiao on fight night.
The second weakness that Manny possesses is an inability to stop an uppercut. Manny tends to leave his hands mid chest level and relies on cat like reflexes to counter this punch. Cotto will not be intimidated. He will land the uppercut at will.
Steward presents the third weakness. He said, “when Manny throws his lead left hand, he is always out of balance. He overextends the punch and falls over his lead right foot. This is not good when it comes to fighting a guy like Cotto. Miguel will half step and counter with an uppercut or a lead right hand. Cotto is going to push Manny backward. He is going to punish Manny with pressure, weight, size, and punching power.”
The major problem with Cotto's style is his fighting stance. How can a decorated amateur (he was a 2000 Olympian) and an outstanding professional champion get away with holding his gloves next to his ears and leaning over his lead foot? Somehow, this tactic has worked for Cotto, but it won’t work for long. Steward agreed with my assessment and said, “It is unbelievable to me how Cotto has gotten away with that for so long.”
“I can’t stand to see him (Cotto) in that stance. That stance leaves him wide open for uppercuts and if you’re facing Manny, you’d better correct that gloves on the ear thing that you’re used to doing cause it may land you in trouble on that night,” he said.
For the record, I loathe catchweights. To me, if a “fighter” calls out a champion at a higher weight class, then meet that champion at his weight class. Catchweights are meaningless. Don’t issue a half-ass challenge. You call someone out, and then whoop their ass at the weight that they campaigned at and won a title in. Plain and simple. Its like picking on a guy that you know has been weakened somehow and you beat him. The question is simple. Did you really beat your foe or did you beat a shell or percentage of your enemy?
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