Miguel Cotto Will Be Very Dangerous Early, Says Ariza
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Conditioning expert Alex Ariza who helped get Filipino boxing hero Manny Pacquiao into tremendous shape for his devastating performances against David Diaz, Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton, believes that WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto will be “very dangerous for the first few rounds” of his “Fire Power” showdown against Pacquiao on November 14 in Las Vegas.
Ariza who returned to the Wild Card Gym of Freddie Roach in Los Angeles from England last weekend told BoxingScene.com, insidesports.ph, Standard Today and Viva Sports that while Cotto will be “very dangerous for the first few rounds, then I think its going to be Manny after that.”
At the same time Ariza said that Cotto was “obviously slower" than Pacquiao whose hand-speed and movement are amazing and that Cotto even at the agreed upon weight of 145 pounds “ it is going to be very difficult for Cotto to make.”
Ariza indicated “the only thing I am a little bit worried about” training in the Bahamas is the weight “but hopefully Manny will hold the weight” and not come in too light. However, the conditioning guru was confident that “once Manny has his Filipino food and the people that he wants around him, I don’t think it will make that much of a difference.”
Plans call for Pacquiao to save on tax payments to the US Internal Revenue Service by training in the Bahamas for some time before moving to the Wild Card Gym to keep his total stay in the US for the past three years to below 183 days as computed according to IRS rules.
Trainer Freddie Roach and Ariza are likely to fly to the Bahamas via Miami this coming weekend to check out the training facilities available and prepare to set up Pacquiao’s training camp.
There are also plans to have newly crowned WBA super lightweight champion Amir Khan also join Pacquiao in the Bahamas with the possibility that both champions who have sparred against each other in the past, may do so again. Khan faces a mandatory against Dmitry “Star of David” Salita (30-0-1, 16 KO’s) but added “let’s see who he signs with” since he has no manager at the present time. Ariza also said he was aware that he had been offered a fight against Marcos Maiadana (26-1, 25 KO’s) of Argentina who won the title with a sensational 6th round TKO over undefeated Victor Ortiz but “he turned it down.’ Ariza said he was confident that although Maidana is tough Khan could beat him although “there is nothing really to gain from that fight."
