By Mark Vester
Trainer Freddie Roach is worried about the "dirty tactics" of WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto. He said Cotto tends to use low blows to stop the momentum of his opponents, pointing to Cotto's fight with quick southpaw Zab Judah. He doesn't want the same thing to happen to Manny Pacquiao when he faces Cotto on November 14 in Las Vegas. Roach plans to press the ref to keep a good eye on Cotto
"Cotto tends to get dirty when the going gets tough in most of his fights and I don’t want that to happen," Roach told the Philippine Daily Inquirer . "I will make sure the referee will be very strict about it. Cotto stops his opponents' momentum with that kind of blow. In that Judah fight he had five low blows."
Roach is also worried about Joe Cortez being selected as the ref. He is worred that Cortez, who is Puerto Rican, may allow Cotto to get away with some questionable tactics in the fight. Roach plans to protest if Cortez is selected.
"Joe Cortez is Puerto Rican and he’s in the running as one of the referees. I don’t want him letting Cotto get away with stuff like that. We’re going to make an issue out of it first,” Roach said.
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