Santiago: "Cotto has more tools than Juan Manuel Marquez, there is no comparison"

Marquez fight gives Cotto idea how to attack Pacquiao 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 *********.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. 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 tired,” Lopez said. “If that happens, he will have problems.” http://sports.inquirer.net/professional/professional/view/20091104-233905/Marquez-fight-gives-Cotto-idea-how-to-attack-Pacquiao

Comments (20)

I know what timing is and Cotto was still faster in their bout. I doubt that. IMO, Shane was just very tentative.

16y ago

Story

http://www.psychologytoday.com/files/u107/clock1.jpg I'd say they're about the same with the size advantage giving Cotto a better chance to beat PAC. Cotto is not the fastest but his timing is the best in the sport IMO.

16y ago

Doctor_Tenma4618

Its his timing stupido. Cotto is a master timer. :dunce::op::twak::argue: I know what timing is and Cotto was still faster in their bout.

16y ago

mellow_mood

i don't have an agenda in my threads. i'm just a messenger, relaying what i read. i'm not surprised on anything, i just wanted to know what NSB thinks. sadly, this thread didn't really had an intelligible discussion, much to the bickering of some posters on both sides. yup... but it is what it is.... you asked NSB what they think.... now u know. but I thought marquez was going to win the poll by a close margin ....still i consider them.. almost the same... thats why im not surprise that cotto is ahead as for now..... my personal oppinion is.... marquez having the edge on boxing skills & ring generalship ... but not by much...... and cotto having the edge on physical attributes.... which can equalize marquez edge on the other aspects... . so... basicllly they both have an bring the same tools... to their fights!!!! :boxing:

16y ago

DOmonist

Cotto's never beat anyone because of his speed. wtf are yall smoking? He can be fast at times...but I never said he beat anyone cause of his speed.

16y ago

Doctor_Tenma4618

Cotto's never beat anyone because of his speed. wtf are yall smoking? He was constantly beating Shane to the punch. His speed in that bout surprised me; looked faster then SSM in there.

16y ago

2501

No one is talking about that much, but Cotto is def faster than Marquez. Cotto's never beat anyone because of his speed. wtf are yall smoking?

16y ago

2501

Marquez is a lightweight he's suppose to be faster. Now Cotto is pretty fast for his size. He's a big dude, but he isn't that tall. you pretty much agreed with me.

16y ago

DOmonist

Cotto has faster hands than Marquez. No one is talking about that much, but Cotto is def faster than Marquez.

16y ago

DOmonist

Absolutly. Mosley has been exposed by good boxers with footspeed and lateral movement, Forrest and Winky. Hell even Cotto was able to outbox him. We are talking about a guy that was almost a legend in the amateurs and has given every major fighter a fvckin problem. I don't care what anyone says this man has SKILLS!

16y ago

swizz

what is he suppose to say

16y ago

EasyE

^^^^ Wow! Are you serious? :twak: Absolutly. Mosley has been exposed by good boxers with footspeed and lateral movement, Forrest and Winky. Hell even Cotto was able to outbox him.

16y ago

RiCoqui

we're going p4p. Marquez at his best weight has faster hands than Cotto at his best weight with more accuracy. Marquez is a lightweight he's suppose to be faster. Now Cotto is pretty fast for his size. He's a big dude, but he isn't that tall.

16y ago

2501

Cotto has faster hands than Marquez. we're going p4p. Marquez at his best weight has faster hands than Cotto at his best weight with more accuracy.

16y ago

DOmonist

Since when has Shane been skilled? Very athletic, strong speedy brawler but that's it. ^^^^ Wow! Are you serious? :twak:

16y ago

Beater_of_ass

how can you say that cotto has a better chin? when marquez gets rocked or knocked down he immediately starts throwing straight punches right back. he has amazing recovery and out of his losses, 0 have been by knock out. and how can you say that they are even in the heart department? cotto has quit jmm has not. and you can say hes a warrior because of that gash he fought with in the clottey fight by try getting knocked down 3 times in the first round, getting your nose broken, and then continue to whoope ass for the next 11 rounds and a very high work rate. heart: JMM>Cotto Well... Cotto fought Margarito with a broken nose since the 2nd round and 11 rounds with bricks in his mitts. Clottey... cut in round 3. Judah, massive cut on the lip round 3, Torres put him on the mat and Cotto came back to win. Urkal headbutted Cotto about 5 times in their fight and Corley had Cotto on wobbly legs... and lets not forget Corley took 3 knees in one round with Cotto, but I'm sure he has more heart than Cotto too? And you even comparing chins are completely retarded. Marquez got knocked down more in the first Manny fight than Cotto has in his career. Both guys have massive heart, people bringing up the Marg fight is garbage... Cotto admitted he quit for the benefit of his kids. Essentially he said "Fawk this and all the fans, my family is more important than my pride." It takes a MAN with HEART to admit that.

16y ago

Doctor_Tenma4618

Not too many skill fighters like mosley, but yet the CottoQui beat him. Since when has Shane been skilled? Very athletic, strong speedy brawler but that's it.

16y ago

Cuauhtmoc1520

Then we are the same age. Overated by you not in general. Look I think Marquez is a very good fighter, I enjoy watching him and have for many years. Yes he's has a very good skillset but he's not leaps and bounds better than Cotto like you want to make it out to be. I do think Cotto is a better fighter overall but I don't think it's sacrilage for you to think that Marquez is. Like you seem to think Cotto can do more he's very versatile and has won fights can win fights in many different ways. Marquez wins or loses doing what he always does, Cotto can find other ways to win. Really? You honestly think so? Because all BS aside, I think it's clear to me that JMM is the much more versatile fighter. Let's go step by step. Speed: Even. I say even because Cotto doesn't carry blazing speed and neither does JMM Chin: JMM. I have never seen JMM stopped once, ever. He was hit by the hardest puncher at 130 in Pac and got up, not once but 3 times. Power: Cotto. Not by much though. Remember we are judging based on size. Man to man Cotto is stronger and bigger but weight for weight, JMM packs a decent punch as well. Boxing ability: JMM. To me this isn't even close. It's not that I don't think Cotto isn't a good boxer, he is but JMM can fight going forward, backward, counter or be aggressive. Cotto cannot counter punch or go backwards like JMM can, sorry man he just can't. Jab: Cotto. It's his best punch no doubt. He controls fighters with the jab (when he uses it) and keeps speed fighters off balance with it like he did Zab and Mosley. Body Punching: Cotto. He's an excellent body puncher and throws with mean intentions. JMM is also a very good body puncher but not at the level of Cotto. To me the biggest difference is in the pure boxing skill. What JMM does is mastery, seriously. If you can't see that, I don't know what to tell you but hey, everyone has an opinion.

16y ago

Left2body

The problem is most people are extremist in their thinking. It's one or the other. Saying Cotto is not as good a fighter as JMM is like saying Dwayne Wade is not as good as Kobe. It's no disrespect to Wade, it's just that Kobe is that good. Now I'm not saying that JMMis the Kobe of boxing but you understand my point. I would not at all be surprised if Cotto beats Pac. If he finds a way to impose his natural size on him, then he will have a big advantage. Again though, JMM to me is a major overachiever. Think about it, what do people talk about when mentioning JMM? Is it his speed? His power? His strength or size? NO....it's his INTELLIGENCE. Some think that's just something people say but it's the truth. He adjusts on the fly probably better than any fighter I have ever seen. His fight with Juan Diaz was a prime example of that. he stood in front of Diaz in the early rounds and got rocked by the bigger man. Then he made some adjustments and cmae out and KO'd him. The dude is a beast... Cotto is a very, very good fighter. I just can't call him great just yet. Yeah, exactly, however the same can be said for Cotto. Anyway, I believe Cotto has more tools and my reasons why are on page 2 or 3 of this thread. Cotto is very similar in that respect with the biggest difference being that he is more offensive minded than JMM. Too many people equate defensive minded fighters with being smarter fighters.

16y ago

Beater_of_ass

The problem is most people are extremist in their thinking. It's one or the other. Saying Cotto is not as good a fighter as JMM is like saying Dwayne Wade is not as good as Kobe. It's no disrespect to Wade, it's just that Kobe is that good. Now I'm not saying that JMMis the Kobe of boxing but you understand my point. I would not at all be surprised if Cotto beats Pac. If he finds a way to impose his natural size on him, then he will have a big advantage. Again though, JMM to me is a major overachiever. Think about it, what do people talk about when mentioning JMM? Is it his speed? His power? His strength or size? NO....it's his INTELLIGENCE. Some think that's just something people say but it's the truth. He adjusts on the fly probably better than any fighter I have ever seen. His fight with Juan Diaz was a prime example of that. he stood in front of Diaz in the early rounds and got rocked by the bigger man. Then he made some adjustments and cmae out and KO'd him. The dude is a beast... Cotto is a very, very good fighter. I just can't call him great just yet. Yea, Diaz got cut some adjustment. All Marquez did was let Diaz come to him, there was no adjustment, there never is in a Marquez fight except for the Mayweather fight and look what happened there. Just like you, no disrespect to Marquez, but the guy is only good if the opponent comes to him, period. There were countless times he could have well knocked Manny out, but instead of pressing the issue he still waited for Manny and it very well may have cost him both fights.

16y ago