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Q: Changing things up a bit Manny, I’m curious, what is your opinion on the upcoming mega bout between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto?
On the fight between Miguel Cotto and Pacquiao, I still think that Cotto is physically a very strong fighter, but I think he should not fight with his defense being the way it has been before. A lot of people are maybe underestimating the physical size of Cotto. What’s been so amazing about Pacquiao that I love so much from the first time I saw him about five years ago, he’s been fighting top notch everything. He’s never dodged anyone and he is what we call a “true pure born fighter”. He has the instincts of a fighter, the balance, the timing, the stamina—everything—and it’s just natural. He’s a fighter! If anyone was ever born to be a fighter, it would be a guy like him or (Roberto) Duran, but he’s better because he has great rhythm, and his defense and timing are a lot better than people think. When you really watch him, he’s got good in-and-out motion where you really can’t time him, but he’s been in there against a lot of good fighters: Morales, Barrera, we can go on and on and on. He’s never dodged anyone.
I think he is still a natural 130-135 pound fighter. That’s his real true weight. The fights are being made now because a lot of the marquee fighters that are attractive—dream fights—are what he wants to make. But he is still a junior lightweight to lightweight fighting guys who are, in this case with Miguel, a true welterweight. So the real natural weight and strength, regardless of what they weigh on those scales, is still a ten to twelve pound difference. That will be negated, though, if Miguel does not fight the right fight because a good big man always beats a good little man, and I believe that, but if the big guy gets hit a lot and doesn’t take advantage of being able to block punches and to move the little guy into a position where you can hurt him, he will have problems.
So right now, I would say everyone is so intrigued over Pacquiao, and thinks that he wins big, but I just don’t see it that way. I think that Miguel is going to have to improve his defense, in particular. His defense right up the middle—he has absolutely no defense for that, because his gloves are so wide, and fighters can punch right between his gloves. If he improves that and boxes, because he has really good boxing ability and a lot of people don’t realize that—as an amateur, and even in certain fights when he’s had to as a professional, he can box. So if he boxes and keeps his defense a little bit tighter, and if he starts ****ing those hard left hooks to the body on the smaller guy, this fight could be a very, very interesting fight.
It could be a tough fight for Manny, because Manny is not really a welterweight. This is why Freddie Roach, his trainer, has been very concerned. Even though he beat an Oscar, who physically wasn’t where he should have been that night—but still, that’s not Pacquiao’s fault. Manny was trained to be prepared and whatever the opponent’s shortcomings were, that’s on the opponents, not him. But Freddie knows that Manny is really not a true welterweight, and that’s why he’s trying to at least get some kind of equilibrium in those fights by making the opponents come down in weight as close to Manny as they can for balance. I think that Manny is unbelievably solid and consistent with his performances, and he has been consistent for five years and they were all in top notch fights.
Miguel has been a little inconsistent and has been in some rough fights. In the last fight with (Joshua) Clottey, I don’t criticize him the way some of the other people did because Clottey is a fighter I would not want any fighter to fight. He would have been a rough fight for Sugar Ray Leonard, for Tommy Hearns, and for any other welterweights in history. He’s that type of a guy with very tight defense, very strong, very good stamina, and the biggest advantage that you have when you fight him is that the last two rounds, oftentimes, he doesn’t punch. He’s relaxed, and when he does punch, he’s effective. For myself, I think I slightly may have had him (Clottey) ahead on rounds, but if I was a judge, I probably would have been more inclined to give it to Cotto because he won the last two rounds of the fight. I think that corner of Clottey didn’t tell him that he lost the first round. They won the first round, but regardless, because of the knock down it was a two point difference. The inexperience of them not telling him that and his tendency to just cover up caused him to lose. The point is, I respect anyone who fights Clottey. Clottey is a tough, tough guy.
Based on Miguel having such a tough fight there and Manny looking like a million dollars knocking out Ricky Hatton and Oscar, that’s why the odds are totally going out of proportion and I don’t think that’s a fair assessment. I see it as almost a toss-up fight, myself.
On the fight between Miguel Cotto and Pacquiao, I still think that Cotto is physically a very strong fighter, but I think he should not fight with his defense being the way it has been before. A lot of people are maybe underestimating the physical size of Cotto. What’s been so amazing about Pacquiao that I love so much from the first time I saw him about five years ago, he’s been fighting top notch everything. He’s never dodged anyone and he is what we call a “true pure born fighter”. He has the instincts of a fighter, the balance, the timing, the stamina—everything—and it’s just natural. He’s a fighter! If anyone was ever born to be a fighter, it would be a guy like him or (Roberto) Duran, but he’s better because he has great rhythm, and his defense and timing are a lot better than people think. When you really watch him, he’s got good in-and-out motion where you really can’t time him, but he’s been in there against a lot of good fighters: Morales, Barrera, we can go on and on and on. He’s never dodged anyone.
I think he is still a natural 130-135 pound fighter. That’s his real true weight. The fights are being made now because a lot of the marquee fighters that are attractive—dream fights—are what he wants to make. But he is still a junior lightweight to lightweight fighting guys who are, in this case with Miguel, a true welterweight. So the real natural weight and strength, regardless of what they weigh on those scales, is still a ten to twelve pound difference. That will be negated, though, if Miguel does not fight the right fight because a good big man always beats a good little man, and I believe that, but if the big guy gets hit a lot and doesn’t take advantage of being able to block punches and to move the little guy into a position where you can hurt him, he will have problems.
So right now, I would say everyone is so intrigued over Pacquiao, and thinks that he wins big, but I just don’t see it that way. I think that Miguel is going to have to improve his defense, in particular. His defense right up the middle—he has absolutely no defense for that, because his gloves are so wide, and fighters can punch right between his gloves. If he improves that and boxes, because he has really good boxing ability and a lot of people don’t realize that—as an amateur, and even in certain fights when he’s had to as a professional, he can box. So if he boxes and keeps his defense a little bit tighter, and if he starts ****ing those hard left hooks to the body on the smaller guy, this fight could be a very, very interesting fight.
It could be a tough fight for Manny, because Manny is not really a welterweight. This is why Freddie Roach, his trainer, has been very concerned. Even though he beat an Oscar, who physically wasn’t where he should have been that night—but still, that’s not Pacquiao’s fault. Manny was trained to be prepared and whatever the opponent’s shortcomings were, that’s on the opponents, not him. But Freddie knows that Manny is really not a true welterweight, and that’s why he’s trying to at least get some kind of equilibrium in those fights by making the opponents come down in weight as close to Manny as they can for balance. I think that Manny is unbelievably solid and consistent with his performances, and he has been consistent for five years and they were all in top notch fights.
Miguel has been a little inconsistent and has been in some rough fights. In the last fight with (Joshua) Clottey, I don’t criticize him the way some of the other people did because Clottey is a fighter I would not want any fighter to fight. He would have been a rough fight for Sugar Ray Leonard, for Tommy Hearns, and for any other welterweights in history. He’s that type of a guy with very tight defense, very strong, very good stamina, and the biggest advantage that you have when you fight him is that the last two rounds, oftentimes, he doesn’t punch. He’s relaxed, and when he does punch, he’s effective. For myself, I think I slightly may have had him (Clottey) ahead on rounds, but if I was a judge, I probably would have been more inclined to give it to Cotto because he won the last two rounds of the fight. I think that corner of Clottey didn’t tell him that he lost the first round. They won the first round, but regardless, because of the knock down it was a two point difference. The inexperience of them not telling him that and his tendency to just cover up caused him to lose. The point is, I respect anyone who fights Clottey. Clottey is a tough, tough guy.
Based on Miguel having such a tough fight there and Manny looking like a million dollars knocking out Ricky Hatton and Oscar, that’s why the odds are totally going out of proportion and I don’t think that’s a fair assessment. I see it as almost a toss-up fight, myself.
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