Pacquiao will KO Cotto

I am just a fan just like you most probably. Here, I would not be troubling you with all the hype about Pacquiao's skills (or even Cotto's). There is a whole bunch of hype out there in the net about these two fighters. Cotto is supposedly bigger and stronger, while the Pacman is simply just faster. You will even read about Freddy Roach talking about the speed of Pacquiao, which in this fight will fall on his feet, not so much with his hands. This means, in Roach's mind, one of the main strategies for the Pacman is to escape Cotto's power by his usual in-and-out movements. For many of us who have very short memories, this actually gives a sense of deja vu. Against so called bigger and tougher opposition it is not new to hear that the Pacman will be quick to evade the opponent's power punches. However, something peculiar has just occurred. Whereas, Freddy predicted the KO of Cotto a few months back, now we hear Freddy Roach predicting that the Pacman will go the distance but win every round (of course this is a bit of a stretch). Note that this new prediction by Roach, who has not failed us with his bold foretelling of how the Pacman will fare against recent foes, has changed. Is this due to the fact that Cotto has been training much earlier than the Pacman, while the Filipino slugger was still shooting scenes for his movie/TV career? Is this because Roach has finally seen something in Cotto's videos to cause him alarm? Whatever the case maybe, Boboy, Pacman's close associate (the big Filipino guy who is always in Pacman's corner) is not too apprehensive in a recent interview in the Philippines, saying that it is but natural that the trainers do get worried for their fighters. Although just about a week before this interview, Roach is caught stating his being upset on how Pacquiao is not immediately starting his training, and that Roach prefers to set camp in Mexico instead of Baguio (which is now the current training camp for the Pacquiao team before the last three weeks to be held in LA). The supposed training camp in Mexico is at a higher elevation to have Pacquiao ready to go the distance, whereas the Baguio site is about half the Mexican peak. All these gossip/hype around Pacquiao's late start of training forgets the fact that the longest recent training that Pacquiao did was against dela Hoya for a period of 10 weeks. Now, Pacquiao wants to train in his regular 8 weeks to avoid over training. This could be a sign of confidence but to those who worry, hopefully not a sign of over-confidence. At the height of rumors of the waning trust of his trainer Roach, and a rift in the Pacquiao camp (Roach vs Pacquiao's manager), there is still a full 9 weeks before meeting cotto. Plenty of time to gauge how Pacquiao will be ready to meet a truly stronger and bigger man. Not to discount that Diaz, dela Hoya, and Hatton were also pitted as bigger opponents, they were not Miguel Cotto, as Cotto himself claims at a press conference in the New York Yankee stadium.

Now, if we were to recall that Nacho Beristein predicted that Pacquiao will KO Cotto within 5-6 rounds, I'd say, Pacquiao himself is at this level of confidence. Although Cotto started training much earlier, he is now under the wing of a new trainer due to a feud with his old trainer. This fact was something Nacho considered. Given already the fact that the Pacquiao is the favorite almost 2-1 against Cotto, it would not surprise me if Pacquiao delivers. He himself will not say anything about the fight except his usual script that he will fight to the last drop of his blood. Despite the current hype around the Pacquiao camp, I would still go for what Nacho claimed earlier. There is a very good chance that Cotto will be KOed within the middle rounds, if Pacquiao would show real confidence at fight night and show that he could come close to throw combinations after a couple of potshots, while being able to jump back and evade. It is already mentioned in a few reports that the Pacman is requesting the biggest ring allowed anticipating the plan to move around and keep the fight at the center where speed takes the advantage. Cotto is good in cutting angles but Pacquiao just might be too fast with his feet in the middle of the biggest available ring.