Cotto, Pacquiao word war intensifies ahead of bout

The rivalry between Miguel Cotto and Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao is heating up as Cotto promised “war” even as Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach said his prized fighter “will expose” Cotto during their November 14 clash in Las Vegas.

Cotto, who will defend his World Boxing Organization welterweight crown, said he is not intimidated by Pacquiao despite the Filipino being installed a 2-1 favorite by oddsmakers.

Cotto said he knows Pacquiao’s “weaknesses” and how to exploit them to beat the reigning best boxer in the world pound-for-pound.

“His weaknesses are obvious to me,” said Cotto, who has started training in Puerto Rico for what he called the biggest fight in his career.

The 28-year-old Puerto Rican champion said he saw the flaws in Pacquiao’s game in the Filipino’s previous fights, especially those against Mexican lightweight stars Erik Morales and Juan Manuel Marquez.

Cotto downplayed Pacquiao’s victories against “a very tired and aged” Oscar De la Hoya and an “overrated” Ricky Hatton, which the Filipino icon both won by stoppage.

“Against me the story will be different. It will be a war,” Cotto said.

Some Pacquiao fans have expressed anxiety in Internet boxing forums over their idol’s seemingly limited preparation compared to Cotto.

Roach still confident

But Roach assured they have enough time for the eight-week training camp needed to prepare Pacquiao, despite the fact that they have yet to decide on a venue for the camp.

“I’m expecting Cotto to be at his best,” Roach told T.K. Stewart of BoxingScene.com. “But Pacquiao is at the top of his game right now. I’m expecting Cotto to be more resilient than Oscar and Hatton were, so he’ll give us a better fight than those two guys did.”

Roach acknowledged that Cotto, being a natural welterweight, has the physical size advantage.

“The biggest thing with Cotto is that he’s a strong guy, but Manny’s not going to stand in front of him and trade. I feel that we’ll be able to expose Cotto. His skills aren’t quite where they used to be and we’re going to expose him,” Roach said.

Pacquiao, 30, said in his newspaper column that he will start training in the second week of September, after finishing pressing commitments in the Philippines that include shooting television shows and a movie targeted for release in December.

Roach said Team Pacquiao will decide soon whether to conduct the first half of training camp in the Philippines, Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada or the Otomi Mountains of Mexico.

Roach had requested Baguio City because of its California-like weather and mountainous terrain that are conducive for training, should they choose to hold camp in the Philippines.

Source: http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2009/aug/29/yehey/sports/20090829spo1.html