Pacquiao 100% focused on Cotto; dismisses Mayweather talks

I guess the consensus belief among majority of casual boxing fans is that Manny Pacquiao will obliterate Miguel Cotto. Las Vegas betting odds seem to mirror that notion as well as Pacquiao enjoys almost a 3-1 line in some sports books. A friend of mine who recently came back from his trip to the Philippines further confirmed that the local faithful are pretty confident of another Pacquiao victory finding it almost senseless to even hint that Cotto was anything that resembled a challenge.

Personally, some of the comments I've heard were along the lines of,

"Who the heck is Cotto? Pacquiao has beaten Dela Hoya, Hatton and Marquez," and "panis yan si Cotto!" (translation: "Cotto ain't nothing!")

As much as I understand where the confidence is coming from, and Pacquiao has been nothing short of phenomenal in his last 3 fights where he came up in weight against bigger guys, conventional wisdom suggest that Cotto is actually something- kind of a big deal too as a matter of fact.

Pacquiao acknowledges that and is focused on overcoming what he considers as the biggest challenge of his career. When baited into talks about the fight boxing fans are fantasizing about between him and Floyd Mayweather Jr., Pacquiao simply shrugged at the notion and reiterated that his focus was on the task at hand and said in an article published recently by USA Today,

"I don't think it's going to happen," Pacquiao said. "I'm sure he doesn't want to fight," and further added, "Boxing for him is like a business. He doesn't care about the people around him watching. He doesn't care if the fight is boring, as long as the fight is finished and he gets (plenty of) money. ... I want people to be happy. You have a big responsibility as a boxer."

And if you haven't heard Mayweather's recent radio banter at Sirius Shade 45 with rapper and hardcore boxing fan RA The Rugged Man, allow me to testify and say that Manny hit "Money" right on the money as Mayweather himself proclaimed "legacy don't pay the bills" as his MO.

I'll tell you this much, as much as Pacquiao-Mayweather is what I call a "sexy fight" that will definitely break box office records, I can almost guarantee you that Miguel Cotto is a lot more dangerous than Mayweather. Yes I said it. Cotto comes packing, while Mayweather brings his dancing shoes to the ring. Cotto can hurt Pacquiao and poses a real knockout threat while Mayweather may win by decision if not knock Pacquiao out to sleep out of boredom inside the ring.

So despite reports of Pacquiao's many distractions, his trainer Freddie Roach himself reassures everybody that Pacquiao has his wides open and set on his Boricua target and said, "I'm not worried about it, because he's always known how to block everything out," Roach said. "If anybody can do it, he can." And with the way Pacquiao is looking in camp, how can anyone disagree?

Source: http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-10947-Indianapolis-Fight-Sports-Examiner~y2009m10d31-Pacquiao-100-focused-on-Cotto-dismisses-Mayweather-talks