World renowned boxing trainer Ronnie Shields has quite an impressive list of fighters that he's worked with over the years. His resume has impressive names such as Evander Holyfield, Juan "Baby Bull" Diaz, Kermit Cintron, Rocky Juarez, just to name a few. Shields is another name that you can add to a growing list of people in the boxing world that are leaning toward a Miguel Cotto victory over Pacquiao.
There are some current fighters that also feel as is Cotto will have his arms raised at the end of the night, but this is the first time a top rated elite trainer has gone on the record with this writer predicting a Pacquiao defeat, " I am going with Cotto in this fight. The only person that has stopped him was Margarito, and who knows if there was something going on with that." Shields is referring to the illegal hand-wraps that Margarito was caught using, and subsequently suspended and fined for.
We have heard this before though. We have heard about how Pacquiao's opponents have been bigger and stronger, yet at the end of the night, it's Pacquiao with his arms raised, and millions of Filipino's celebrating from Manila to California, and back. Will the same thing happen again against Cotto? Will Manny's speed overwhelm the bigger and stronger Cotto? Or, will Cotto be different from past opponents? Will Cotto be able to stand the flurry of combinations and withstand the unusual power of the smaller Pacquiao?
Many people agree, (this writer being one of them), that the only way someone can beat Pacquiao is if they can hit hard enough to gain Manny's respect. They have to be able to hit him hard enough as to where Manny thinks twice about jumping inside and unleashing his speedy attack. If someone can make Manny pay for stealing that real estate, they might be able to get him out of his groove. There is a problem with that theory though. You would have to be able to land your leather, you can't hit what you can't catch.
With that said, Pacquiao fans should keep humble and not for one second underestimate the very dangerous Miguel Cotto. If guys like Ronnie Shields are leaning toward Cotto, it's certainly worth taking a look at.
Listen to a new Podcast with Ronnie Shields here - www.8countnews.com
Source: http://www.examiner.com/x-23590-Mississippi-Fight-Sports-Examiner~y2009m10d4-World-renowned-boxing-trainer-Ronnie-Shields-predicting-Cotto-victory
Land your leather and land your leather... JMM, Morales, Barreras and even Hatton (in 3 times) landed their respective leather and wobbled Manny. The problem is that they weren't strong enough. With Cotto is another story. The best quality of Cotto isn't his power, isn't his size, isn't his defence, it's his inteligence and you'll see!
ReplyDelete