Can Miguel Cotto also do the rock ‘n’ roll?

By Recah Trinidad
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:26:00 11/07/2009

RIGHT NOW, he cannot event summon enough courage to say how much he weighs. But Miguel Cotto should also be asked if he would dare rock ‘n’ roll with Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas.

Yes, can Cotto, the reigning WBO welterweight champion from Puerto Rico, jump up and boogie right at the first bell?

A fellow most interested is the great Freddie Roach.

It’s part of Roach’s main plot to get Cotto sucked in a frenzied start.

“We want him to go crazy right in the first round,” Roach told an interviewer recently.

* * *

Will Cotto do a razzle-dazzle number inside the ring?

No comment.

Will Cotto do it slow and instead waltz against the legendary Filipino speedster?

No comment.

Clearly slighted, Cotto instead shot back last week and claimed his punching rate per round has increased.

The volume has gone up from 45 to 65 shots, an increase of 20 slugs, every three minutes of action.

* * *

That, of course, is insignificant considering that it’s no longer always possible to keep an accurate count of the lightning punches Pacquiao throws each round.

Meanwhile, there are other mundane matters that continue to pile the odds in Pacquiao’s favor.

There is the sapping pain Cotto has had to suffer in wrestling against the weighing scales.

This will inevitably be aggravated by a horrible oversight committed by members of Team Cotto after they bragged about the improved punch rate of the Puerto Rican champ.

* * *

Repeat: Roach wants Cotto sucked in a spitfire exchange right at the first bell.

Unfortunately, Team Cotto has visibly started to bite Roach’s bait.

You see, it’s damning enough that Cotto cannot ever hope to equal, much more surpass, Pacquiao’s speed.

However, if Cotto’s handlers will bother to review their options, they’re bound to realize that punching speed is the last thing they will need in order to be truly competitive.

* * *

They’ll be needing a lot of speed, but not the Pacquiao brand of killer quickness.

Cotto, if there’s still time, should instead obtain the necessary magic to avoid Pacquiao’s blinding offensive.

The deathly dangers definitely lurk.

If Cotto allows himself to be sucked into the speed lane, he’s sure to be crushed.

More pitiful than a turtle left to race against a rabbit.

* * *

In fact, the grizzled ring hand Lou Duva has sounded the storm warning:

“Fighting Pacquiao is like being caught in the midst of a typhoon, there’ll be a rain of chainsaws from everywhere.”

But Floyd Mayweather Sr., who has had the chance to observe Pacquiao up close in his last mismatch win over Ricky Hatton, also has his own observation.

“Pacquiao is indeed a whole lot faster, stronger. But he’s smaller, a Little Joe Frazier. He’s also not a very good boxer, he’s nothing more than a pure slugger.”

The message is clear: Cotto’s only chance is to push Pacquiao to do the waltz.

It’s the only way the fight can drag into a deliberate corner debate which even a rock ‘n’ roll king can’t be sure to dominate.

Source: http://sports.inquirer.net/columns/columns/view/20091107-234725/Can-Miguel-Cotto-also-do-the-rock-n-roll