Freddie Roach Talks to the Rumble: "We're gonna make him quit."

Thursday, November 12, 2009
Posted By Avi "Shoefly" Korine 3:29 PM

Confidence drips from Freddie Roach's voice as he talks about his fighter, Manny Pacquiao, and his chances against Miguel Cotto in the most anticipated fight of the year this Saturday. While it might be easy to dismiss his comments as hubris, his incredible track record speaks for itself. Roach nailed, to the round, Pacquiao's shocking victories over both Ricky Hatton and Oscar De La Hoya and claims to be even more confident than ever as his charge prepares to take on the larger Miguel Cotto. If Pacquiao wins the fight he will become a welterweight champion, the seventh weight class he will have done so, an all-time record.

Roach doesn't mince words as the talks about Cotto's flaws and the weaknesses he sees in his counterpart, Joe Santiago, Cotto's trainer.

The Rumble: Thanks for taking the time to talk, Freddie. First of all, what's your general feeling with only a couple of days until the fight?

Freddie Roach: We feel great. We just went for a run this morning. We had a nice long run and everything is right where it's supposed to be.

TR: And how is Manny's weight?

FR: We're a pound and a half over right now. That was before the run, he's close. The weight is no problem.

TR: Against De La Hoya it seemed like you planned even before the fight to use lead lefts and against Hatton it was right hooks. Do you have a specific plan for Saturday or are you just going to wait to make adjustments in the ring?

FR: Well, a lot depends on how Cotto wants to fight. If he wants to try to come at us we're ready for that. If he wants to try to be the counterpuncher, like Marquez, because Marquez gave Manny trouble, we can deal with that too. Whatever he brings we will adapt to it.

TR: Are you as confident going into this fight as you were before De La Hoya and Hatton?

FR: More. I just don't think he's that good. He's too slow. He cocks his left hook. He's got a good left hook, but he telegraphs it, he's not going to hit us with it. My guy is in great shape, everyone thinks because of the typhoon in the Philippines we didn't train but we never missed a day and he's in great shape.

TR: The amazing thing about Manny is that he seems to improve every time we see him. Is he still getting better?

FR: He's punching harder than ever right now and he has really filled out. He is definitely getting better all the time. That's one thing about Manny Pacquiao he loves to fight. Cotto is a little like De La Hoya in that he leads with his power hand, and he's a little like Hatton in that he throws the left hook like Hatton does. We're going to use a little bit of those gameplans and put them together and that'll be enough.

TR: Yeah, Cotto, like both those guys seems to have more power in his left hand rather than the power hand, his right.

FR: He is more of a one handed fighter, his dominant hand is his left. He does have knockout power in his left, the right I'm not worried so much about. The thing is Manny is in great shape. He's on fire right now. I don't even have to ask him to do something, he knows it before I do. He's 100% ready for this fight and, Miguel, we're going to knock him out.

The thing is Manny has fun in training camp, I'm having fun. We're working hard, but he just enjoys what he does and you can see that in his face. I love it also, so there is good chemistry for us and I expect Manny to fight another perfect fight.

TR: Cotto has a relatively inexperienced trainer and team. His sparring partners also didn't seem to be of the same quality as those in your camp. Do you think that will play a role?

FR: Definitely. He has no idea what it's like to be in a big fight, he's never been there before. He's not going to win the fight, I guarantee that.

TR: What is your final prediction.

FR: I think we'll get him in either round one, nine, or ten. We'll either catch him in the first, where we've seen him be hurt several times. Or, if he makes it through the first we'll just break him down, if we don't get him there we'll get him around nine or ten.

TR: Occasionally Cotto can get overaggressive and seems to follow his opponent rather than cut the ring off. Can you take advantage of that?

FR: Of course. Joe Santiago is his ring coach and he doesn't know anything about ring generalship! So we're really going to take advantage of that. You know, Cotto is too slow for Manny right now, he's got a good left hook, but no one is really watching him or is there to keep his fundamentals intact. He's got to train himself at this point to beat Pacquiao. And that's very good for us.

TR: Some people say that Cotto has counteracted speed like Manny's against Zab Judah and Shane Mosley. What do you think about that?

FR: The thing is, that was before he took the beating from Margarito. The beating from Margarito is still in his mind. And, to be honest with you, I think we're going to make him quit.

TR: Thanks for your time Freddie and good luck this weekend.

FR: Thanks.

Source: http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/The_Rumble/entry/view/42976/freddie_roach_talks_to_the_rumble_were_gonna_make_him_quit