Freddie Roach has belittled the competence of Joe Santiago, saying his Puerto Rican counterpart has not fought a single bout and has no idea what its like inside the ring, according to fightnews.com, a leading boxing website.
Santiago, who is preparing Miguel Cotto against Manny Pacquiao, has been badmouthing the feisty American trainer in the local media.
“This young coach said he wants me to put all my trophy on the line because he is the best trainer in the world. Well, we’ll see about that after the fight,” said Roach.
“I have got a thousand, a million trophies from boxing and he’s never fought before. Pretty funny. He’s never fought in his life and he has no idea what it is like being in the ring. He’s got a towel on his shoulder and gives water and all of a sudden he is a coach,” said the 49-year-old former fighter.
“Cotto trains himself,” added Roach.
Roach said Pacquiao is in tip-top condition for the Nov. 14 fight with Cotto.
“He (Pacquiao) was playing around a little bit but when he wanted to turn it on, he was there and I was very happy with the sparring and we’re right on schedule,” added Roach.
While Roach and Santiago trade barbs, Alex Ariza, Pacquiao’s conditioning coach, has nothing but praise for Phil Landman, Cotto’s strength coach.
“I give the guy (Landman) credit for a lot of things that Cotto overcame in some of those tough fights where I thought he wanted to quit but he didn’t and I thought that was his conditioning that got him over that hump,” said Alex Ariza, the Colombian-born LA-based fitness expert.
But in the end, Ariza said it will be the man in the corner who will play a pivotal role in the outcome of the scheduled 12-rounder.
“The guy (Landman) is doing a great job and I think his guy will come in shape and my guy is coming in shape and it’s going to boil down to who you have in the corner and I have Freddie Roach and he’s got whoever that is and that is where it’s going to come down to,” Ariza said.
Meanwhile, Buboy Fernandez, Pacquiao’s childhood friend and training assistant, said Cotto’s left hook is their main concern.
“Cotto’s left hook is what we’re watching,” said Fernandez.
To counter this, Fernandez said they have devised a plan that will prevent Cotto from inflicting damage with that money punch.
Fernandez said they also expect Cotto to use the same strategy employed by Juan Manuel Marquez who fought Pacquiao twice.
“We know that they studied Manny’s fight with Juan Manuel Marquez and they supposedly saw some weakness there but we have remedied that. We know what they’re thinking,” he said.
Source: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/228581/roach-hits-cottos-coach
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