Archive for November, 2009

So finally the match that the entire world has been wanting to see is about to occur in 2010? Say it ain’t so, I can remember just a few years ago this dream match was proposed all through internet forums and the majority of people said it was a mismatch. My how Manny Pacquiao has come along way from just a left handed fighter with talent to the Pound 4 Pound #1 fighter in the world.

Manny Pacquiao really impressed me with his dominant victory over Miguel Cotto. He out slugged the slugger and out punched the puncher with superior speed & power. That was the perfect tune up match before facing Floyd “Money” Mayweather in what looks to be a very intriguing clash of styles. This more than anything is the most important factor to me in this fight, how will each fighter deal with the others style? Lets take a brief look…..

Mayweather being an orthodox fighter and is right handed but can fight with both hands effectively is always rumored to have trouble with southpaws. I beg to differ due to the simple fact that there is no evidence to support those claims. Mayweather has probably the best straight right hand in boxing and against his past south paw opponents he has totally dominated them with it…..

Floyd Mayweather vs DEMARCUS CORLEY

Mayweather Landed 47% of his 50 punches per round and 53% of his power shots.

Mayweather Outlanded Corley 283-150 in total punches.

Mayweather Dropped Corley in 8th & 10th rounds, landing 28 power shots in 8th & 34 in 10th.

Mayweather Finished strong, outlanding Corley 120-44 in power shots over last 5 rounds.

Scoring: 119-107; 118-108; 119-108 Mayweather UD

Floyd Mayweather vs Zab Judah

Mayweather dropped first 2 rounds on 2 cards after getting outlanded 11-5 in power shots in opening 6 minutes. Start of round 3 All Floyd from then on, as he outlanded Judah 153-53 in power shots, including 28-2 in the 9th. Judah landed in single digits in total connects in 10 of 12 rounds.

Overall, Mayweather landed 205 of 441 (46%) total punches to 89 of 485 (18%) for Zab.

Floyd also landed 158 of 322 (49%) power shots to 64 of 177 (36%) for Judah, who managed to land just 25 of 308 jabs (8%).

Scoring: 116-112; 117-111; 119-109. Mayweather UD

I know what people are going to say, “Well those guys are nothing like Manny Pacquiao” and they would be absolutely correct in saying that. However, Zab Judah and Demarcus Corley are counter punching southpaws which makes it more difficult for Mayweather to find openings. Manny Pacquiao not being a counter punching southpaw makes it easier for Mayweather to let his offense off because the Pac Man will be in attack mode allowing for easy countering opportunities. I could be wrong.

Manny Pacquiao being a south paw has trouble with boxers who are able to use their right hand effectively and counter punch…..*cough*cough* Morales & Marquez. If we look at the last time the Pac Man faced Marquez which was March of 2008 you will see that Marquez had no issues countering the aggression of Pacquiao. The 2nd Marquez fight was just last year and its no coincidence that Team Pac hasnt put Manny in with any right hand dominant fighters or counter punchers as those fighters make Manny’s unstoppable work rate very average.

Diaz= flat footed, no defense, no right hand, stood right in front of Pac
DLH= Flat footed, left hand dominant, no defense, no right hand,stood right in front of Pac
Hatton= No boxing skills, quick feet, cocks his hand before he punches, no defense, no right hand, stood right in front of Pac
Cotto= flat footed, left hand dominant, no defense, stood right in front of Pac

None of Pac’s last 4 opponents have had any of the tools to offset his speed, aggression & southpaw stance.

Marquez-Pacquiao 2

Marquez (who is the same size as Manny) outboxed & outlanded The New and Improved Pacquiao. Manny’s speed and aggression was nullified by Marquez’s superiority in power punches as he went 122 of 339 (36 percent) to Pacquiao’s 100 of 231 (43 percent). Overall, Marquez held the slight edge with his 158 of 547 (29 percent) output as opposed to Pacquiao’s 148 of 639 (23 percent).

The knock down was the difference but what stood out is that a stationary,flat footed Marquez was able to hit Manny easily throughout their 2nd fight. That leads me to believe that Mayweather will have similar success…if not better!

Being that Mayweather is the best defensive fighter in boxing, has one of the best straight right hands, and isnt a stationary fighter, how will Pac’s relenteless work rate be effective when a fighter isnt right in front of him? How will he deal with exchanging punches with a fighter who’s hand speed is just as fast, who is taller, who has a longer reach than he has, better combination puncher & is the more accurate puncher? If anyone can over come these questions it will be the Great Manny Pacquiao. We shall see……….

-Q. Reed

My Top 5 Filipino Prospects

By Carlos Cinco

After Manny Pacquiao leaves the Boxing scene, the Philippines has numerous prospects that could possibly follow in his footsteps.  Here I’ve ranked my Top 5 Philippine Prospects.  I don’t consider Donaire or Viloria as prospects anymore, they are already established fighters and are near entering their prime.  So I’ll leave them out of this list.

1. Bernabe Concepcion

If you watched his previous fight against Steven Luevano, you’ll notice he fights with the same power and speed as Pacquiao, same frenetic pace too.  He couldn’t connect much against Luevano (who’s content on NEVER engaging), but when he did, they were bombs.  With guidance from Freddie Roach, he can be polished into a world class gem.  He’s rumored to fight Yuriorkis Gamboa next which could be epic.

2. “Marvelous” Marvin Sonsona

Trained by Nonito Donaire Sr., this kid fights like Nonito Jr. with the same speed and ring generalship.  He’s a fighter that doesn’t like to get hit and has great, GREAT cat-like reflexes that could save him down the line. I like his natural ability to slip and evade attacks, if he’s brought up the right way, he could be better than Nonito Jr. himself.

3. “Mighty” Mark Melligen

Even after losing his last fight, I still consider Melligen to be one of the better prospects in the Philippine fight game right now.  Obviously training alongside Floyd Mayweather Jr. himself is a great experience for the young fighter.  He’ll pick up lots of valuable information from that and hopefully it will round him up into the same stylish slickster Mayweather is known for.  And like a true Filipino, he has knockout power too.

4. AJ “Bazooka” Banal

Banal has only lost once, to Rafael Concepcion and that was due to a phantom “stray” punch that he didn’t see coming.  He was winning the fight with his speed and accuracy until he got knocked out.  But overall, he has the tools to succeed, he’s just a little raw.  What he needs to do is get out of the ALA stable, the skill level there is just weak and he needs to get some world class training under his belt.

5. Drian “Gintong Kamao” Francisco

Young and purely raw, but with tremendous natural talent and ability.  Drian Francisco is a smart, thinking fighter with speed, power and technique.  A fighter with a college degree (like Juan Diaz), he has the intelligence to think on the fly and adjust to an opponent mid-fight, a characterstic that is of immeasurable value.  He’s a little cocky though for someone who hasn’t accomplished a whole lot yet, often times showboating inside the ring. He should also stop mocking his opponent during the fight, because someone could clock him and send him crashing back down to earth.

Pacquiao – Cotto: Afterthoughts

By Carlos Cinco

“We thought Manny Pacquiao was great, he’s better than we thought”
-Larry Merchant

“I will have to call him one of the all-time greats”
-Emmanuel Steward

We are witnessing a Boxing phenomenon folks, a fighter that trascends the sport in as many angles as he punches from.  Pacquiao has made Boxing in the past decade a joy to watch.  He contradicts all forms of logic.  How did this little guy just take Cotto’s best punches and smile?  If it was anyone else but Pacquiao, they would have fallen to the Puerto Rican’s vicious body shots.

I find it very funny that Pacquiao actually camped out on the ropes in the fourth round and “allowed” himself to get hit by Cotto to “test” his power.  Steward and Lampley were freaking out man!  But that was crazy though, I was screaming the entire time for Manny to get off the ropes, not that he could actually hear me.  It’s becoming a trend for him to be doing this, he did it against Diaz, Dela Hoya and Hatton but I think everyone wants him to drop that habit, especially Roach.

One of the biggest issues in the fight was clearly the divide in Cotto’s corner and also one of the reasons why he wasn’t able to adjust mid-fight as well as he had in his previous fights.  The Cotto corner was completely out of sync, Cotto couldn’t handle all the different instructions being hurled at him at the same time.  There was even a point at the end of the sixth round where Cotto’s wife was shouting instructions at him from ringside seats.

People saying Manny’s defense was suspect and lackluster have to finally realize, he’s not a defensive fighter.  Pacquiao is a fighter in every sense of the word as he comes to fight each time, he’s willing to trade shots and he can take a punch, he proved that in the fight.  Manny’s best defense will always be his offense and that’s a dynamic he’ll be taking right to Mayweather should their fight ever materialize.

“Cotto actually intimidated Pacquiao because he was looking at him like letting him know that he was going to knock him out and Pacquiao automatically turned his face while Cotto was still looking at him. He just turned away like he couldn’t look in his eyes and that said a lot. Pacquiao just seemd to be laughing and joking around and Cotto was just quiet the whole time and focused…It’s definitely not going to go the whole 12 rounds. I see a knockout and I see Cotto winning big time,” stated jr. welterweight Kenny Abril, sparring partner for Miguel Cotto.

Kenny Abril clearly hasn’t been watching too many Pacquiao weigh-ins.  A serious Manny is a nervous Manny.  A Manny with all smiles is a confident one.  To be honest I think Manny was just feeling awkward that he and Cotto were standing so close to each other in only their underwear.  I mean, that’s gotta be awkward, how can you stare a guy in the face, let alone stare him in the eyes if he’s half naked?

Kidding aside, Pacquiao has a few fights left in him before he hangs it up for good.  Mayweather is the logical choice.  It won’t be for any world title, but it will be for something far more important, bragging rights.

carlos@officialscorecard.com

Pacquiao Batters Cotto Via 12th Round TKO
By Carlos Cinco

He’s not big enough to contend in this weight class.

Sooner or later he’ll bite off more than he can chew.

Pacquiao’s weakness is his body.

Distractions make it seem like he’s not focused on the fight.

Pacquiao training in the Philippines is a bad idea.

He’s a blown up Lightweight fighting in the Welterweight division.

He will go down after taking punches from bigger guys.

He leaves himself open too much.

He’s one dimensional.

You know what? None of these matter. Not when we are talking about Manny Pacquiao. Conventional wisdom, boxing adages and “expert” knowledge, even common sense – these cannot and will no longer be applied to Manny Pacquiao after a very dominant performance last Saturday Night at the MGM Grand Garden against a “true” Welterweight in Miguel Cotto. As expected, the fight was very competitive in the early rounds. Cotto looked extremely strong and he was able to have success imposing his size advantage over Pacquiao for the first few stanzas. But after suffering a flash knockdown in the third, and then catching a vicious left hook/uppercut to the chin in the fourth that sent Cotto crashing to the canvass on wobbly legs, Cotto seemed to fade and Pacquiao took over.

Pacquiao fought a very smart fight, cautiously boxing Miguel Cotto in the early going while picking up steam later on. By the time the fight reached the halfway point, Pacquiao was starting to unleash his patented speed and multi-punch combinations, often times landing flush on Cotto’s head and body. It was just sheer dominance. If there was ever any doubt before about who was the true Pound for Pound King, there shouldn’t be any now. Mayweather re-entered the scene and played off the hype to destroy an overmatched opponent. Pacquiao went against all odds battering a champion that was clearly bigger and stronger than he was. Winning a 7th World Title in a 7th different weight class was downplayed before the fight because of the “catchweight” but winning it in brutal fashion against a legitimate threat made the accomplishment significant again. What you do under the lights is greater than what you do in the shadows.

Kudos to Miguel Cotto, he did everything he could but in the end, Pacquiao is just a beast in the ring and there’s no one out there like him.

Pacquiao comes away with the Welterweight belt, the WBC Diamond Belt, and the distinction of having Mayweather duck him. Three great achievements on one great night!

Congratulations to the winner, the new Welterweight Champion of the World and STILL Pound for Pound the best fighter in the woooooooooooooooorld!!! Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao!

OVERTIME:

* Obviously no one wants Mayweather to duck Pacquiao because we all want to see this fight take place so TPTB, make it happen. Especially you Mayweather, cut the BS already and man up.

* WOW at the power Pacquiao possesses. Being able to hurt a legit tough guy and not to mention bigger guy solidifies his power in this weight class!

* Manny Pacquiao interviewed by Mario Lopez, “I handled his pants (punch) very well”. LOL

* People already starting to make excuses now saying if Pacquiao was so “great” why did he have to force Cotto to make 145?  Really now?  Tainting the victory already?  Only happens to the greatest.  Like when they said the reason the Lakers won the ’ship last year was cuz Boston didn’t make it to the finals cuz Garnett was out.  That’s BS.

* I slept through the Chavez Jr. fight, Gomez vs Sotto-Karass was interesting but I thought Alfonso took the easy way out.

* Yuri Foreman shocks everyone but don’t expect that kind of fight from him next time, it was more because Santos was just out of it.

carlos@officialscorecard.com

By Quentin Reed quentin@officialscorecard.com

So Manny Pacquiao is going to fight who I believe to be the #1 Welterweight in the world Miguel Cotto on Saturday. This must be what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. I have heard many different scenarios play out and they are all pretty much the same “Pac is too fast” or “Cotto is too strong”, but in my humble opinion skill, adversity & experience will be the deciding factor in this fight. When I look at each fighters resume leading up to now I can’t help but look at each of their last opponents and draw a comparative analysis from what I observed within those fights. Going back numerous fights in the past really doesn’t help in shedding any light on this particular upcoming bout.

Lets start with the Pound for Pound #1 Fighter in the world Manny Pacquiao. After watching Pacquiao-Hatton again I pretty much reassured myself that Pacquiao is very fast with his footwork and his hand speed. I for one did not expect The Pac Man to KO Hatton in 2 rounds, nor did I expect Hatton to bull rush the much better technical fighter in Pacquiao. All it took was one left hand to send the beloved Ricky Hatton crumbling to the ground like a house of cards. It was over before you could get through the entire rendition of “There’s Only One Ricky Hatton”. It is hard to judge the level that Manny is at now or was at when he fought Hatton because that fight wasn’t competitive by any stretch of the imagination. It was as we say in Los Angeles “Just Manny being Manny”

Now on to Mr. Cotto, just recently I revisited the Cotto-Clottey fight again (I had Clottey winning), but one thing that stood out to me was how tight Clottey’s defense was. Cotto was unable to penetrate his defense which might be his problem with Mayweather if they ever decide to fight. However with that being said, Cotto had a huge cut over his eye and still was aggressive coming forward, throwing combinations, utilizing both left & right hands and landing very explosive body punches throughout the fight. Cotto will undoubtedly be the stronger of the 2 fighters come Saturday night, can the Pac Man handle being hit by a stronger fighter? I believe the reason people say Cotto doesn’t look the same as he did prior to the Margarito fight was because of the match up that he was presented with. Manny Pacquiao was sitting ringside and was probably thinking “Well if Joshua Clottey can hit Cotto, then I should be able to hit Cotto”. One problem with this is that Manny doesnt have the nearly the defense that Clottey has and leaves himself very open for counter punches, whether Cotto can exploit this remains to be seen.

My Prediction is that Manny will want to make this a fast paced fight and will try to bait Cotto into having this kind of fight. Manny might be faster than Cotto initially for the first few rounds but I don’t believe this will change Cotto’s strategy and he will box Pacquiao not slug or brawl with him. Pacquiao’s last 3 opponents never actually “boxed” him, the last opponent to do so was Juan Manuel Marquez and we know how Manny struggled with that “boxer”. I believe Cotto will be patient and will walk the smaller Pac Man down pounding him with hard shots to the head and body eventually slowing Manny down and putting a stop to the unstoppable force known as Manny Pacquiao. Cotto by KO in round 9

Pacquiao – Cotto: PREDICTION

By Carlos Cinco

With three episodes of Pacquiao – Cotto 24/7 down and only one to go, I think we’ve seen everything that needs to be seen already.  There should be no more surprises left until the night of the fight itself.  The premise is clear.  It will be multidivisional champion Manny Pacquiao, the consensus pound for pound best in Boxing, ready to prove that he is as great a Welterweight as he was in the lower weight classes.  He will do so against Miguel Cotto, a fighter eager to prove to the world that he still belongs among the elite class of fighters, still a force to be reckoned with and ready to again take on the sport’s toughest challengers.  It is also clear that either man can come out with the victory.  I think the fight can play out in a few scenarios, which one however, will have to wait until November 14^th until we find out.

Scenario 1:  Pacquiao Outspeeds Cotto to a Unanimous Decision

Pacquiao, as expected, was too fast for Cotto, moving in and out of range while effectively landing power shots and scoring points en route to a Unanimous Decision over twelve rounds.  Cotto had his moments but ultimately did not have enough success to eke out a victory.  In the end, Pacquiao did to Cotto what he did to Diaz and Dela Hoya, which was complete domination.  Cotto proves he is a warrior by surviving the fight without getting knocked out and by never giving up.

Scenario 2:  Pacquiao via Early KO

A la Ricky Hatton, Cotto is confused by Pacquiao’s awkward pace, never really figuring out how to time him.  As a result, a phantom left straight hits Cotto square on the chin rocking the Puerto Rican.  Pacquiao, smelling blood and a million dollar showdown with the Pretty Boy, moves in for the kill overwhelming Cotto and he either sends Cotto down or the referee stops the fight due to unanswered punches.  Thousands of Pacquiao fans in attendance enter a frenzied state of mind, screaming, shouting and jumping around, among them is Mark Wahlberg.

Scenario 3:  Pacquiao via Late Round KO

The fight starts off slow with both fighters feeling each other out.  Cotto is aggressive to start early on, Pacquiao seems content with just boxing.  A couple wars break out in the middle of the ring and Pacquiao comes away getting the better of the exchanges.  Over the next few rounds Cotto is broken down by left hands, maybe even suffering a cut or two.  Towards the end of the fight, Pacquiao clearly has more stamina and is landing at will.  He sends Cotto crashing into the canvass via a crushing 1-2 combination that Cotto never saw coming.  The fight ends and Pacquiao enters Boxing immortality.

Scenario 4:  Cotto by Unanimous Decision

Doing exactly what he did against Zab Judah and Shane Mosley, Cotto times Pacquiao perfectly, boxing beautifully.  Pacquiao, showing glimpses of how he was once considered one-dimensional, simply follows Cotto around the ring too much.  Roach gets frustrated but never gives up and Pacquiao finally adjusts.  However, it was too little too late as by this time Cotto had already won most of the rounds.  Cotto plays it smart and boxes to the end.  Cotto wins on points and calls out Antonio Margarito or Floyd Mayweather in the post fight interview with Larry Merchant.  He and Brian Perez hit one of the many buffets on the Vegas strip.

Scenario 5:  Cotto by Early KO

Cotto starts the fight off very strong, showing no after effects of the imposed catchweight.  He quickly makes it known to his opponent as with the entire world that this fight was actually a mismatch and Pacquiao had bitten off more than he can chew.  With full Welterweight force behind each punch, Cotto digs an emphatic shot to the liver and follows it up with a fight-ending left hook to the jaw.  The Philippines declares November 15^th a day of personal reflection.  Mayweather appears at the post fight presser and disses Pacquiao saying he was never truly P4P No. 1, but still refuses to fight Miguel Cotto.  Reports leak out that Juan Manuel Marquez was seen having a late dinner with Oscar and Uncle Bob sometime after the fight.

Scenario 6: Cotto by Late Round KO

The fight is pretty even up into the middle rounds.  The difference here is that Cotto is effectively able to land shots to the body of Pacquiao, breaking down and slowing the fiery Filipino.  As the fight progresses, more shots land for Cotto and he’s finding increased accuracy against a weakened Pacquiao.  Pacquiao has some success but it clearly isn’t affecting Cotto too much.  Cotto banishes his inner demons and erases any memory of the beating he took from Antonio Margarito from our minds and from his.  Pacquiao’s victory concert is cancelled.

More or less, barring any accidental headbutts, disqualifications, shady judging, split decisions or draws, this is how the fight can turn out.  Personally, I think scenario 1 and scenario 3 have the best chances of happening.  What do you think?

carlos@officialscorecard.com

Pacquiao – Cotto: INTANGIBLES

By Carlos Cinco

You can try and predict the outcome of a fight with your endless reservoir of Boxing knowledge, with your in depth analysis, your measurements of size and your understanding of styles and techniques.  You can print your little sheet of paper filled with punch statistics, place them side by side and tell us why one fighter will win over the other.  But you can’t tell us for sure who will win on fight night.  That is the beauty of Boxing, that even though one style almost certainly trumps another, the perceivable and predicted loser of a bout finds just enough courage and heart to muster up and override the rules of the game.  Truly a sport that breeds heroes, and teaches you never to underestimate the underdog.

With the fight only a week away, Miguel Cotto and Manny Pacquiao are wrapping up their training camps and winding down to fight week.  Both camps seem to be successful without much controversy.  HBO gave their best shot at creating a sense of disarray within the Pacquiao camp but only the mainstream fans will buy into that.  We KNOW Pacquiao is coming in at peak form, as will Cotto.

I’ve read a few “prediction” articles already, most of them have Pacquiao as the favorite in this fight.  Even Vegas has Cotto as a 3-1 underdog, which I think is a mistake and though I can understand Pacquiao being the favorite for this fight, what I can’t come to terms with is how some people seem to write Cotto off based largely on his performances against Margarito and Clottey.  If anything, Cotto should be the favorite despite the loss to the Mexican.  Going nearly the entire twelve rounds against a Mexican with loaded gloves, even in defeat, is easily a tougher challenge than fighting a very slow and obviously weight drained Dela Hoya.  And Hatton should never be compared to Joshua Clottey.  This is not to degrade Pacquiao’s victories over two tough challenges, but to make clear the point that Miguel Cotto is not the 3-1 underdog that he’s turning out to be.

If you have any shred of Boxing knowledge, no, even if you just really think about it, you’ll know this match is dead even and can go either way.

It all comes down to the “intangibles” as I like to call it, the components of the fight that can’t be quantifiably measured by any means known to man.  And what I believe to be an even fight, will be separated by intangibles possessed by Manny Pacquiao.

Soak it in.  Manny Pacquiao moving up once again to face, this time, a true natural Welterweight in his prime.   This will be the fourth time Pacquiao seeks another challenge we “think” will be too much for him.  He was supposed to get roughed up and beat down by a rugged Lightweight in David Diaz.  He was supposed to be outboxed by the more intelligent, stronger, bigger Oscar Dela Hoya.  It was supposed to be a mismatch, but didn’t quite turn out as we expected.  He was expected to get mauled by Ricky Hatton, bullied into submission by the crème a la crème of the Light Welterweight division.  And now, after the past two years of seeking Boxing immortality, Manny Pacquiao is on track to get beat up, bloodied and knocked out by arguably the best Welterweight not named Floyd Mayweather.  Why is that not going to happen?  Because Pacquiao is a one of a kind athlete, rare and truly special, in the same vein as Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods.  He is a freak of nature, a physical specimen that will use all of his God-given physical attributes to outspeed and overwhelm Miguel Cotto.

Though it is not however a guarantee that Pacquiao will beat Cotto (nothing in this sport is ever a guarantee), the competitiveness will reach its full potential in this fight.  Pacquiao could very well lose, but he should look impressive nonetheless against a legitimate Welterweight with all the advantages.  And though my head says Cotto will be too much for him, I know in my heart Pacquiao always finds a way to win.  Pay particular attention to rounds 9 and 10, when we see that warrior spirit manifest and history being made once again.

Pacquiao-Cotto 24/7 Episode 2 Reaction

By Carlos Cinco

Ok, so episode two was much better then episode one!  I’m glad HBO went back to the winning formula.  We saw Pacquiao getting back on track as far as training goes, still too much horsing around though.  I mean come on, Star Talk?  Pacquiao is not a good singer at all, people are just trying to coattail on his popularity too much.  LOL!  For those of you non-Filipinos out there, no, he is not the Filipino Elvis by any means (a comparison drawn up by the imaginative mind of the one and only Larry Merchant).  And does anyone really want Manny as President of the Philippines?  I sure don’t.  Like many of you out there, I prefer that he would stick to Boxing taking Super Fight after Super Fight until he goes down as the greatest of all time.  Now that’s what I call a career!

Anyways, HBO, HBO, HBO… you guys really know how to hype up a fight!  My guess is still the same, that you guys are exaggerating turmoil in the Pacquiao camp and trying to sell us on the idea that Pacquiao is not going to be prepared coming into the fight.  Like he’s overconfident in his abilities and neglects training for the biggest fight of his life.  24/7 shows us Pacquiao being pulled in all directions by people who do not have his best interests in mind.  Even our own President (the #1 jock rider in the country) makes her appearance on the show.  Wow!  This is on a whole ‘nother level.  Although it is true that Pacquiao training in Manila is a bad thing, we the fans know better, it’s still Manny Pacquiao we’re talking about and once the guy starts to train, there’s no stopping him.  So I’d rather listen to Freddie Roach, who speaks the closest thing to the truth when it comes to the actual fight.  Roach says the way Pacquiao is hitting the mitts right now, Cotto will get KTFO’d.  Now that’s a story!

Alright Pacquiao got hit way too much in sparring by what I think was Antillon and Castillo, I’m not sure they showed Porter yet but I wouldn’t read too much into it.  It is what it is.  It’s HBO again showing us Manny getting whooped to cause a stir.  Take it easy guys, I can assure you our boy is taking this fight very seriously and he’ll be prepared by November 14^th!  Was there ever a time when he wasn’t prepared for a fight?  Now Pacquiao back in LA looks more like what our champ should look like, ferocious and fully concentrated on the upcoming battle.  Freddie Roach has Pacquiao right where he wants him now and I’m really looking forward to episode 3 where we’ll see Pacquiao dishing out some hurt of his own.

Alex Ariza needs to chill out on Michael Koncz, he has to understand, Koncz is Pacquiao’s ‘yaya’ (nanny).  Koncz is there to do the things no one else wants to do that makes life easier for Pacquiao because Pac can boss him around.

On to Cotto now.  As a Pacquiao fan and supporter, the more we see of Cotto the more scared I get at how good he looks in training.  He looks determined and most of all, focused.  No distractions or turmoil whatsoever, just everything running very smoothly.  So we can expect the best Miguel Cotto on fight night!  I was re-watching Pacquiao’s fights with Oscar and Ricky and I saw him get tagged in the body by both men, didn’t even flinch thought but Cotto punches way harder than both of them most definitely.  If Cotto lands one to Pacquiao’s body I’m afraid it will be bad this time around.  It seems as though head trainer Joe Santiago feels the same way.  Looks like Cotto had a punching bag custom made with Pacquiao’s face and body on it, nice touch!  And though he didn’t show us any real sparring footage (just a series of useless photos), it’s safe to assume with the way things are going that he’s not having too many problems with that.

What I expect to see in episode three:  I want to see Pacquiao’s training get better and finally show his ‘P4P King’ form.  I want to see Miguel also in the best shape of his life.  I want to see some real sparring between Pacquiao and Porter, the juicy stuff we’ve been reading about all month long.  And I want to see Cotto in the prime of his career.  I really want these two at their best come fight night, no excuses.

Last comments:  I really do hope we see the Miguel Cotto of old, the pre-Margarito version of him.  Because that’s the version of Miguel Cotto I want to see Pacquiao knock out in the later rounds.  Did I mention I’m excited for this fight?

carlos@officialscorecard.com

Pacquiao-Cotto: RING GENERALSHIP

By Carlos Cinco

In Boxing, a fighter’s physical attributes are useless without the intelligence required to maximize its potentials.   A punch is nothing without the fighter throwing it.  We can differentiate fighters by their styles, which styles match well with which, which styles can produce an action-packed fist fest or lull audiences to sleep with uneventful, tactical chess-match fighting.  There is an old Boxing adage that I’m sure you’ve heard of before, ‘styles make fights’, and on paper, Pacquiao – Cotto promises to be intense from the get-go.  This is due to their similar, come forward nature, their basic instinct that tells them in the heat of battle, instructs them to slug it out throwing bombs.  This is not to belittle their ring intelligence, which this article is all about, but both Pacquiao and Cotto are known for producing high octane, fan-friendly bouts and neither man ever backs down.  Both fighters have this intrinsic quality to seek and destroy, often using their own faces as battering rams willing to take a hit in order to dish out their own pain.

That being said, the result could all come down to who would be the smarter man in the ring come fight night.  Ring generalship (or ring intelligence), pertains to how well a fighter can use a combination of sharp punching, feints, footwork and spatial intelligence to either evade oncoming attacks by spinning and slipping off the ropes and back to the center of the ring, or stalk and corner an opponent, cutting off the ring so they would have nowhere to run or hide.  Both fighters have displayed this quality in their previous fights and both have had success to a certain degree.

For Manny Pacquiao, his fights with Oscar Dela Hoya and David Diaz are our points of reference when determining how well Pacquiao will be able to handle a fighter of Cotto’s caliber.  In the Diaz fight, Pacquiao showed us the whole armada.  He threw jabs, hooks, uppercuts, crosses, virtually every punch in the book including what I believe to be the ‘smash’ at one point (a punch made popular by Razor Ruddock, a cross between a straight and an uppercut).  He had it all and he threw punches in bunches.  He darted in, unleashed his combinations and then jumped right back out when Diaz tried to rough him up.  As a result, Diaz was unable to land any clean shots on Pacquiao, he was simply too slow on foot to catch the Filipino.  Then there was Dela Hoya, who mistakenly relied solely on his left hook which Pacquiao saw coming all night long.  Freddie Roach saw it weeks before the fight thus rigorously training his most prized pupil to throw an overhand right hook, slip underneath Oscar’s left hook counter then spin the Golden Boy like a top.  The plan worked to perfection.

However, in his fight with Juan Manuel Marquez, Pacquiao ditched all boxing knowledge of footwork and just simply followed his opponent around – a cause for frustration on the part of Roach who was clearly disappointed in Pacquiao’s overall performance despite coming away with the split decision.  Marquez’s superior ring intelligence that night was enough to bait Pacquiao into going exactly where he wanted him to go, which in turn nullified Pacquiao’s attack somewhat.  Pacquiao’s aggression can be defeated, it can be turned upside down with good footwork and excellent punch timing.

Miguel Cotto on the other hand, is a beast of a different sort.  Cotto does have sufficient Boxing skill to become a counter-puncher, a tactician should he choose to.  He did so against Shane Mosley and for most of the fight against Antonio Margarito.  He uses laterall movement to dodge straights and uses his powerful jab as a counter, followed by shots to the liver.  With side to side movement, Cotto can sidestep Pacquiao in hopes of landing a strong, meaningful blow.  This is all considering he will be fast enough to deliver these attacks.  Given his advantage in size and strength, ring generalship is Cotto’s fight to lose.  If Cotto can have at least a fraction of Juan Manuel Marquez accuracy in this fight, he can apply his ring intelligence to throw off Pacquiao’s awkward rhythm and possibly give him the ‘W’.

All in all, even considering Cotto’s great boxing ability, I still feel as though it will be difficult for him to catch ‘The Pacman’ with something he doesn’t see.  It will be difficult for any fighter for that matter.  Pacquiao is just too quick but it’s not impossible.  All Cotto has to do is land one telling blow and that could be enough.  At this point though, I say Pacquiao gets in and out of harm’s way better than Cotto can use the entirety of the ring to corner Pacquiao and do some real damage.  Pacquiao is like a slippery bar of soap, you just can’t get a firm hold of him.  Advantage: PACQUIAO.

Tomorrow: INTANGIBLES

carlos@officialscorecard.com