Roach Outlines Cotto's Strengths And Weaknesses Against Pacquiao

Freddie Roach gives initial indications on how to beat Cotto in a recent interview with Sports Chat. The three-time trainer of the year awardee also shares his concerns for Manny and his preferred weight for his fight against the Puerto Rican Star.
"Whether it is 143, 144 or 145 pounds , it does not matter. I have no problem with 145 pounds" answered Freddie when asked by Dennis Principe about his preferred catch-weight for the November fight.

"Cotto is a welterweight champion of the world. When we fought Oscar at 147, he was not a world champion. Miguel would be the toughest fight to date at least on paper. I think it is a hard fight for us. But I think it is a winnable fight. I think Manny can now box him" said Roach, who developed Pacquiao from a one-dimensional to a two-fisted fighter.

Freddie acknowledges the strengths of Cotto by saying that he " is a very strong fighter and puncher. We have to pay attention to that. That is my biggest worry. We have to fight an intelligent fight which Manny is capable of doing. We have to come up with a game plan to defeat this guy. I studied his fights last night. I'm going to see his previous fights and see if we could pick up some habits that we can take advantage of."

But Roach is also quick to point out some initial flaws of Miguel physically. He thinks that Pacquiao " should take advantage of the body. he's not strong to the body. He has a pretty good chin. He can take punches in the head. But I think we have to break him down in the earlier rounds and work at the body a lot. "

Roach is fully aware that every victory that Manny have is always watered down by experts with many excuses. Once again, he pointed out that Miguel is big, strong and young. When Pacquiao fought Oscar, "they say he is going to kill Manny. After the fight, they say he is old. After we beat Cotto, what are they going to say? We are going to beat a world champion and it's going to be another achievement for Manny Pacquiao. Another world title for the pound for pound king."

Source: digitaljournal.com