Sunday, October 25, 2009

cotto vs pacquiao




30 Seconds With Manny Pacquiao

Q. What made you decide to run again for political office?

A. I want to help the people who are suffering. I came from a family who lived in poverty in the Philippines, and a lot of people there are very poor.

Q. You turned pro at 16. How much did you make in your first fight?

A. The purse was like 1,000 pesos, or about $20. I was excited. Before, I dreamed about being a good fighter. I was not looking for money when I started.

Q. Why did you begin boxing?

A. I started boxing after I ran away from home, when I was 14 years old, because we were very poor. I was helping my parents to get money, helping them to buy food every day.

Q. What were some of your jobs?

A. I sold doughnuts on the street. I would buy the bread, the flour and sell them to make money.

Q. Do you follow mixed martial arts?

A. I don’t watch it. It’s very different from boxing.

Q. We heard that the Philippines shuts down when you fight, that crime plummets and everybody watches. What is that like?

A. Every fight, millions of Filipinos are hoping for my victory.

Q. Bob Arum, the Top Rank boxing promoter, said you are the welfare system in the Philippines.

A. It’s hard. But that’s why I want to help them. I want to help the people there. And I have the ability to do that.

Q. Which boxers inspired you?

A. Sugar Ray Leonard, Roy Jones Jr. I watched Oscar De La Hoya fight in the Olympics. He won the gold medal there. And I thought, I could do that.



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Cotto faces huge odds vs Pacquiao
Philippine Daily Inquirer



MANILA, Philippines—Maybe this time, Puerto Rico will grind to a halt to watch Miguel Cotto fight.

With his belt on the line and trainer Freddie Roach’s words under his skin, the reigning WBO welterweight champion understands exactly how much bigger the stakes actually are when he climbs the MGM Grand ring to face Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao on Nov. 14 in Las Vegas.

“It’s huge,” trainer Joe Santiago told DailyBreeze.com’s Robert Morales of the fight’s implications. “Everybody knows what Pacquiao has done and we know what Miguel is capable of doing. It would not only be huge for me and Miguel, but for everybody in Puerto Rico.”

A popular athlete in the Caribbean nation, Cotto (34-1, 27 KOs) could achieve the iconic status of Pacquiao—who compels an entire nation to sit still every time he fights—with a victory over the reigning pound-for-pound king.

The low-key Santiago also said he faces no added pressure going up against the tested tandem of Pacquiao and Freddie Roach, the renowned trainer whose prediction of a first-round knockout had Camp Cotto barking rebuttals all over the web.

“I have been around the camp for seven years, so I know how he prepares himself,” said Santiago. “The confidence the Cotto family had in me, made me feel good.”

Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37 KOs) isn’t just fighting for a rich purse, either. Already with six weight crowns—including lineal ones—the hard-punching southpaw from Mindanao hopes to bag an unprecedented seventh when he hunts for Cotto’s WBO belt.

Top Rank chief Bob Arum, confident as he is in the abilities of his current top-grosser, cautioned that Cotto may catch a good enough break during fight night to pull off an upset, citing the Puerto Rican’s performance against Joshua Clottey, who he narrowly defeated despite a nasty cut above the eye.

“For Miguel to come back after suffering that cut and to come back and pull out a victory I think shows an absolutely brilliant performance,” Arum told DailyBreeze.com.

Francis T.J. Ochoa


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Is the Pacquiao/Roach relationship beginning to sour?

October 25, 2009

By Lou “Cinder” Block

Those who have watched HBO 24/7 Pacquiao/Cotto last night could see the change in the Pacman. It was a different side, an inconsiderate side that I had never seen before.

Roach made a comment about Pacquiao being happy over the small things before but not so much today, like when Manny came to the gym and was happy because he got a new pair of Mizuno boxing shows and showing off his new Mizuno shoes to Freddie. Well those times have changed and it seems Manny has finally fallen victim to the Fame.

Like many other star athletes once they get to a certain level they no longer cherish the little things.

Manny has gotten too comfortable wearing those silky pajamas to bed. In the episode he disobeyed Freddie, he promised Roach behind closed doors that they would leave early, but later on decided to stay a bit more in Baguio.

As Manny Pacquiao trained in the lavish Baguio gym, instead of taking a break to visit the victims he just stayed at the resort. Roach as usual sticks up for Manny during the Baguio visit he tells the storm victims that Manny could not visit them because he told Manny to train for his fight, no matter how bad Manny treats Freddie, Roach will defend Manny and never talk bad about him.

For those poor Filipino people, just one glimpse of seeing their hero Manny Pacquiao in person would of boost their morale and give them hope. Manny took time out from training to talk politics, but not visit those victims for a brief moment? I hope this was just HBO editing because that seems unlike the Manny Pacquiao image we are so used to seeing.

Even Floyd Mayweather Jr. took the time out of his training to help the homeless and give lectures to homeless youth. Mayweather showed even with all his money that he still has the time to help those less fortunate, but with Floyd Jr. people seem to overlook that side of him and focus on the negative.

I really felt for Roach, the father and son relationship that they once had or seemed to have was no longer there. As evidenced by the final scene where Manny was talking to some politician and Freddie who was fed up because no one was listening to him tells Manny that they have to leave to LA already.

The response from Manny was shocking he rolled his eyes at Freddie Roach simply to dismiss him as if he was a nobody.

Pacquiao needs to realize how lucky he is to have a man like Freddie Roach in his corner, inside and outside the ring. Roach has stuck his neck out for Manny many times. True friends like Roach always get overlooked when they get to a certain level, they forget the little people.

People like Roach are few and far between.




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