Pacquiao Focuses on Life Inside and Outside Ring

In the Philipines, the expectations of Manny Pacquiao have reached lofty levels: his countrymen are starting to believe that there is nothing their champion can't do.

In preparation for Nov. 14, when he'll challenge WBO welterweight titlist Miguel Cotto (34-1, 27 knockouts) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas at a catch-weight of 145 pounds, Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37 KOs) appears to be in sensational shape thanks to a grueling training regimen.

Reportedly a four-hour ordeal, Pacquiao's workouts are simply "inhumane," said his promoter, Bob Arum, "something very few people in the world" can endure.

Pacquiao is also a political force in his country, where he is running for Congress. There have been typhoons in the Philippines, and Pacquiao is helping to save lives by personally delivering food into devastated areas.

And if you ask Arum, "Pacquiao's people" are close to believing that he is more powerful than a locomotive, is able to out-run a speeding bullet, and is capable of leaping tall buildings in a single bound.

Ironically, the fighter whose nickname is "The Pac Man" even spent time last month filming a movie in the Philippines in which he plays a super hero -- Wambat Man -- whose powers are a combination of those of Superman and Spiderman.

"Wait until you see what the HBO cameras caught on film," said Arum, referring to the cable network's 24/7 series documenting the fighters' camps leading up to their matchup. "They got Manny swimming in an outdoor pool in the middle of a typhoon. It's amazing. But then, this kid is truly amazing."

Arum believes that Pacquiao, who lost his last bid for Congress in the local district, should have a better shot this time "and perhaps get the biggest vote in history if he chooses to run on the party list in the national election."

"Manny's becoming like a god-like figure to these people, but part of it is that he's so unassuming," Arum said of Pacquiao, who is often trailed by admirers during his early morning runs. "He just acts like he's one of them, and they just love him."

Pacquiao's popularity has crossed over into America, where last month, he threw out the ceremonial first pitch at San Diego's PETCO Park before the Padres' baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Most recently, Pacquiao was shown flexing his upper torso in ESPN the Magazine's Body Issue, which featured other celebrities -- some of them nude -- such as tennis star Serena Williams and the Minnesota Vikings' running back Adrian Peterson.

Arum has witnessed Pacquaio's present workouts, which have taken place approximately a mile above sea level at Baguio City's Shape-Up Gym in the Philippines since Sept. 21.

"Before he does anything, he goes down into a corner of the room, kneels down, crosses himself, and says a prayer. Then, Manny does the usual warming up exercises to get limbered up and so forth," Arum said of Pacquiao.

"And then, Manny spars with real life sparring partners, at least 10 rounds," said Arum. "In between rounds, he doesn't sit down."

Pacquaio, who is required to complete 160 rounds of sparring, has employed among his foils former world champion Jose Luis Castillo and Shawn Porter, and could also use either Urbano Antillon or Danny Escobar.

Porter, 21, of Akron, Ohio, is 10-0 with eight knockouts. Antillon, 27, of Maywood, Calif., is 26-1 with 19 KOs. Escobar, 20, of Riverside, Calif., is 3-0 with as many KOs.

"After the sparring, Manny goes right into hitting the mitts," held by trainer, Freddie Roach, "for 10-or-12 rounds -- never stopping between rounds," said Arum. "Then he hits the heavy bag -- not so much the speed bag -- for 45 minutes. Then he jumps rope."

And then, "Manny does these amazing friggin excercises -- the crunches, contortions of his body in different directions," said Arum. "It looks like it's excruciatingly difficult, and it's stuff that I've never seen before."

Arum said the completion of Pacquiao's workout involves "an assistant trainer, with a stick, hitting him like a mad man right in the stomach for like 20 minutes," he said. "It's like, Boom! Boom!. It's directly onto his bare stomach. You're just cringing."

But Pacquiao is nothing if not brave, having broken training earlier this month to provide aid during typhoons that have caused the country's worst flooding in four decades and, reportedly, some 500 deaths.

Typhoon Parma began on Sept. 26, near Baguio City.

After a Saturday workout in Baguio, Arum said Pacquiao drove some 125 miles "through a rainstorm down to Manila to give away food to the people who were made homeless by the floods on the Sunday following training in addition to contributing money."

Pacquiao is unassuming about his volunteering.

"We do as much as we can do when it comes to helping each other," Pacquiao said. "My efforts with the relief efforts are no more important than any other volunteers. It was my honor to be allowed to lend a hand."

The fighter will leave for Los Angeles this Saturday. The ensuing Monday begins Pacquiao's regimen at 2008 Trainer Of The Year Freddie Roach's Wild Card Gym. On Nov. 9, Pacquiao will leave The Wild Card for Las Vegas.

Since his career began at 106 pounds in January 1995, Pacquiao has won titles at flyweight (115 pounds), super bantamweight (122), super featherweight (130), lightweight (135) and junior welterweight (140), with notable wins over Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Juan Manuel Marquez, Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales.

The 2008 Fighter Of The Year shares an alternate nickname, "The Greatest," with another former champion -- a comparison Arum said is not that far off.

"The closest I've seen to this kid's adoration is when Muhammad Ali came back from the three years when he was deprived of fighting. There were segments of the population that just couldn't get enough of Ali," said Arum.

"This kid has that type of relationship with the people, except that Ali had some people who resented him because of the stand he took in the Viet Nam war," said Arum. "Unlike Ali, there doesn't seem to be a segment of the people who don't like Pacquiao."

Source: http://boxing.fanhouse.com/2009/10/18/pacquiao-focuses-on-life-inside-and-outside-ring/

Pacman form impresses Roach

BAGUIO CITY - From the crowd that flocked around the reigning pound-for-pound king came a yell: “You can easily beat Cotto!”

Manny Pacquiao smiled, and shot back: “Oo, may shampoo naman kami. (Yes, we have shampoo, anyway).”

The response may have been an attempt at humor—reigning WBO champion Miguel Cotto’s surname sounds almost exactly like the Filipino for lice—but trainer Freddie Roach, who arrived Tuesday to begin training Pacquiao in his quest for the Puerto Rican’s welterweight crown, was impressed at how quickly his ward has whipped himself into shape.



“He was very sharp,” said Roach after watching Pacquiao for the first time since the two teamed up to successfully destroy Ricky Hatton last May 2.

“If I didn’t know better, I would think he was in the gym for a month. His combinations are fast and his power is already there. His mind-set, we’re on the same page that we know how to fight Cotto.”

The trainer arrived in Manila along with conditioning coach Alex Ariza and American bodyguard Rob Peters and headed straight to this popular vacation getaway around lunchtime.

Wearing a T-shirt with the face of national hero Jose Rizal, Roach took charge right away in Cooyeesan Hotel’s Shape-up Gym.



“Without a doubt, this is our best start,” said Roach. “He’s now in great shape and I’m fine with that.”

Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37 knockouts) will battle Cotto (34-1, 27 KOs) over 12-rounds for the Puerto Rican’s World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight crown on Nov. 14 at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas. Both combatants agreed to fight at a catch weight of 145 lb.

Pacquiao started his workout ahead of Roach’s arrival, doing road work at this city’s hilly routes and working on crunches to firm up his abdomen.

“Mahirap gawin ito, pero kailangan (It’s difficult but we need to do it),” said the boxing superstar. “Body puncher si Cotto (This is difficult but we need to do it. Cotto is a body puncher).”

“My trainers and I have devised ways to fight him,” he added.

With Roach taking over the training yesterday, the two worked on counter shots and footwork inside the ring.

This weekend, four sparring partners led by undefeated American boxer Shawn Porter are scheduled to arrive. All are capable of simulating the style of Cotto, according to Roach.

“Porter is my main guy right now. He’s 11-0 with 10 knockouts and is a light middleweight who’s got a strong left hook,” said Roach.

Meanwhile, the declaration from Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s camp that “Pretty Boy” should be declared the No. 1 boxer in the world still doesn’t hold water despite an impressive demotion of Juan Manuel Marquez over the weekend.

At least, that’s what the sport’s acknowledged bible, Ring Magazine, says.

The highly respected magazine released its pound-for-pound rankings for September and had Pacquiao still at No. 1, with Mayweather shooting up to No. 2 after his triumph over Marquez.

Last Sunday, Pacquiao said Mayweather can have the mythical pound-for-pound title because the undefeated American earned it with his latest conquest, which came after a 21-month hiatus.

“[Mayweather] can boast about being better because he has finished his job [of beating Marquez],” Pacquiao said. “I still have to finish mine and hurdle Cotto.”

Mayweather leapfrogged past Shane Mosley and Bernard Hopkins, who were third and fourth on the Ring list. Marquez slipped to fifth with the defeat.

source: inquirer.net

Roach: Pacquiao very sharp

By Dennis Principe
If Manny Pacquiao were to fight Miguel Cotto this weekend, there is no doubt in the mind of Freddie Roach the Filipino boxing sensation could still win the highly-anticipated bout. This was how Roach described Pacquiao’s conditioning as soon as the two linked up for the first time since their 2nd round demolition of Ricky Hatton last May in Las Vegas: “He was very sharp. If I didn’t know better I would think he was in the gym for a month. His combinations are fast and his power is already there. His mindset, we’re on the same page that we know how to fight Cotto,” said Roach moments after their training.


The legendary trainer arrived Tuesday morning in Manila along with conditioning coach Alex Ariza and immediately proceeded to Baguio City where they arrived just before lunchtime.

Wearing a T-shirt with the face of national hero Jose Rizal, Roach took charge right away in Cooyeesan Hotel’s Shape-up Gym.

“Without a doubt, this is our best start. He’s now in great shape and I’m fine with that,” said Roach.

The whole time they were inside the ring, Roach and Pacquiao apparently were trying to work on the fighter’s counter shots as well as his footwork.

From time to time though Roach and Pacquiao discussed about their technique by whispering at each other.

After their more than two hours of work out Roach cleared to Fightnews that training in Baguio was never an issue in their previous discussions.

“It has nothing to do with the Philippines. The only problem I have is the jetlag and going back so I want to make sure we’re going to have enough time to come back and adjust and be 100%,” said Roach.

Roach insists they have to be back in the United States at least two weeks before the fight.

“That’s the minimum and we might go straight to Las Vegas and skip Wild Card because going from one gym to another gym and another gym gets a little bit crazy,” said Roach.

This weekend four sparring partners led by American undefeated boxer Shawn Porter who are scheduled to arrive and all, according to Roach, are capable of simulating the style of Cotto.

“Porter is my main guy right now. He’s 11-0 with 10 knockouts and is a light middleweight who’s got a strong left hook,” said Roach.

Pacquiao ( 49-3-2, 37 knockouts) will battle Cotto (34-1, 27 KOs) for 12-rounds with the Puerto Rican’s World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight crown at stake on November 14 at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas. Both combatants agreed to fight at a catch weight of 145lbs.

Source: http://www.fightnews.com/?p=24019

Manny Pacquiao vs Miguel Cotto: November 14, 2009 Showdown

This week's official announcement of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto fight scheduled for November 14 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas brings with it a wave of excitement for fight fans. The diminutive Pacquiao, boxing's acknowledged pound-for-pound king, will move north in weight once again to fight Cotto, the current WBO welterweight champ, at an agreed-upon catch-weight of 145 pounds.

Over the next four months, this match-up is certain to provoke a firestorm of debate among devoted followers of the sweet science. Both men are accomplished stars who inspire great passion in their fan base, and yet they have unanswered questions hanging over them at the moment—questions that will be settled once and for all when they fight in November.
Miguel Cotto Can Cotto Keep Pace with Pacquiao?

For Cotto, those questions center on a single, harrowing fight and its after-effects— his war with Antonio Margarito in July 2008. That fight is Cotto's only loss as a professional, but what a loss it was. In an electrifying fight-of-the-year candidate, Cotto took a commanding early lead, only to get steadily chopped down by his relentless opponent. Margarito was seemingly immune to pain that night, a Mexican terminator at 147 pounds. But when Margarito was subsequently caught with illegal, hardened inserts in his hand-wraps prior to his fight with Shane Mosley this past January, the speculation immediately swirled about the savage beating he'd dished out to Cotto. Was it administered with loaded gloves? If so, how much did it take out of the Puerto Rican star, and could he ever expect to be the same?

Those questions still haunt Cotto's career more than a year later. He's had two fights since the loss to Margarito—an easy victory over Michael Jennings in February to capture the vacant WBO welterweight title, and then a June battle with the tough veteran, Joshua Clottey. Despite fighting most of the bout with a nasty gash above his left eye, Cotto found a way to eke out a split decision over Clottey. But, according to Doug Fischer, the co-editor of RingTV.com, Cotto's performance provided no conclusive answers as to whether the boxer has made it all the way back to his pre-Margarito form.

"Some folks, like myself, were impressed with the way he gutted out a close decision against a bona fide welterweight contender, with basically one eye," Fischer explains. "But there's another camp that thinks he's just not the same guy he was. He appears to them now to be a solid welterweight, but not someone who could conceivably be the welterweight champ anymore or a top-five pound-for-pound player."

HBO commentator Max Kellerman agrees that the verdict is still out on Cotto. He sees the fighter's best blueprint for beating Pacquiao in Cotto's victory over Shane Mosley in December 2007, but wonders whether Cotto has that kind of fight left in him. "The dominant question here is whether Cotto can handle Pacquiao's speed," Kellerman says. "And the good news for Cotto is that his timing was able to offset Mosley's speed, and Mosley's lightning fast. But is this the same Cotto who beat Mosley? He cuts more easily now, and he doesn't seem as quick as he once did. And in Pacquiao, he's going to have to offset a guy who at this moment is faster than Shane, and who's a southpaw, and who has just shown us that he can really punch, even at these higher weights."

There's no doubt that Pacquiao presents a frightening package to any opponent right now, but he's not without question marks himself, particularly when faced with a proven heavy-handed puncher of Cotto's size and caliber. "The question for Manny is, 'Can he take a shot from a guy who has more than respectable power as a welterweight?'" Fischer says. "Because I think Cotto has the ability to catch Pacquiao and hurt him."
"Pacquiao has looked great in his last three fights," says RingTV.com's Doug Fischer, "but he's also fought the perfect opponents, the perfect guys to make him look like a million bucks."

Of course, whether Pacquiao could handle the power of naturally bigger men has been the primary subplot heading into his three most recent fights, and each time he answered with a resounding "yes" and with increasingly spectacular emphasis. Last June, in his first fight above 130 pounds, he dominated then-WBC lightweight champ David Diaz. Six months later, he moved all the way up to 147 pounds and destroyed Oscar De La Hoya in an explosive performance that catapulted him to superstardom. Then in May, he followed up his De La Hoya masterpiece with a crushing second-round knockout of junior welterweight champ, Ricky Hatton.

It was an astonishing trio of victories that, taken as a whole, would seem to pose quite a convincing response to any doubts about Pacquiao's ability to cope with the size and pop of just about anyone. Still, doubts linger.

"Pacquiao has looked great in his last three fights," Fischer says, "but he's also fought the perfect opponents, the perfect guys to make him look like a million bucks."

Fischer is quick to qualify that statement by saying that he's felt that Pacquiao was the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world going back to around his second fight with Erik Morales in 2006. Like almost everyone in boxing, he is blown away by what Pacquiao is accomplishing in the ring right now. Nevertheless, victories over the slow, plodding Diaz, the old and weight-drained De La Hoya, and then the artless and overrated Hatton have not completely sold pundits that Pacquiao, a guy who won his first title as a flyweight, is up to the challenge of fighting an elite welterweight.

The Cotto fight should put those doubts to rest one way or the other. "If Cotto still has it, Pacquiao is going to be in there against a natural welterweight in his physical prime with a lot of pride," Kellerman says. And then we'll find things out."

Or, as Fischer puts it, "The way Pacquiao got rid of Hatton was impressive, and you have to give him credit for it, because he just blew him out of the ring. If he blows Cotto out like that, then my God…he's just a great fighter."

And Fischer is talking great as in "all-time great." Come fight night, Cotto will seek to prove that he's still among the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport today. But Pacquiao will be competing for an even heavier bounty: to stake his claim among the best pound-for-pound fighters the sport has ever known.

Source: http://manny-pacquiao-fight-vs-miguel-cotto.blogspot.com/2009/09/manny-pacquiao-vs-miguel-cotto-november.html