When Roach in preparations for the Hatton fight said that Hatton will resort to his old self....trained Pacquiao to meet the old Hatton. True to form Hatton did just that.... How will Roach prepare Pacquiao for the Cotto fight ? Will he focus on uppercuts ? Will he try to " shock and awe " from the opening bell with a barrage...jumping in and out hoping to stun Cotto and throw him off his game? Just curious what his approach is going to be.... What do you guys think his stragegy will be and should be ?
Pac will fight Cotto in a similar fashion to witch he fought DLH, Roach has admitted their game plan is to outfox/outbox Cotto and not stand in front of him at any time beat him with in and out movement and speed.
good question. well from the clottey fight we know he's vulnerable up the middle, from the corley fight we know he can be stunned by southpaws (but this is hardly a trend) and from his recent career as a whole he's susceptible to punches down the middle. personally, i'd train pac to take advantage of cotto's relatively weaker movement and blast in and out of range, shooting straight lefts down the middle and departing before the counter attack. a few rounds of this will soften cotto up. uppercuts would leave him to close to cotto and vulnerable to counters. begin working in right hooks at the end of the combos by the 4th and utilize speed of foot to outhustle cotto. by the 6th he'll be cut and hurt and that's when pac can let his hands go. i'd work on movement and the straight left in the gym
Definetely more uppercuts. This is an underrated weapon of Pacman's, not as great as his straight left or Manila ice, but respectable. Cotto's defense is very tight but susceptible to the uppercut, if Roach can just find some way teach Pacman to use it most effectively with the southpaw stance advantage then their gameplan is solid. I expect the Pacquiao camp to be studying the Judah fight more than any of Cotto's other fights.
see i worry about the uppercut as you need to be in close to throw it and there's no way pac wants to trade with cotto. the only other way is to throw it from the outside and then he might get buster douglas-ed
He cant throw it from the outside because he doesnt have the reach something Judah had the benefit of. Im guessing he will have to use it the same way he did against Morales, if Cotto tries to get in too close, throw the uppercut and get back in the center of the ring. The more I think about it, Pac will need to be tactical if hes going to win.
very good post. damn right it'll be a tactical fight...pac's athletism and talent will take him far but he'll need a good strategy. roach better not be too cocky with this one
Despite the love that people have for Cotto on this board, i really don't see him bringing much to the fight that can beat Pac. Cotto is a great fighter, however he has shown that he can be hurt. Pac has power in both hands and has a clear speed advantage. Cotto is a warrior and will make this fight entertaining im sure, but honestly I think Pac has a fairly clear cut victory. JMM is the last fighter to give us a blueprint on how to beat Pac, and Cotto is not nearly defensive enough to fight that kind of fight..
Cotto would be prepared for the uppercut, Roach should tell Pac to keep moving around, then use a little bit of potshotting just to prevent Cotto from getting comfortable, not that Cotto will underestimate Pac, but once Cotto finds out that he can handle Pac's power, its going to be a very painful night for Pac. Pac can very well surprise Cotto with his speed, and constant moving, throwing combinations from angles far from Cotto's strong side.
1)i don't think he can handle pac's power personally. broken nose by round 3 2)that's a great plan, staying away from cotto's strong side. keep moving to the left, avoid the hook to the body
As Pac's fan, i do hope so (1), Cotto tucks his chin very well, and this stance prevents him from getting hit in the sweetspot. Pac somehow knocks his opponents when they mistakenly lift their chins and then POW!
I doubt Cotto gets taken out with one bomb from Pacquiao the way Hatton was. He got buzzed pretty bad by guys like Judah, Margarito and Torres but managed to stay on his feet. Then again people are getting surprised by PacMan every fight, who is to say the kind of power he dealt Ricky wouldn't fell guys just seven lbs north?
Unlike Hatton, Pac and Roach will respect Cotto's power. I see Pac boxing Cotto wisely through the first 6 rounds like he did with Oscar thru the first 5 rounds. You'll see a lot of straight lefts, quick foot movement, moving in and out to avoid any big body shot that Cotto may be ready to throw. Pac will keep it in the center of the ring where he can use his speed, moving out quickly when he feels the ropes on his back. When Roach senses that Cotto is gassing, expect the Pac you saw at the Hatton fight going for the kill, but with a little more caution.
Roach will do the same things he normally does and that is studying tapes of Cottos' previous matches. Exploit Cottos' weaknesses. Manny has to do what he normally does and that is to start strong and fast and see how Cotto reacts to it. If Pac can react and adjust to Cottos' fight strategy quickly, he'll win.