PACQUIAO vs COTTO COVERAGE:
Caveat: We provide an alternative explanation of what happened during the Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto. We believe the strategy "Master" Freddie Roach employed against the bigger Puerto Rican was far "more than meets the eye."
Theory # 1:
Freddie Roach (and Manny Pacquiao) wanted Miguel Cotto to win round 1 and the early part of round 2. Why?
Analysis:
Roach stated to the general public that his pupil would attack the then-welterweight champion similar to how Pacquiao attacked Ricky Hatton. Roach declared that Pacquiao would knock out Cotto in the first round. This was an easy deception to detect. In the words of Sun Tzu: "All warfare is based on deception. Even though you are competent, appear to be incompetent. Though effective, appear to be ineffective."
The vast majority of the public, and Cotto's own camp, believed that the Puerto Rican would be the stronger and more powerful boxer. Roach (and Pacquiao) knew that the Filipino possesses an explosive junior middleweight punch. Early in the fight, the strategy was to let Cotto move forward and open himself up with the left jab. Manny backed up and pretended to be negatively affected by the "more powerful" welterweight champ. Even HBO commentators were sold on the strategy when Pacquiao was laying on the ropes.
Slideshow >> : How Roach's plan resembled Hannibal's against the ancient Romans >>
Pacquiao repeatedly placed himself in the direct line of fire, and covered himself up with his gloves like a turtle inside a shell. Manny kept on backing up. Once Cotto was convinced that he could hurt the "smaller" man, he went into his habit of predictably moving forward with his lead ( front ) left jab. ( Cotto is a left-handed fighter with an orthodox stance which means his left jab is his lead punch. ) Once the Puerto Rican moved forward with his left, Roach's first phase of the battleplan succeeded.
Alternatively, for Pacquiao to simply march forward towards Cotto would violate one of Sun Tzu's maxims: "Be extremely subtle, even to the point of formlessness. Be extremely mysterious, even to the point of soundlessness."
Carl von Clausewitz
One of the greatest modern thinkers on warfare was Prussian General Carl von Clausewitz, whose treatise "On War" remains a classic in detailing military principles and strategy. His lessons are taught in military academies around the world.
On the element of surprise, Clausewitz states:
The surprise is . . . the medium to numerical superiority; but it is besides that also to be regarded as a substantive principle in itself . . . . When it is successful in a high degree, confusion and broken courage in the enemy's ranks are the consequences . . .
Slideshow >> : How Roach's plan resembled Hannibal's against the ancient Romans >>
Supporting Data:
What evidence supports this theory? Let's take a look at the CompuBox results. In the first round, Manny's work rate was low, throwing only 41 punches. In the second, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh rounds, Pacquiao threw at least 70 punches. In the ninth round, he threw over 90 punches. That seems to confirm that he was playing soft in the first round. As Cotto opened up, Pacquiao's accuracy and connect rate also increased from 29% in the firt round, to between 40 - 50% in the next eight rounds ( except for round five ). This seems to suggest that opening Cotto up made Pacquiao more effective by landing highly accurate punches.
Cotto, on the other hand, started at a cautious 53 punches thrown in the first round. As he gained confidence, due to Roach's bait, he threw more punches from round two to round six, ranging from 59 to 75 punches thrown. However, the speedier Pacquiao's connect rate increased significantly during these rounds. That spelled doom for Cotto.
BoxingScene.com / CompuBox
Theory # 2:
As mentioned, Pacquiao and Roach had an interest in making Cotto think that he was effective with the left jab and doing it while on the attack. Cotto telegraphs his punches most revealingly under this situation. Roach alluded to this weakness in several interviews leading up to the fight. Understandably, he withheld from disclosing any details. ( We covered in a prediction article several of Cotto's weaknesses including his tendency to telegraph punches. )
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Comments
pacquiao already said---he got hit on purpose to test Cotto's power---it seems from Shawn Porter's comments recently--he hits harder than Cotto and therefore Pacquiao was able to manage Cotto's shots.
mr ric montana,
now what, just sing lulluby to miguel cotto and let him sleep
well.
You forgot genghis khan who hail from asia. He was the one that has the biggest empire in the world.
i completely agree with rao007,Cotto could not carry PACMAN's punches. So strong that he back-pedalled in the later rounds. I did not expect COTTO will lose in that fight ill.
i really dont understand boxing strategy. but one thing i know is that pacquiao can take punches. since his fight in the U.S. nobody from the hall of famer boxers was able to knock down pacquiao. but all of them had been knowdown like morales, marquez, barrera, diaz, hatton, cotto, solis, and others including de la hoya had he continued the fight.
marv dumon, i dont know what youre smoking but id really appreciate it if you can give me some.
you said a lot. manny is just a great boxer. thats it no other explanation
I knew there's some strange things about you Marv, i don't know where you get the assessment about the Cotto/Pacquiao fight..i think you need to take a break...
I like that way of explaining about Pacman's victory over Cotto last Nov 14, that means you do some research.
Superb article! Great analogy!
In my analysis that style of Manny in that fight is not for Cotto it is the preparation for his next fight for MayWeather.Manny showed that he can be hit by a jab from Cotto.Manny could have avoided Cotto's punches but he allowed him to be hit so that whoever his next opponent is will call for a fight leading to a trap.The next opponent can come up a game plan formulated due to the Cotto fight.Didn't Pacquiao say in that post fight interview that he learned a lesson for his next fight?
You cannot pick an apple from a mango tree.
The thing is, pac's opponents do not realize his power. They almost always think that he has only his speed.
If you've been following his fights, you'll notice that as soon as pacquiao hits his opponents, they all say goodbye to their game plans.
actually sun tzu and the visayas way of fighting is..
sabaw sabw usa..anha nimo kulatahon..
soup first before main course or main food..
although sometimes its the way around.. it depends..
bravo marv
I don't think they necessarily planned that. And if they did, why are you revealing team "secrets?"
ur a hardworking writer, u took time to do ur analysis, those who don't agree should at least appreciate ur efforts. keep up the good job, il surely follow ur articles,congrats,more power, God bless.
pure baloney.
anu ba yan dami k-artehan ni Roach, kung di pala n-KO ni Pacquiao si Hatton ng Round 2.. malamang lumabas na to nun pa. Wala sayo cockroach ang hat's-off, kay Pacman paren !!!! go Pacquiao!!!!
manny is a hail of a fighter. His talent in boxing is simply overwhelm cotto's boxing skills.
Keep it up Bro!
As always, a great read from MD
ulol! great read ka to. isa kpa ugok!
My golly, now Pac can't fake it anymore. If Pac's next opponent believes this, the more would a ducker and a runner will just be contend to counter-punch.
i think the writer is right.. even pacman and roach said it.. this people that left a hate comment are idiot... you guys dont know what your talking about. stop hating
you are over-analyzing this thing to death.
Simply put:
Roach & Pac have mastered the Art of War by studying closely theie opponent and strategizing. Then Pac executed.
Nuff said.
Mr. Marv i think i'd read the same article as yours, when Pacman won a convincing KO over Cotto, i forgot the writers name though, or maybe it was an article of yours or maybe you just copied it and added some sprinkles to make it more saucy? What do you think?
im sorry to say this but.. your early analysis articles were fun to read.. now its seems like your trying too hard.. its no fun anymore..
THE SECRET OF PACQUAIO IS HIS AMULET. A TRIANGLE TATTOO ON HIS CHEST. HE IS A GIFTED PERSON AND NOBODY CAN BEAT HIM.
Nice article! Stupid comments and moronic reactions from the "supposed intelligent observers" reacting to your article is a solid proof that maybe 98% of your readers indeed does not have the mental capacity to read between the lines and appreciate your analogy. It's fun that you brought it up and we're on the same page. The amount of work and the subtle details of your analyses, ( and yes i spelled it analyses for you morons coz it's plural just so you know ) is highly praised and appreciated by the few % of readers here who loves to read relevant and substantial literary piece. You're one of the reasons I am reading stuff from this site, coz I know you're doing your homework. Keep it up, Marv!
The secret is We've really got a Hard Bed work out with Manny on Bed After the Training....
boxing is like going to war, so the art and rules of war would have practical application in boxing. a keen observer would see that mayweather seems to practice it.
Mayweather its your time to get ko and loss by pacman speed and power starting this day try to practice your speed to run cause no way out by pacman
mayweather putang ina mo duwag
Pacquiao is a war machine who seriously trains twice harder than Cotto does. He's got a very tough mind control & self discipline period.
A very entertaining article to read, but I don't think that's what happened. Pacquiao had already said he was backing up against the ropes to test Cotto's power and Roach clearly didn't want Manny to do that, too dangerous. After Manny felt the power and realized that he could handle it, he started his offense and the rest is history.
pacman is the man.. no matter what mayweather says.. why wouldn't he just accept the f**kn fight? .. if i were manny and mongo-floyd wants a 60/40.. i'd accept it.. 40% of 80mils is still a lot of dough.. and im a sure win!! f**k gay weather man!! he'll die with a sorry ass!! read the first line... pacman is the man!!
MGA FANS NI PACQUIAO MGA BISAYA DIN TULAD NYA!! AHAHAHA
PACQUIAO = STEROIDS.. MGA BISAYA SALOT SALOT SA MAYNILA
i agree with rhey. i also think that the writer was just complicating simple things.
hoy mga gago para kayong di pinoy kaya tayo di umasenso kayo - kayo nag aaway parang pinakikita ninyo sa mga banyaga ung ugaling pinoy
buti na lang hindi ako pure pinoy!! ahahaha
pacquiao on steroids.
Si Pacquiao nag steroids nakakahiya naman!! ahahaha
I don't buy this crap, Fighters can only take what's in front of them, jabbing, moving around always looking for some opening like Pacquiao. As what Mike Tyson said, everybody's got a plan until they get hit.
MANNY PACQUIAO = STEROIDS
Bottomline,its Pacquaios "Energizer Bunny" stamina thats keeps him going.Its unmatch thats what it is.Mind you Roach can have all the plans and stragety in the world but if Pac doesnt have the stamina that he possesses now then the wont work.You must have strategy/Plan A,B&C and if you lack the stamina then how can you reach plan C???Its not Pacquaios "Power" thats important when he moved up in weight but its his stamina, even at a greater weighthis stamina never changes and thats Roaches advantage..
pianbhel ur wrong with ur comment on roach, he help pacquaio to be the best fighter today, give roach some compliments for without him maybe manny can not reach where he is now today...
totoy jakol bakla!
Cause without the stamina Pacquaios has then Pacquaio wont be able to throw bombs all the way to the last round..FYI,Pacquaio is not on "STEROIDS" he is on "VIAGRA!! LOL!
marv, you're an excellent writer but sometimes you over analyze.
none the less, entertaining. i enjoy your articles!
In boxing, it's all about instinct, things happen in a blink of an eye. Inside the ring, it's all about heart and a fighters instinct and maybe 1% planning. You can't teach an old dog new tricks, well maybe except Pacman.
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