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Miguel Cotto: 'Manny Pacquiao has earned everything he has'
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Manny is in the building at MGM Grand to the delight of applauding Pinoy fans Tuesday
MICHAEL MARLEY MEETS, GREETS, SPEAKS TO MIGUEL COTTO UPON ARRIVAL AT MGM
LAS VEGAS--You might think Miguel I’m No Angel Cotto is celoso, meaning jealous in Spanish. You might think that he envies the amazing international publicity and hoopla being enjoyed by his Saturday night rival, Manny Pacquiao.
You would be wrong, sagebrush breath.
Cotto, tranquil and seemingly totally at ease with himself and this impeding bout, was more than gracious in speaking to the media at the MGM Grand Hotel Tuesday afternoon.
I asked the WBO world champion from Caguas what he thought about the transcendent allure that the Pinoy Idol clearly has.
Top Rank (Chris Farina)
“No matter, everything Manny has, everything he gets, Manny has earned this,” Cotto said. “He has earned the right to enjoy it all.”
Still, Cotto continues to insist that when it comes down to mano a mano inside the squared circle, the winners will be himself and his beloved Puerto Rico.
MICHAEL MARLEY'S FIREPOWER FIGHT WEEK LINKS:
Oscar De La Hoya diagnosed: he has Pinoy Envy as to Pacquiao
Pacman stays humble: Thank God for fame, wealth, everything
Eric Estrada backs fellow Boricua Cotto but what of 'Filaricans?'
Hospitable Bob: Arum welcomes Mayweather, Mosley to Media Center
Spa guy? Does Manny get mani and pedi? Pacman advertises Destino Spa in Palo Alto for a friend (Noel Rivera Photo)
“I respect Phil, he is a professional and I am sure he will have Miguel in great condition,” Pacman conditioning guru Alex Ariza told me last week at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood.
Isn’t that a rare and refreshing note in boxing, a member of one camp not trashing his counterpart on the other side?
Cotto said his training stints in Tampa and now here in the gambling mecca have gone smoothly.
“When you have good communication on your team, when the people are working in an integrated way and talking to each other…when all the effort of all the persons is to get the best out of Miguel Cotto, then you have a pretty nice, confident team.”
Cotto was asked about the left eye which sliced up early on in the Joshua Clottey bout in June.
“My eye is pretty well,” Cotto said.
I asked why, if he was a natural lefthander when he first started boxing, that Cotto switched over to become a righthander.
“I was only 11 years old back then,” Cotto said, smiling at the memory. “I switched myself because I just felt more comfortable. No one made me switch over. It came to me naturally.”
Pacquiao, of course, is a sizzling southpaw.
Cotto said he has carefully studied certain Pacquia bouts and made careful mental notes of Manny’s boxing tendencies.
"We watch those tapes and we see what happens,” Cotto said. “We looked at the first fight with Erik Morales that Manny lost. Then we looked at the first fight and the second fight against (Juan Manuel) Marquez. This training camp has made a difference because we had a purpose.”
If the butterflies are about to break loose inside Cotto, you wouldn’t know it at least not now.
His fight with Pacman looks to be a hot one but Cotto is one cool customer.
CLICK HERE FOR FLOYD MAYWEATHER'S PREDICTION
Listen to Indy Boxing Examiner Dennis Guillermo's Pick!
Listen to Eddie Goldman talk about the X-Factors in Cotto-Pacquiao!
(mlcmarley@aol.com)
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