Cotto Taking No Chances, Starts Training For Pacquiao

WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto is taking no chances. With several months to go before his November 14 bout with Manny Pacquiao, the Puerto Rican champion has already begun training for the fight. Cotto returned to the gym on Monday and did five rounds on the heavy bag, 40 minutes of running and several stretching exercises. He wants to hit the gym two to three times per week until August 24, when he plans to start training full time for the fight with Manny. He doesn't want stamina to become an issue in the late rounds.

"I've done other things, but I've yet to return to the gym. The idea is to go two to three times a week until Phil Landman (his conditioning coach) arrives in Puerto Rico on August 22 and then I'll begin to train full-time on the 24th," Cotto told Primera Hora.

Cotto's trainer, Joe Santiago, told the paper that his fighter's training began early because the opponent is considered the best in the sport.

"We want to go to work slowly and get the most out of the following three months to achieve a high level of preparation," said Santiago. "We want to avoid the history of previous fights, like the one with Antonio Margarito. We do not want to arrive feeling tired on the day of the fight and therefore we will moderate the workload."