Manny Pacquiao Will Beat Miguel Cotto Easy, Says Sugar

Las Vegas - Renowned boxing historian Bert Randolph Sugar predicts that pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao’s “Fire Power” showdown with WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto on November 14 will result in “an easy win for Pacquiao.”

Speaking to BoxingScene.com, ABS-CBN and Standard Today after the Floyd Mayweather Jr - Juan Manuel Marquez press conference at the Hollywood Theatre of the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, Bert Sugar jokingly said “first of all Cotto will start bleeding somewhere between ’o say and can you see’ (lines from the US national anthem).”

In a more serious vein Bert Sugar conceded that Cotto though “is tough and is bigger but Pacquiao has been fighting bigger men every time he stepped into the ring and by the third or fourth round if Cotto hasn’t made an impression watch him stepping backwards, and that’s Pacquiao’s fight.”

However, Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach in an interview in the Los Angeles promotional tour press conference said he isn’t taking anything away from Cotto and told us he plans to have Pacquiao train for three weeks at his Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles after the initial phase of preparation in the Philippines summer capital of Baguio City.

Roach described Cotto as being “solid, strong and a great fighter and Manny will have to fight s great fight to win.”

The three-time winner of the “Trainer of the Year” award predicted that Pacquiao “will win by a twelve round decision but if a knockout comes it will be a big bonus because this guy has only been stopped once in his life and that was questionable (against Antonio Margarito). Cotto is a very resilient tough guy . He’s got his whole country behind him like Manny does and people that tell me that its an easy fight are fools.”

Roach pointed out that Cotto is a world champion and its not an easy fight. Asked how he planned to overcome the size and power of Cotto, Roach said "will work on the strategy in training. I won't tell you, we'll show you."