Manny Steward Says 'Miguel Cotto lo noqueará'

I hate to say this, because I truely respect Steward, but I think this is a desperate attempt by Steward to get a top fighter. He has no bullets left in the Kronk chamber. Andy Lee has "Kronk Chin" and Johnathon Banks is mediocre at best. Manny is getting old. He has a good TV gig, and has neither the time or the energy to spend time developing young talent. I think he still wants to train someone significant. Enter Cotto. My feeling is this will be another marriage similar to Floyd Sr-Hatton. The problems Cotto, like Hatton, faced against Pacquiao, can’t be solved by a new trainer. It’s too late. Manny will say the things Cotto wants to hear in order to get the gig, but it won’t matter….speed kills.

Personally, Stone, I don’t think Cotto will take him up on the gig. He’s a weird guy, Cotto, not easily swayed by bling factor. It’s the same reason why he’s standing his ground on the WBO belt business. Because Cotto isn’t that big across the U.S., people forget that he’s about as huge as you can get in P.R. When you live in NYC, you know how big Cotto is. And I think that’s all he cares about. On the belt business, did you see where Don Jose is looking to create a WBC Diamond Belt for the Pac/Cotto fight? The comedy of these frickin belts is endless.

I think Cotto just needs to be Cotto in this fight. Any trainer that says i can teach you "this or that" don’t hire them. Cotto’s real chance, and although I like Pacquiao, I still think it’s a real chance, is to simply use his size and power on Manny. Manny hasn’t tasted welterweight power yet. Cotto can’t make the mistake Hagler made against Leonard-giving up the early rounds, letting Leonard get comfortable. Cotto needs to press from the start and he can’t stop. Pacquiao will be sharper early but we don’t know what he’ll do after tasting a few of Cotto’s body shots. In short, Cotto’s best hope against Pacquiao is to be the same guy he’s always been.

Uhh, no, Cotto won’t knock out anybody. Pacquiao is in his prime right now. Cotto looks like another Trinidad, waiting to get exposed.

How was Trinidad exposed?….He won every fight he was in during his prime: Whitaker,Oscar,Oba Carr,Joppy,Vargas, Mayorga, etc…it was only after he went all the way up to middleweight that he lost. To a legend in Bernard Hopkins then later to Wright in a decision. Certainly no shame there. He was exposed…….. as an all-time great.

Sorry stonehand, i got to agree w/ zen on this one. I was a huge Tito fan, and likewise i enjoy watching cotto fight, but he will be exposed just as tito was. Every true boxing fan knows he lost to De La Hoya no matter who you were rooting for, and Joppy, Vargas, and Mayorga are all good but not great. Tito is one of the more over rated boxers of his time. Cotto has shown lately it isnt that hard to hit him, and against pac man thats no a good thing, pac-man will be the one celebrating a knock out.

Trinidad v Vargas must have set some sort of record for low blows. I think they were both sitting on ice packs for about a week after that one.

Let’s not sleep on Vargas, moyer. He did beat Wright and Quartey. He was not a superb fighter, but I still think he was pretty **** good. His losses came at the hands of some fantastic fighters.

I just don’t know what you guys mean when you say he was "exposed"…what was exposed?  Oscar could have won, if he was willing to endure the punishment Tito was going to inflict on him. He wasn’t. He ran. He didn’t run because he "exposed" a weak fighter. He ran, because he knew Tito was strong. You don’t run from weakness. That’s the only guy Oscar ever ran from…that says something. Tito won 42 times with 35 ko’s…he lost 3 times to bigger men Hopkins,Wright and Jones. Hopkins stopped him in 12, Wright and Jones went the distance.   

 If  cotto  is  smart  he  will  go  with  steward  cotto  has  already  showed  in  the  margirito  fight  that  he  can  follow  a  game  plan  no  matter  the  situation  he  lost  to  the  cheater  but   showed  he   is  a  thinking  fighter    and  if  you  can   do  that  for  steward  championships  follow  fighters  like  jermain  taylor  who  dont  have  the  ability  to excute  when  the  pressure  is  on  waste  stewards  knowledge  of  boxing

If you don’t think trainers are important, check out the Tyson corner in the Douglas fight putting a water balloon on the swollen left eye of Tyson.  LOL before LOL.  Just wondering out loud here, but of the two prominent trainers turned analysts which would getter Cotto closer to beating Pacman-Steward or Atlas?  Thanks.

Stonehand I’ve got your back, don’t know what these guys are talking about.  De La Hoya didn’t win the fight, winners don’t backpedal and cover up because they think they’re ahead on points.  Tito is an all time great, dominant in his prime in his weight class.

bbaroo, Atlas I think.  I’ve regularrly heard Steward come up with some head scratching comments, seems totally biased when announcing, doesn’t see the whole fight.

Guys I hate DLH but he won that fight! Even if he losses the last 3 rounds by running he had the fight won. Pac-Cotto is a pick-em fight in my eyes alot of things can happen. This is what makes this fight so intriguing alot of variables.

galactafunk, I would really like to see Atlas match wits with Roach.  24/7 would be pretty cool watching Atlas behind the scenes for the first time, I think.

did someone just say Cotto looks "like another Trindad"? Do you realize this is the highest compliment Cotto has ever been paid? Tito wasn’t perfect, but he was a hell of a fighter and at one time, probably a pound for pound best in the world.

As for the article, Cotto should hire Manny, the man is a legend, but I still don’ t see him winning this fight.

Bottom line: Cotto needs to find a (respectable, legitimate) trainer soon if he wants to hold his own against Pac. There are a million variables in a fight, especially one as intriguing as this, but, as cliche as it may be, you can’t put a price on the fact that while Cotto is shopping, Pac and Roach are carrying a long, successful relationship into this fight. I’ll admit I’m a huge Pacquiao fan, but bias aside, he’s just too **** good right now. It may be somewhat close, but I’ve got no doubt Manny wins this if he fights at the level he’s been for the past few years.

You start talking about a Puerto Rican fighter, and it’s not too long before you start talking Tito. And you start talking Tito, well, Tito/ODLH is not too far behind. Scoring the rounds, yeah, I thought it was tough to give a decision to Tito in that one. Scoring the general mojo though, it seemed karmically correct that Oscar was penalized for his Speedy Gonzalez routine. It was positively undignified.CJBassett, here’s the one thing. Obviously Manny is a great fighter, but is he a great 145 pound fighter? We base the idea that he can handle the heat in the welterweight kitchen on the ODLH and Hatton fights, and both of those guys were uniquely unsuited to give Pac any trouble at any weight, Oscar because he’s old and weight-drained himself to the point of death, and Hatton, well, because he’s simply not very good.Cotto is VERY good, and won’t be walking into that ring weighing 145 pounds, let’s face it. He’ll probably come in close to 160. What’s more, Cotto was able to negate the speed of Shane Mosley in their fight, and Shane is very fast. Pac is faster right now, I’ll grant you that, but… look, neither Hatton nor Oscar laid a glove on Pacquiao. Cotto WILL hit Manny, and Cotto hits hard. He hurt Shane Mosley in their fight and I also thought he hurt Clottey a few times, and those are two of the toughest, biggest welterweights you’d ever want to see. I think you’re wrong to think that Pac is a lock in this one based on the Hatton and Oscar fights. They provide absolutely no precedent for what this fight is going to look like.

You’re correct Large…also take in consideration the fact that Manny’s punches may not have much of an effect on Cotto. If that happens he could be in deep trouble. I could see the fight going the same way Cotto-Margarito went. The faster, better boxer winning the early rounds, the bigger stronger fighter walking him down dominating the late rounds. I’m sure this senario bothers Freddie Roach. Manny needs to strike and get out (Sugar Ray style). The problem is, Pacquiao loves to exchange. He’ll win the early rounds but if he better watch himself after 6 rounds.