Pacquiao vs. Cotto News

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The fight will take place in a 20-foot, and not 24-foot, ring.

Promoter Bob Arum today said that the Pacquiao/Cotto fight would be contested in a 20-foot ring, contradicting a report in Primera Hora yesterday in which Cotto's trainer, Joe Santiago, stated that it would be held in a 24-foot ring. Santiago was under the impression that the ring would be 24-feet square because that is apparently what Pacquiao's team requested in the negotiations. But the Nevada State Athletic Commission adheres to a standard ring size of 20 feet and rarely makes exceptions. Arum claims that he doesn't know where the rumor of a 24-foot ring started, but it's not true. Most observers believe that a larger ring would be to Pacquiao's advantage, allowing him more space to box against a fighter many deem to be much slower than him.

Freddie Roach says the fight will go the distance.

In this interview with David Tyler over at Doghouse Boxing, Freddie Roach predicts that Pac/Cotto will go the distance. "Cotto certainly has his hands full but he has some advantages against us," Freddie says. "By fight time he will be 20 pounds heavier than us. He will be the bigger, stronger fighter who is a very resilient guy. Of course he has started to cut lately and I’m hoping that will be a factor for us. Manny’s speed will bust him up a little bit, I hope. I just believe that Cotto is taking this fight more serious than any fight he has had."

No site yet determined for Pacquiao's training camp.

Because Pacquiao is unable to hold his entire training camp for the Cotto fight in the U.S., other sites are currently being sought by his team, although nothing has been decided yet. Cancun is supposedly high on the list of potential locations. Pacquiao wants to train in the Philippines, but Freddie Roach is against it, feeling that their would be far too many distractions for the native hero. When one considers that the fighter is currently over there shooting an action movie (his eighth action movie, actually), well, you kind of have to think Freddie might right about that. Speculation is rampant on the internet that the confused state of Pac's training plans and that the movie-star distractions may catch up with the mighty Filipino when facing a bigger fighter of Cotto's caliber, but for myself, I seriously doubt it. He's had distractions in his camps for years, and he always shows up on fight night focused and in tip-top shape. I've seen it with my own eyes - the guy has a Jedi-like quality in the midst of chaos.

Anticipation high for press tour kicking off at Yankee Stadium.

The first official presser for the fight will be a gala event, open to the public and held at Yankee Stadium on September 10. It's well-known that members of the Yankees are Pacquiao fans, including Derek Jeter, who likely will be ringside for the Pac/Cotto fight. From New York, the press tour moves to Cotto's hometown of Caguas, Puerto Rico on September 12, and then moves to AT&T Park in San Francisco on September 13 with an open-to-the-public event after a Giants/Dodgers game. The tour concludes with a press-only event in L.A. on September 14.

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.