"Cotto tends to get dirty when the going gets tough in most of his fights and I don't want that to happen," stated world-class trainer Freddie Roach during an interview with Dennis Principe of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Concerned for his fighters safety in a bout where he's taking on a naturally bigger man, Roach plans on making sure that Cotto won't have any other advantages inside of the ring. "I will make sure the referee will be very strict about it," he continued.

Although Cotto has never really been warned for dirty tactics in the past, Roach insists that it's a trend that won't continue on November 14th as he plans on demanding for an automatic disqualification should any of Cotto's punches land south of the border. "Cotto stops his opponents' momentum with that kind of blow. In that Judah fight he had five low blows," Roach added.

Roach also plans on playing the race card prior to the Filipino phenom's clash with the Puerto Rican superstar. Veteran referee Joe Cortez, who's catchphrase is "I'm fair, but I'm firm," is the frontrunner to land the November 14th assignment and the fact that he's Puerto Rican doesn't sit too well with Roach. "Joe Cortez is Puerto Rican and he's in the running as one of the referees. I don't want him letting Cotto get away with stuff like that. We're going to make an issue out of it first," said Roach. Ironically, it was Joe Cortez who refereed Manny Pacquiao's first fight in the United States back in 2001 when he burst onto the scene with a 6th round TKO of Lehlohonolo Ledwaba. It was Pacquiao's HBO debut and his first fight with Roach. Cortez also refereed Pacquiao's first bout with Juan Manuel Marquez, which ended in a draw, and his first clash with Erik Morales, the last fight that Pacquiao lost.