"We all know that Cotto, yes, he puts pressure, but he puts it at certain moments of time in 12 rounds...Cotto is known to do it once in a blue moon. He's known for taking his breaks, you know, for taking his long breaks and he likes the ropes...If Cotto plays what he's playing for most of his career, I agree with Rashad that it's going to be a tough fight for Cotto," stated jr. welterweight Frankie "Gato" Figueroa as he as shared his thoughts on Miguel Cotto's chances this weekend against Manny Pacquiao. Figueroa was a guest on the OnTheGrind Boxing podcast yesterday and spoke about a number of subjects, including what it was like sparring with Cotto and working with his team, his own recent fight with Rashad Holloway and much more.
On how he thinks Pacquiao vs. Cotto will play out...
"We all know that Cotto, yes, he puts pressure, but he puts it at certain moments of time in 12 rounds...Cotto is known to do it once in a blue moon. He's known for taking his breaks, you know, for taking his long breaks and he likes the ropes."
"Like you said man, Pacquiao can close that gap real quick and it's shocking because it puts you in defense mode when somebody closes the gap that fast. All you can think about is defending yourself against a guy who, not only does he close the gap very fast, I know, we all know that Pacquiao is going to throw 45 punches from who knows where."
"If Cotto plays what he's playing for most of his career, I agree with Rashad that it's going to be a tough fight for Cotto."
On the corner of Team Cotto...
"Cotto's not that dumb. Even though they may have Joe Santiago, who probably hasn't been on that level before, but it doesn't really take a whole lot of rocket scienctist to figure out a gameplan. It's the boxer who needs to carry it out in the ring. We all know if Pacquiao is throwing 50 punches on the ropes, we're all going to say as trainers, whether what level we're on, we're going to say, 'Cotto. Get off the God damn ropes!'"
"Cotto's been there long enough to understand what experiences he needs to do to get off the ropes or throw back or whatever the case is. At this point in time, there's not too much instruction you can give to somebody who doesn't know what's going on in the fight game."
On his prediction for the fight...
"I disagree on the second round knockout. This is an opinion, not a fact, but I think they're going to do at least 7, 8, 9 rounds. It's going to be a good fight, but I think a knockout will be by either party."
CALL IN LIVE AT 8PM ET/5PM PT AND BE A PART OF THE FIGHT HYPE OnThEGRiND Boxing - (347) 843-4293
[ Follow Ben Thompson on Twitter @fighthype ]