"Cotto actually intimidated Pacquiao because he was looking at him like letting him know that he was going to knock him out and Pacquiao automatically turned his face while Cotto was still looking at him. He just turned away like he couldn't look in his eyes and that said a lot. Pacquiao just seemd to be laughing and joking around and Cotto was just quiet the whole time and focused...It's definitely not going to go the whole 12 rounds. I see a knockout and I see Cotto winning big time," stated jr. welterweight Kenny Abril, sparring partner for Miguel Cotto, as he gave a behind-the-scenes look into Team Cotto's preparations leading up to the highly-anticipated showdown with Manny Pacquiao. Abril was a guest on the OnTheGrind Boxing Radio podcast yesterday and shared his thoughts on a number of subjects, including what it was like sparring with Cotto, why he thinks he saw intimidation in the eyes of Pacquiao and much more.
On emulating Pacquiao...
"I was basically doing a lot of movement, a lot of head movement, a lot of speed and basically just, you know, trying to imitate as much as I can because Pacquiao's not easy to imitate. He's just an amazing fighter. But our last sparring session here in Vegas was last weekend and he was just amazing, man, his speed; and I was moving all over the place, I was just in and out, in and out, man, like his speed and combinations were like just sharp. He was on fire. That guy, I don't see him losing. Like, every time I would move, it was like combinations were just landing from everywhere...he's got that drive and focus. He's been doing good work and he's ready. That's all I can say. He's ready. Like I said, I was moving, a lot of angles, doing a lot of angles, a lot of head movement; that's what Pacquiao basically does, a lot of bouncing, in and out, in and out, a lot of lead left hands, you know what I mean? That's what Pacquiao tends to do sometimes and basically going at him with quick combinations and that's all we really worked on, the angles and stuff. That was the main focus. But he adapted to it really good and he's sharp man. He's really sharp, I must say."
On what he gave Cotto the most trouble with...
"The angles were actually, he was kind of off on that, but he actually, that's where actually we were getting to him, when were using a lot of angles, but besides that, he's adapted to it so well...we did our last sparring session, like I said, this past week and I was trying to do the same thing, throwing him off, and it was actually much more difficult to get in because every time, you just never know what angle Cotto's coming at. He just throws punches from all over so it was actually pretty hard to get off on Cotto this past week with him. Like I said, he's sharp. I was trying to imitate Pacquiao as much as I can this past week and throughout the whole camp, but he's adapted real well to it and his team has done a very good job on executing their gameplan. Hopefully, this Saturday, they do a good job and they execute also Manny Pacquiao.
On Cotto intimidating Pacquiao...
"I was also at the weigh-ins the other day and he was looking at Pacquiao like dead in his face and he was on his face and Pacquiao like couldn't look in his eyes. He just couldn't do it so he looked away. Like he showed like Cotto actually intimidated Pacquiao because he was looking at him like letting him know that he was going to knock him out and Pacquiao automatically turned his face while Cotto was still looking at him. He just turned away like he couldn't look in his eyes and that said a lot. Pacquiao just seemd to be laughing and joking around and Cotto was just quiet the whole time and focused."
"I think Pacquiao in the early rounds is going to try to feel him out; just move around and box him. I truly believe that it's not going to go the whole 12 rounds. It's definitely not going to go the whole 12 rounds. I see a knockout and I see Cotto winning big time. I see him winning big time. A lot of people say Pacquiao is fast. Yeah, but Zab Judah was fast, Mosley was fast and Cotto executed perfect."
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