Cotto declares Pacquiao’s style not his business

NEW YORK — Miguel Cotto doesn’t give much attention to what Manny Pacquiao is up to, and that includes not being concerned by the fact that until now the Filipino hasn’t broken a sweat to train for their November 14 fight in Las Vegas.

“He knows what to do to get in shape for this fight,” Cotto told Filipino scribes in passable English at the lobby of the Le Parker Meridien on Wednesday afternoon after a four-hour flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

“I told you it’s not a matter for me but a matter for him if he don’t train (early),” said Cotto, who sounded as though he felt slighted by the fact that Pacquiao continues to spend more time attending to shooting film and commercials.

“I am just training for my own benefit and what’s best for my career,” said the 28-year-old Cotto, who emerged from a full-sized black SUV looking unruffled and fit in a long-sleeved light-colored shirt, slim-fit jeans, and black leather shoes.

Cotto was very accommodating to the Filipino reporters, telling them that while it’s been widely reported that he’s neck-deep in training, it wasn’t really so.

“I haven’t really been training the whole week, but just training lightly. Yeah, I sparred but only a few times. Hard work will start when I go to my training camp in Tampa (in Florida). I just wanted to be prepared for the tough training weeks that lie ahead.”

Cotto, who barely scraped past Joshua Clottey of Ghana last June, said he currently weighs “between 159 and 161 lbs” and is not even worried that he won’t be able to drop down to the agreed catch weight of 145 lbs without sacrificing strength.

Joining Cotto in the tour are his lawyer Gabriel Penagaricano, aide Bryan Perez, and conditioning coach Phil Landman.

This afternoon at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, Pacquiao and Cotto engage in a staredown and assess their respective chances to the delight of fight fans followed by a series of photo shoots and interviews.

After the Big Apple, Pacquiao and Cotto will fly to Puerto Rico for another event at the Centro de Bellas Artes in Cotto’s hometown of Caguas. Then the tour makes a stop in San Francisco, Los Angeles and finally to San Diego.

Source: Mb.com.ph