Mayweather vs. Cotto: Pacquiao's Trainer Freddie Roach Smart to Praise Cotto

Perhaps Manny Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach, is upset his guy won't be fighting Floyd Mayweather in a few months, but either way, Roach made a bold move in stating Miguel Cotto definitely has what it takes to beat the undefeated boxer on May 5. 

There's been a long standing beef between the Pacquiao group and the Mayweather party, simply because a fight between the two star boxers is so highly anticipated but has yet to happen. 

It was believed the two parties would work out a deal to fight in the coming months, but again it all failed. Of course, nobody owns to to the failures, as blaming the other is always easier. After all, it's never their fault things didn't work out, always the other. 

Now Mayweather is preparing to fight Cotto, someone he has never fought before. Pacquiao, on the other hand, has fought and beaten Cotto, so Roach knows a thing or two about the boxer from Puerto Rico. 

According to Boxingscene.com, Roach believes Cotto has a good chance to hand Mayweather his first ever loss. 

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Manny had one of his greatest victories against Cotto. But their styles [Pacquiao and Mayweather] are so different. Floyd sometimes averages 15 punches per round. How can you beat someone like Cotto, who is a strong puncher and throws so many punches [with only 15 punches per round]?

When Cotto catches you on the ropes, that’s where he does his best work. And Mayweather likes to lean against the ropes to counter. In that scenario, Cotto could succeed.

As for styles, it is an interesting fight. It’s a good technical boxers fighting with a counter-puncher. Mayweather is strong physically, but I think Cotto is a bit stronger. Mayweather is definitely much faster, as was Pacquiao [against Cotto]. Miguel has to be very careful about the kind of fight [he plans to initiate] against a counter-puncher like Mayweather. 

I think [Cotto’s] new coach will know how to fight him because he is Cuban and that is the style of almost all Cuban fighters [patient counter-punching]. With a good strategy, Cotto will do very good job. 

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Of course its not going to be easy for Cotto, but the chance to win is definitely there. Roach having said this well before the fight occurs only adds more fuel to the fire that is Mayweather vs. Pacquiao. 

At this point, it's hard to believe if the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao super-fight will ever happen, but there's no question that tension continues to build. 

With these comments, Roach is just trying to get Mayweather out of his focus. The more Roach can get into Mayweather's head, the better.

Perhaps if Cotto does win this fight and Mayweather no longer has perfection, then a fight between him and Pacquiao has a better chance of going down. 

Mayweather vs. Pacquiao is honestly the only fight boxing fans truly want to see, but it may never happen because both sides are so stubborn. 

They still need to keep fighting and the decision of Mayweather and Cotto going head-to-head was smart. 

What's even smarter is the fact Roach is already giving Cotto the love. While he does give some praise to Mayweather in his comments, it's clear that Roach is favoring Cotto, which is good. 

As long as their is some sort of beef between Pacquiao's party and Mayweather's, the possibility of them fighting doesn't lose any of its luster.

Since the talks always get shut down, there needs to be continued back-and-forth banter from the boxers and their entourage because, if there isn't, people will fade away on the idea of Mayweather and Pacquiao getting in the ring to settle the score once and for all.