LAS VEGAS— Alex Ariza has a perfect metaphor for Manny Pacquiao.
“He’s like a horse, you know, the one that’s so restless inside the gates, moving around and can’t keep still,” the Filipino ring icon’s strength coach said on Thursday afternoon at the IBA gym here.
“Once you open that gate, boom! He’s gone.”
On the final day of Pacquiao’s training for his bout against Miguel Cotto on Saturday at the MGM Grand, Team Pacquiao ran into a familiar problem as the reigning pound-for-pound king again refused to be reined in, begging for extra work while his corner pleaded with him to stop.
Trainer Freddie Roach, resting against the edge of the canvas, could only smile as Pacquiao bargained with Ariza and assistant trainer Buboy Fernandez for an extra round of shadow boxing.
“Just one more day and you get to fight, son,” Roach said, finally convincing Pacquiao to end the training session.
“We’re ready,” Roach later declared.
Pacquiao worked four rounds with the mitts, going through the game plan with Roach and Fernandez in detailed fashion, before hitting the double-end and the speedball and skipping rope.
He cooled down with crunches, smiling through the exercise that normally draws grimaces from him.
And now it’s off to the scales.
Weight problems?
Pacquiao and Cotto will weigh in Saturday at the Garden Arena of the MGM Grand. The Filipino is expected to make the 145-pound catch weight easily, something that cannot be said—yet—of his Puerto Rican foe.
Team Pacquiao shrugged off a reported plan by Cotto’s camp to move the time of the weigh-in two hours later to give the Puerto Rican more time to shed off excess pounds.
“They can move the time all they want,” assistant trainer Buboy Fernandez said. “We’ll have no problem.”
There were reports that Cotto spent his last day of training in a gym heated to 37.8 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit), something that is normally done to help a boxer shed off excess weight.
Weight a secret
Then, there was a rumor that Cotto wanted to delay the schedule of the weigh-in.
Pacquiao, who is expected to fight at 149 pounds, weighed 146 later in the evening, after he had eaten his dinner, Ariza revealed.
“We don’t foresee any problem with the weight,” Ariza said.
Cotto has been dogged the past week by questions about his weight, largely because of speculation that he was struggling to go down to 145 and also because his team was doing nothing to dispel the talk.
Phil Landman, Cotto’s conditioning coach, recently said the reigning WBO welterweight king would have no problem getting down to 145, but did not divulge Cotto’s actual weight then. In fact, Team Cotto recently issued a moratorium on replying to questions about weight.
$1M for each excess pound
On Tuesday, during MGM Grand’s formal welcome for the two boxers, Cotto was asked if he had trouble making the catch weight and if he was put on a crash diet.
“I’m eating well,” said Cotto.
But he refused to say how much he weighed.
The fight contract includes a clause that a boxer will be penalized $1 million for every pound he registers above the catch weight.
Roach has said he will pull the plug on the fight if Cotto comes in more than two pounds over 145.
“It’s in the contract,” Roach said. “If they can’t meet the weight, the fight’s off. What’s the use of a contract if we don’t follow what’s in it?”
Up to God
Pacquiao is expected to do light jogging in the morning just to make sure he is well within the weight limit for the bout.
While the Pacman enjoys the status as favorite, he continues to shy away from making predictions about the fight, saying that all he can promise is to do his best.
“The rest is up to God,” he told reporters after training.
Second fiddle
Cotto (34-1, 27 KOs) is not only the underdog in a fight where his title is on the line. He has also been forced to play second fiddle to Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37 KOs) in the storyline.
In fact, the eyes of the world will be riveted on television screens mainly to see if Pacquiao can achieve his mission of a seventh title in a seventh division.
“It’s really not important to me what the boxing world wants to see,” Cotto said in sit-down interview with reporters. “I am not going home without winning this fight.”
