LAS VEGAS – For a while, during Friday’s official weigh-in, the trainers from both camps looked ready to trade blows.
Freddie Roach and Joe Santiago, trainers for Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto, were at it up in the stage after both their boxers made the catch weight of 145 lb for Saturday’s WBO welterweight championship bout.
Pacquiao, being the challenger, was first to tip the scales, and made 144 with his boxer shorts and socks on. Then came Cotto who tipped the scales at exactly 145 wearing boxer briefs with superhero Ironman’s design.
After his official weight was announced by Michael Buffer, the 29-year-old Puerto Rican flexed his biceps, then slowly turned to his right, facing Roach who was standing right beside him, making sure his weight was in check.
Then Santiago, who’s had a word war going on with Roach in the weeks leading to the fight, said something that irked the three-time Trainer of the Year.
“Miguel gets on the scales, he makes weight and his trainer says, ‘Hey, he’s 145, asshole,’” said Roach when asked what triggered the slight commotion in the stage as thousands of fight fans watched from the stands.
Roach had called Santiago, 17 years younger than him, inexperienced, and in Thursday’s press conference, Cotto’s trainer threw a jab by wishing Pacquiao luck because he might need it. He wasn’t done yet, it turned out.
“I said, ‘why did you call me an asshole?’ Then I said, ‘go fuck yourself,’” said Roach, who may have anticipated Cotto to weigh in heavier than the limit.
“Then Cotto starts staring at me like he’s gonna beat me up. But I was told to calm down so I calmed down. It’s okay. He’s just a young kid and we’re inside their heads,” said Pacquiao’s trainer.
Roach said he’d make sure he’ll be around when they start wrapping up Cotto’s hands inside the dugout. Maybe they should draw the line between these trainers.
“We’re gonna watch his hand get wrapped tomorrow and whew, it’s gonna be fun,” said Roach.
If it was an indication on how the fight would go, then Friday’s weigh-in made sure it’s going to be a hit.
“It’s really exciting. The weigh-in was a theme from a Rocky movie. You saw the excitement and energy. The fans and the energy. And I think it’s gonna raise the roof tomorrow night,” said Buffer.
Close to 7,000 fans packed a section of the MGM Grand Garden Arena for the weigh-in, and they started coming in as early as noon for the pre-fight event that was to start at 3 o’clock.
Heavy metal and rap music so loud as if there was a concert going on filled the venue, and the fans, who appeared evenly divided among Filipinos and Puerto Ricans, liked it, some of them dancing in the stands.
Brandon Jacobs, a 6-foot-4, 260-pound running back for the San Francisco Giants, was called in to get the crowd going, and as he held the mike there were boos from among the big, boisterous crowd.
“Why the boo?,” he asked. “But it’s okay. Not everybody likes everybody.”
He said, “these two warriors will be there in the ring for as long as it lasts” then called on the Filipino fans to let it out, and later on the Puerto Ricans. “Just make sure I can hear you because I’m used to playing before 80,000 fans.”
Jeremy Piven of the hit HBO series “Entourage” and gave it his best, catching Pacquiao off-guard when he asked if the Filipino boxer stays free of sex as he prepares for a fight.
“This is like the Jimmy Kimmel Show. You’re funny,” Pacquiao told Piven. “But of course. There’s no nightlife when there’s a fight. I focus on the fight.”
And his fans cheered him on.
