"Obviously I'm biased, but I think Cotto takes Pacquiao out in the 6th. I think the first 2 rounds go to Pacquiao and the rest of the fight goes to Cotto until he takes him out in the 6th. Pacquiao is going down in the 6th. Cotto has outboxed boxers and he's outbrawled brawlers. So Cotto can box and brawl. Whatever kind of fight Pacquiao tries to bring to him, he's ready for. He's not the flawed brawler that I've heard him be called by the press in the past. He's only human, so he's got weaknesses, like everybody else, but he exploits more weaknesses than he shows," stated Eric Samson, MMA Brand Manager for Ecko Unlimited, as he shared his opinion on the upcoming clash between Miguel Cotto and Manny Pacquiao. Obviously, since Samson works for Ecko, who sponsors Cotto, he may be a bit biased, however, he does bring up some valid points when it comes to Cotto, having witnessed firsthand a week of his training in Tampa, Florida. Check out what else he had to say.
PC: From what Miguel Torres told me, you were the genius that brought those 2 champions [Torres and Cotto] together. What was your motivation to do that and how did it go?
ES: Man, that's a match made in heaven. Those guys mentally are 2 of the toughest guys I have ever met. They are both around the same size, they both speak Spanish and they both will walk through fire and walk through walls and stop at nothing to get their job done. They fight with a lot of national pride; Cotto for Puerto Rico and Torres for Mexico. Obviously, there is a lot of drama between Puerto Rican and Mexican boxers, but I knew these guys personally and I knew it wouldn't be a problem and there wasn't. They got along really well. I think them training together will be very beneficial for both of them; in this fight coming up for Cotto against Pacquiao and in the future for Torres as well. I can't wait to be there sitting next to Torres and Marc Ecko watching Cotto take on Pacquiao.
PC: A lot of people have written Cotto off Eric. What do you think about that matchup against Pacquiao?
ES: I've known Miguel Cotto for 2 years and I know the type of person he is. I don't think he was hurt as bad as people think he was mentally from the Margarito fight. I think he was saddened that somebody would cheat in boxing. I think that hurt him more mentally than anything else. It sucks to have people cheating in this sport. This sport is about honor, pride, supporting the people and giving them what they want to see and no one wants to see someone fight with loaded gloves. That was upsetting for Cotto, but I just watched him in training camp for 3 days; this guys is going to come out and he's going to be on fire. This is going to be a great fight. Cotto matches up really well with fast fighters. You saw it against Shane Mosley and Zab Judah. When Cotto fights fast guys, he really does nice things. He has a really good style and he catches them with hard punches. The guy Pacquiao has had the most trouble with is Marquez and Marquez is a slower fighter. He's not a super fast guy in my opinion, so I think that Cotto, who also isn't fast, but he has a lot of power. He's a power puncher and I think he will do nicely against Pacquiao. I consider Pacquiao a 135-pounder and Cotto is 147-pounder, so you're going to see a really big weight advantage going to Cotto. Obviously I'm biased, but I think Cotto takes Pacquiao out in the 6th. I think the first 2 rounds go to Pacquiao and the rest of the fight goes to Cotto until he takes him out in the 6th. Pacquiao is going down in the 6th. Cotto has outboxed boxers and he's outbrawled brawlers. So Cotto can box and brawl. Whatever kind of fight Pacquiao tries to bring to him, he's ready for. He's not the flawed brawler that I've heard him be called by the press in the past. He's only human, so he's got weaknesses, like everybody else, but he exploits more weaknesses than he shows.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]