"I haven't fought him so we don't know if the speed is going to affect me...I know the fight is the most important, but I don't know about the opponent being the toughest opponent I ever had. We'll find out in the ring. We're gonna find out, we're going to be well-prepared and the guy that's better prepared to fight and to win that night is going to win," stated WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto as he continues to prepare for his upcoming clash with Manny Pacquiao. Check out what else he had to say as he spoke to the media in attendance at his open workout held yesterday at the Pound4Pound Gym in Los Angeles, California.
Q: Are you ready for Pacquiao?
MC: If I'm not ready for him, I wouldn't be here!
Q: How has everything been going as far as your strategy?
MC: Everything's been fine. We've worked real hard and we're prepared.
Q: Do you have the proper sparring for this camp?
MC: Yes I do. That's the camp's decision. They bring the right guys and I think I'm comfortable with them.
Q: Everyone always talks about Manny's speed. They talk about it and they know about it, but when a fighter gets in there with him, they're taken back with how fast he is.
MC: Well he hasn't fought me. I haven't fought him so we don't know if the speed is going to affect me.
Q: Who's faster, Zab Judah or Manny Pacquiao?
MC: We don't know. We're going to have to fight him and find out. They're different types of fighters. We'll see.
Q: What do you consider your greatest strength as a fighter?
MC: My commitment.
Q: Roach, Pacquiao's trainer, said you were going to go down in round 9.
MC: That's the problem here, you know? Freddie Roach is not the guy who's going to climb in the ring. He can say everything, whatever he wants, but if he prepared Manny for just 9 rounds, he has 3 other rounds to worry about.
Q: Pacquiao's team is saying that the Margarito fight might have affected your psyche somehow; that when a boxer losers for the first time like that, it can do something to his confidence. Has your confidence changed since that fight?
MC: Ask Manny. He lost three times. I lost once.
Q: Tell us the secret to winning this fight. Is it gonna be your heart, your power, your skills? What's it going to take for you to win this fight?
MC: Put them all together because that's what it's going to take for me to win this fight.
Q: Manny's been talking a lot about fighting Floyd Mayweather next. Do you feel that's a lack of respect to you?
MC: I don't know what's in his mind, but once I beat him, he can fight Floyd Mayweather all the times he wants.
Q: What did you think of Pacquiao's last two performances?
MC: They're good, you know...he beat Ricky Hatton and he beat Oscar De La Hoya...I'm not Oscar De La Hoya. Oscar, to me, was a great boxer, you know, but Manny chose the right people to face at the right time. It was the last fight of his career and everybody knows Hatton doesn't have good defense.
Q: On the 14th, you're going to have the most important fight of your career against the most difficult opponent of your career.
MC: I don't see it that way. I know the fight is the most important, but I don't know about the opponent being the toughest opponent I ever had. We'll find out in the ring. We're gonna find out, we're going to be well-prepared and the guy that's better prepared to fight and to win that night is going to win.
Q: Sugar Shane Mosley told me this week you're the toughest fighter he ever fought and Manny doesn't know how tough you are.
MC: Shane was one of the toughest opponents I ever faced...it's an honor to be thought of this way.