"I have not one question in my head that he's going to win this fight...Miguel, his ability to adjust in fights is absolutley amazing and that's what I see the big difference is. Pacquiao throws a lot of punches, he's fast and obviously he's got some pop now. Obviously he's got some power. For those short legs, he's a guy that comes up with a lot of power. Miguel's ready for all of that...He adjusts really well so I think that he'll come out victorious. I'm not predicting a knockout, but I do predict that he will win this fight," stated welterweight Fred Tukes, sparring partner for Miguel Cotto, as he gave a behind-the-scenes look into Team Cotto's preparations leading up to the highly-anticipated showdown with Manny Pacquiao. Tukes was a guest on the OnTheGrind Boxing Radio podcast yesterday and shared his thoughts on a number of subjects, including what it was like sparring with Cotto, why he's confident will be victorious and much more.
On who he's sparred with in the past...
"Robert Allen, Vernon Forrest, Sugar Shane [Mosley], Oscar [De La Hoya], Floyd [Mayweather Jr.], Leonard Dorin, Eric Lucas, Arthur Abraham, Danilo Haussler, Arturo Gatti, Joel Julio, Stevie Johnston, Miguel Cotto..."
On his sparring session with Cotto...
"I mix it up with both. I remember when me and Miguel sparred the first time, the one thing he really liked from me was he really liked my jab. He was like, 'Man, you got the best jab in the business. You need to use it.' So from that moment, I remember, I said, 'Okay, I know Pacquiao throw a lot of jabs and I know that Miguel liked my jab.' So I went in there doing what I do and then also tried to do a lot of the movement, move from left to right, throwing punches from wied angles, throwing flurries of punches right in the middle, backing off and kind of keeping him in the middle of the ring. Every now and then I'd mix it up; I would mix it up with him and then most of the time I would be boxing and moving, slipping and dodging and stuff like that so he could get his timing together. When you're moving your head a lot in sparring with a fighter and they missing they shots, that only helps them get timing because after about two weeks, that slippin' and movin' wasn't working with Miguel anymore. I had to come up with something else. So I was moving and jabbing and throwing flurries and throwing wierd punches off of wierd angles, so yeah, we mixed it up as much as we could to try to imitate what Pacquiao would bring and Cotto would deal with the rest once he got in there."
On how prepared Cotto is for Pacquiao...
"My confidence in Miguel in this fight, I have not one question in my head that he's going to win this fight...Miguel, his ability to adjust in fights is absolutley amazing and that's what I see the big difference is. Pacquiao throws a lot of punches, he's fast and obviously he's got some pop now. Obviously he's got some power. For those short legs, he's a guy that comes up with a lot of power. Miguel's ready for all of that."
"When you think about it, every time he's gotten dropped. Ricardo Torres, I sparred with him too, I forgot, went to Columbia; every time, Ricardo Torres, DeMarcus Corley, I can't think of who else who maybe had probably hurt him and put him on the seat of his pants, but he got it and he overcame that situation with that mental toughness that he has and his will to win. And the Margarito fight. I mean, we really don't know what happened with the Margarito fight. It's a lot of questions, but in 12 rounds, if the gloves was loaded, for 11 rounds, he took them heavy punches and he never really folded. He just gave in because he couldn't take it no more. He couldn't breathe."
"He adjusts really well so I think that he'll come out victorious. I'm not predicting a knockout, but I do predict that Miguel will win this fight.
On how strong Cotto is at the weight...
"When he started cutting his weight, his punches never changed. The feeling of the punches never changed. It was a wierd thing because usually, when you start cutting that weight, you'll get to a point where you're at a breaking point...you'll start to get a bit weak for a couple of weeks; you're feeling drained, you're feeling tired and all that stuff and then you'll get your strength back at the very end. Well, he kept his strength all the way through the camp. I never felt the let up."
"He was strong all the way through. When we did the 12 rounds and within that 12 rounds, the same way he started was the same way he finished and there was still a lot of hard punching going on. He looked really trim because his diet was really good, but he's still strong."
"I would say he's probably going to rehydrate to about 10; 10 pounds for sure."
On emulating Pacquiao...
"I don't care who you're sparring with, you'll never be able to really imitate the guy that you're helping your guy train for. You can only give him what you can give him and you want to give him the look, you want to give him the left hook and do as much as you can to imitate Manny, whether it be jumping in and out throwing punches or throwing jabs from wied angles, throwing that overhand left, throwing the combinations backing out, maybe getting to the ropes, turning to the ropes and kind of moving from side to side, kind of giving him shoulder so he can't really figure you out; you do whatever it is that you think he may need to work on...I was always trying to come up with something new and creative."
"Kenny Abril was always; he engaged Miguel very well. He boxed him, but he engaged. They had really heated sparring sessions where there was punches flying all over the place and that was good because it made Miguel wake up, you know?"
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