Roach on Mayweather-Cotto, Cotto Too Big for Mayweather at 160lbs

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Freddie-Roach-001It is crazy how a coincidental meet and greet during halftime at a Miami Heat home game could spark such unverified affirmation between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao negotiations. The meeting was purely chance, but it was enough to skew the better judgment of many regarding the actual chances of us seeing the mega fight on May 2nd.

However, we can quickly come back to reality and know that the fight isn’t any more likely to happen than it was before the two cash cows met for the first time in person. I guess it doesn’t hurt, but the terms haven’t changed, and it certainly doesn’t alter the position Mayweather has taken.

I’m not speaking with absolute certainty, but Mayweather is a man of consistency, and his moves are often predictable. If you want to presume to know what he is going to do then just act under the assumption that he won’t give us what we want.

A lot of insiders believe that Mayweather has all but signed up for a rematch with Puerto Rican superstar Miguel Cotto. It isn’t guaranteed, but it seems like a Mayweather move, right?

We all hoped that Cotto would fight Saul “Canelo” Alvarez next, but that fight is officially dead with Canelo on schedule to face James Kirkland, making Mayweather-Cotto 2 that much more likely.

Cotto’s trainer Freddie Roach is still unsure of what the next move for Cotto will be. His disappointment in the failed Cotto-Canelo deal won’t hamper his ability to prepare his fighter for whoever he faces next.

“I talked to Gaby [Penagaricano], and he started negotiations with a couple of other guys out there whose names I don’t know, but that’s not really my job,” Roach told Thaboxingvocie.com. “Gaby will get the opponent and I’ll get [Cotto] ready for that fight.”

“I was a little disappointed that the Alvarez fight fell out; I thought that was a good fight for Miguel. I thought Miguel would look great in that fight [with Canelo]. They couldn’t come to a deal, that happens in boxing and we’ll move on to the next best thing.”

The fact that Mayweather’s next fight has yet to be announced. Probably has less to do with the hopes of saving a Pacquiao fight and coming to terms at the last minute and more to do with the details regarding Mayweather-Cotto.

I’m not a huge fan of a rematch between Mayweather-Cotto, but there are some decent storylines that revive the fight and new circumstances that distinguish a clear separation between their first fight.

The big difference is Cotto winning the lineal middleweight title from Sergio Martinez last June. If the fight takes place at middleweight then it would be a significant storyline. This time around the fight being at a heavier weight limit would favor Cotto. Mayweather vying for the world title in his 6th weight class is a huge deal, not to mention a 5th lineal title in 5 different weight classes.

untitledHowever, Roach doesn’t believe that Mayweather will allow Cotto such an advantage and is convinced that they will move down if Mayweather is indeed Cotto’s next opponent.

Roach explains that Cotto’s weight class depends on the opponent he faces.

“I’m sure [the weight class we fight at] depends on whoever the opponent we get next is. With Canelo, he had trouble making weight, and we probably would stick to 160lbs for that fight. If Mayweather pops up then we’ll probably fight him at a lower weight.

“Unless Mayweather wants that [WBC middlweight] belt that badly, I would say he’s too small for 160lbs. I think [Cotto] is a little heavy for [Floyd] at 160lbs, he’s not that big of a guy.”