Roach Sympathizes with Cotto on Margarito Issue
Even as they are about to clash with WBO Welterweight champ Miguel Cotto in less than four days at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Manny Pacquiao’s head trainer Freddie Roach offered his take on the Puerto Rican’s loss to Antonio Margarito and the controversial "loaded" hand wraps issue, in a video released by HBO.
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Revered trainer Freddie Roach heads the corner for Filipino boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao in this Saturday’s ‘Firepower’ pay-per-view event at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. At the opposite corner would be Puerto Rican slugger Miguel Angel Cotto and his team headed by trainer Joe Santiago.
While the Hall of Fame trainer has gleefully admitted that he sometimes tries to get inside the minds of his Puerto Rican opponents in order to establish whatever advantage that he can get for his prized pupil, he suddenly turns serious and expressed profound sympathy for Miguel Cotto in his devastating and controversial loss to Antonio Margarito. The Mexican was caught attempting to insert plaster of Paris into his hand wraps prior to his fight with Sugar Shane Mosley in January this year and it is widely believed that he may have also used the same illegal strategy when he fought Miguel Cotto in July last year which led to the first loss of the Puerto Rican’s brilliant career.
In a promotional video released by HBO, Roach said that boxing is a rough sport where you can get head butts, elbows, and cuts aside from the usual punishment handed out by your opponent across the ring. He says it’s just part of the game but he draws the line when the topic of hand wrap loading is brought up.
“Putting plaster of Paris inside of your hand wraps is criminal”, says Roach. The native of Dedham, Massachusetts said that Margarito, who is currently serving a one-year suspension for the incident, came to him for help regarding the issue saying that his trainer, Javier Capetillo, did it without his knowledge. “I just still find it hard to believe that he wasn’t aware of what was happening”, added Roach.
Roach then offers his observations on the controversial fight, “He (Cotto) was doing great in that fight and then all of a sudden he starts breaking down and wearing down and it just was a very unusual thing and I think that that could have changed his life. You know, it could have ruined his career. It could have killed him also”, said the 49-year old trainer who was also a decent fighter himself back in the day.
Given the repercussions, Roach says that the one year suspension imposed on Margarito is not enough. “A one year suspension is a slap in the wrist, it’s not enough. It’s an attempt to murder, you know. It really is because that’s going way, way too far and I feel that him and his trainer should be banned for life”, said the respected trainer.
Despite this however, Roach looks to use Cottos’ memory of this particular incident come fight night to their advantage. In an article by the Las Vegas Sun, Roach said that Cotto could still be feeling a hangover from his loss to Margarito as well as his brutal fight with Ghanian Joshua Clottey in June this year. He says that it takes time to come back from such brutal encounters and some fighters, in fact, never come back.
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