Cotto-Pacquiao 24/7: First Episode
Voiced over by Liev Schreiber and described as the most anticipated fight for 2009, HBO Sports follows the lives of the two fighters who will face off on November 14, 2009, at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
Dubbed as Cotto-Pacquiao 24/7, this groundbreaking HBO Sports reality series returns again with four episodes as it features the daily lives of two of the most exciting boxers today: WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto and pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao.
The first episode highlights Pacquiao’s training in Baguio City, Philippines. Under the watchful eyes of Coach Freddie Roach, Team Pacquiao opens its doors and lets the whole world witness what they do to the P4P king in preparation for the November 14 clash.
In one shot, they show Pacquiao doing laps in the swimming pool in lieu of the usual roadwork. Due to the strong typhoon that hit the Philippines, Team Pacquiao resorted to pool training instead of the routine run.
The episode also puts Freddie Roach on the spotlight as he spoke on how he preferred Canada as Team Pacquiao’s training site rather than Baguio City. Roach, however, was overruled because Vancouver “rains too much.”
The first installment of this series also showed the usual suspects in Team Pacquiao, with the addition of new characters, including Pacquiao’s hairdresser. Apparently, the P4P king needs to have a good hair day every day.
With Spanish music in the background, the episode segues into Miguel Cotto’s training camp in Puerto Rico. Narrator Schreiber adds that Cotto started his training a month ahead of Pacquiao’s. Festive music sounds off as the episode featured highlights of his victories against Zab Judah and Shane Mosley. The mood of the music, however, got dramatic when images of his only defeat, in the hands of Antonio Margarito, were shown.
The episode also offers a glimpse of Cotto’s training. Before leaving his camp in Puerto Rico for Florida, Cotto held an open workout session. In the next panel, viewers get to see the family-man side of the welterweight champ. Here, Cotto brought his wife and kids along as he gets inked for his ninth piece of skin design at the tattoo parlor.
Cotto also shared intimate details of his married life. He admitted that he was not always the best husband but he and his wife are working on reconciliation after having been separated for about three years.
Back in Baguio City, former lightweight champion Jose Luis Castillo joins the team as Pacquiao’s new sparring partner. Also, the alleged conflict and physical altercation between advisor Michael Koncz and conditioning coach Alex Ariza has been put forward. Freddie Roach, however, just laughed it off while Koncz downplayed the well-reported incident.
“The fight is 21 days away,” the narrator pointed out.
With three more episodes to follow, the first installment of the Cotto-Pacquiao 24/7 is a good start to the series. It rightly documents the tragedy that struck the Philippines, which in turn added drama for the Pacquiao camp. In addition, the episode also casts a well-balanced view of Pacquiao’s training in the typhoon-torn Baguio City.
Cotto, on the other hand, is rightly depicted as a no-nonsense boxer. The episode casts light on him as a fighter’s fighter; a serious and unemotional man who goes about his training. The viewers are given the perspective of Cotto as someone who shows impassive patience and endurance in pursuing his quest for honor and greatness.
