by Dave Larzelere, The Rumble
Or six. Five or six.
Legendary Mexican trainer Ignacio “Nacho” Beristain told the Mexican newspaper Primera Hora that he thinks Pacquiao will knock Cotto out, saying, “I believe Pacquiao should put him on the canvas in five or six rounds.”
Obviously, Beristain’s opinion is of great interest given the fact that he has trained two fighters to face Pacquiao, Juan Manuel Marquez (twice) and Oscar De La Hoya. Marquez gave Pacquiao two of his greatest battles, a draw in 2004 and then a much-disputed split decision for Pacquiao in March of 2008. De La Hoya dropped to welterweight to face Pacquiao last December with Beristain as his trainer and received the beating of a lifetime from the Filipino, one that forced him to retire on his stool and then sent him into retirement for good.
One of the enduring memories from the De La Hoya/Pacquiao fight is of Beristain urging Oscar to stop fighting, telling him of Pacquiao, “He’s too fast, he’s just too fast for you.” And Nacho thinks the same breakneck speed that conquered the Golden Boy will prove Cotto’s undoing as well. He says that Cotto is not the same fighter that he was before his crushing defeat at the hands of Antonio Margarito in July of 2008, and that he is making a mistake taking a fight against Pacquiao so soon after changing his trainer. Cotto elevated Joe Santiago, formerly his nutritionist, to become his trainer after firing his former trainer (also his uncle) Evangelista Cotto following a physical confrontation the two had at their gym in Puerto Rico this past April.
Beristain cites Cotto’s June fight with Joshua Clottey as evidence of Cotto’s deteriorating skills. “In the fight against Clottey,” he said, “you could see some of the aftermath of what happened with Margarito. Clottey is not a top-level fighter and nevertheless, in some moments, Cotto was put in predicaments and the punches were affecting him… Before he [Cotto] was a fighter with good technique, fast and well cared for, but he doesn’t seem like himself. He changed his coach, changed some of his habits and catches more punches.”
