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LAS VEGAS?Alex Ariza has a perfect metaphor for Manny Pacquiao.
?He?s like a horse, you know, the one that?s so restless inside the gates, moving around and can?t keep still,? said the Filipino ring icon?s strength coach Thursday afternoon at the IBA gym here. ?And once you open that gate, boom! He?s gone.?
On the final day of Pacquiao?s training for his bout against Miguel Cotto on Saturday at the MGM Grand, Team Pacquiao ran into a familiar problem as the reigning pound-fro-pound king refused to be reined in again, begging for extra work from his corner, which was pleading for him to stop.
Trainer Freddie Roach, resting against the edge of the canvas, could only smile as Pacquiao bargained with Ariza and assistant trainer Buboy Fernandez for an extra round of shadow boxing.
?Just one more day and you get to fight son,? Roach said, finally convincing Pacquiao to end the training session.
Pacquiao worked four rounds with the mitts, going through the game plan with Roach and Fernandez in detailed fashion, before hitting the double-end and the speedball and skipping rope. He cooled down with crunches, smiling through the exercise that normally draws grimaces from him.
Weigh in today
And now it?s off to the scales.
Pacquiao and Cotto will weigh in today at the Garden Arena of the MGM Grand, and the Filipino ring icon is expected to make the 145-pound catch weight easily, something that cannot yet be said of his Puerto Rican foe.
There were reports that Cotto spent his last day of training in a gym heated to 37.8 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit), something that is normally done to help a boxer shed off excess poundage. Then, there was also a rumor that Cotto wanted to move the schedule of the weigh in at a later time.
Pacquiao, who is expected to fight at 149 lb, weighed 146 lb later in the evening, after he had already eaten dinner, Ariza revealed.
Cotto has been dogged by weight issues the past week, largely because there have been speculations that he is struggling to get in at 145 and also because his team is doing nothing to dispel the talk.
Phil Landman, Cotto?s conditioning coach, recently said the reigning WBO welterweight king will have no problems getting to 145, but did not divulge where Cotto was at in poundage. In fact, Team Cotto recently issued a moratorium on replying to questions about weight.
Penalty
The fight contract includes a clause that a boxer will be penalized $1 million for every pound he registers above the catch weight.
But Roach had already said he will pull the plug on the fight if Cotto comes in more than two pounds heavier than 145.
?It?s in the contract,? Roach said. ?If they can?t meet the weight, the fight?s off. What?s the use of a contract if we don?t follow what?s in it??
Pacquiao is expected to do light jogging in the morning just to make sure he is well within the weight limit for the bout, where the rapid-punching lefty hopes to become the first person to win world titles in seven different weight classes.
While the Pacman continues to enjoy the status as favorite, he continued to shy away from making predictions about the fight, saying that all he can promise is to do his best.
?The rest is up to God,? he told reporters after training.
Cotto (34-1, 27 KOs) is not only the underdog in a fight where he defends his title, he has also been forced to play second fiddle to Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37 KOs) in the storyline, being made to appear as merely the final roadblock to the Pacman?s quest for glory.
