Joe Santiago (left) feels that Miguel Cotto's size will be a big factor against Manny Pacquiao. Cotto and Pacquiao meet on November 14. (Photo credit Top Rank)

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Miguel Cotto's trainer Joe Santiago told El Nuevo Dia (link in Spanish) that Manny Pacquiao is a blown-up featherweight, and that Miguel Cotto's size will be a big advantage for them on November 14.

"Manny Pacquiao is a bloated 126 pounds. He's a fighter who started at 108 pounds and has reached 145. It is very bold and so far has gone well, but on November 14, it'll be different.

"We have great respect for his career and hats off to him for what he's done in boxing, but on that day Miguel will be the stronger man in the ring. That will be one of the points in our favor."

I wonder if after watching Floyd Mayweather toy with Juan Manuel Marquez this past Saturday, the size will be an even bigger talking point now for Cotto-Pacquiao. What's odd is that it feels just as many people are saying "Cotto will be a lot bigger" as there are people saying that this is an easy fight for Pacquiao, but those people saying Cotto will be so much bigger aren't picking him to win, at least not clearly. The two biggest opinions I've gathered from reading around are, in order, "Pacquiao's too good and fast" and "Cotto is a lot bigger."

I still don't think size will be one of the biggest issues here. Tactical planning, Pacquiao's speed, Cotto's propensity to cut badly, Pacquiao's ability to take Cotto's punch -- those all seem like bigger deals to me, but that's just one man's opinion. I still have questions about that last one, because with all great regard for his performances in every fight since he's been jumping up in weight, we have not really seen him take a good shot over 130 pounds. He mauled David Diaz at 135 and Diaz is no puncher anyway, Oscar barely got anything off, and Hatton had under two rounds and spent most of the time wondering where the hell he was. Still, I thought we saw Pacquiao feel punches from both Oscar and Hatton, it's just that's about the extent of what they did offensively. A punch here or there. It wasn't a big thing and obviously wound up not helping either of them, but it was there.

Pacquiao carried 142 at weigh-in for Oscar quite well, and was dynamite weighing in at 138 for Hatton. I figure he comes in around 142 or 143 again for this fight. Freddie Roach recently said that Manny's at about 151 pounds as he's gotten training camp underway. Cotto really should make 145 without many problems, as he was at 146 for Clottey and looked perfectly strong. The problems he had in that fight came from Clottey being a big, physical welterweight that had him fighting with one good eye for the majority of the bout. Manny might find himself in trouble if he tries to stand his ground the way Clottey did, which he of course will not. What I'm saying, essentially, is nothing about Cotto-Clottey besides Cotto cutting again is going to tell us anything about Cotto-Pacquiao. Two entirely different opponents for Miguel.