Marcos Villegas
Freddie, it never ends with these things. You've always got one guy, after the next, after the next, but now it's Cotto and Sergio Martinez, and Cotto having to move up to middleweight. It's a big challenge. How are you going to get a guy you felt could have fought at 147 when he went with you now go up to 160?
Freddie Roach
We're gonna do strength and conditioning, put a little more muscle on him. He'll be a little bit stronger at this weight. We're fighting a guy that's always said he could make 147, also. He's not that big a guy. The thing is, the catchweight is 159, I believe, but we'll be 100% ready for this fight. We have training camp. The first two weeks of training camp will overlap with Manny Pacquiao and him, and they'll work together. They're good friends, there's no problem whatsoever. So we'll do one week in LA, then for Pacquiao's last week we'll be in Vegas, and Miguel will be there. He wants to see Manny's fight. Then after Manny's fight, we'll come back to LA, and we'll have seven weeks from there. I'm getting ready for Martinez for the second time in my life. It's a thrill for me, because he's a talented guy. I think I have a pretty good game plan on how to beat his system and how to beat his speed.
Marcos Villegas
Would you say he has a style similar to Manny, in a sense? He's a southpaw, he's quick. Or would you say that's not even the case, it's a whole different guy in there?
Freddie Roach
Well, they have speed, and they both have the southpaw stance, but they fight completely differently. Manny's a solid fighter, this guy's a solid soccer player and a secondary fighter. He's a good athlete, but he's not a great fighter.
Marcos Villegas
Looking at the matchup, what has Miguel told you about what he wants to do in there against Martinez?
Freddie Roach
Well, I'm going to tell Miguel what he needs to do with Martinez. Miguel listens to me, and he has 100% faith in me. I'll come up with a game plan. We'll definitely be ready for whatever Martinez brings to the table.
Marcos Villegas
You mentioned that Manny and Miguel are going to be working together. Hearing that as a fan, naturally, it's very exciting to hear. Are they gonna spar at all? Say yes!
Freddie Roach
I've been thinking about it. The thing is, Manny would help style-wise, but it might be a little bit too close to Manny's fight, and maybe the wrong style for Manny at that point. But I believe in hard work, and I believe work is good. Good work always makes you sharp, no matter who you're fighting. So they'll probably go a couple rounds, yeah.
Marcos Villegas
Looking at this matchup, Miguel is at the end of his career, pretty much. Sergio, the same. Has Miguel talked to you at all or said that, you know, if I win this title, I'm done, I don't want to fight anymore?
Freddie Roach
Well, when Miguel first called me to get him ready for his last fight, he told me, I've got about three fights left in me. So he's got a number in his head. But the thing is, we win this fight, and obviously the Mayweather rematch is a possibility, or you could have Canelo Alvarez, who's a big fight also. I love the Alvarez fight. We actually turned that down to take this fight, because we didn't know how long Martinez would be there. He's getting a little bit older. Alvarez is young, he has longevity, he's gonna be there for a while. We're looking for a big win here and a big fight after this, and maybe after those two fights, that might be it.
Marcos Villegas
Give us a quick update on Manny, how's everything going with that?
Freddie Roach
Manny's doing great. He's doing his medicals today, dilating his eyes and so forth, so we had a real hard workout this morning, and he's going to have the afternoon off and get a little rest, because we're still suffering from jet lag a little bit. We're one or two days away from getting rid of that, but Manny's doing great.
Marcos Villegas
Martinez says he will knock out Cotto in nine rounds. From what you've seen of Martinez, do you feel the same, do you feel that Cotto will knock out Sergio in this fight?
Freddie Roach
Yeah, we'll knock him out in eight.