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MANILA – The Philippines’ most successful boxer Manny ‘Pacman’ Pacquiao is on the cover of TIME Magazine’s Asia edition, boxing website fightnews.com reported.

Pacquiao, who is aiming for an unprecedented seventh title in seven weight divisions, is featured by the prestigious magazine in a five-page story.

The story will also be included in the magazine’s global editions, the boxing news site said.

The magazine will be out on newsstands starting this weekend.

“I absolutely had no idea that when I started my career in boxing, to provide a better life for myself and my family, that I would now be where I am today and on the cover of TIME Magazine,” the news site quoted Pacquiao as saying.

The Filipino said being featured in the magazine is the “most humbling experience” in his boxing career.

 He said “it is a great honor for me to be the face of my people and let everyone know we are a small but mighty country.”

Pacquiao is set to face Puerto Rican boxer Miguel Cotto in Las Vegas, Nevada on November 14 (November 15, Sunday, in Manila).

The Filipino boxer would clinch his seventh title in seven different weight divisions if he wins against the Puerto Rican.

Pacquiao has defeated several boxing greats, including “Golden Boy” Oscar de la Hoya. He may also get to face American Floyd Mayweather if he wins against Cotto.

After taking on de la Hoya on December 2008, Pacquiao knocked down Britain’s Ricky Hatton last May.

Pacquiao has won titles in the junior welterweight, lightweight, super featherweight, featherweight, super bantamweight and flyweight divisions. abs-cnbnews.com

THERE’S A REASON why Freddie Roach has been baiting Miguel Cotto into a word war with taunting one-liners—and it has nothing to do with disrespect.

“Cotto is a tough guy, a very strong guy,” Roach said. “I respect him.”

Rather, the renowned trainer wants the Puerto Rican champion mentally roughed up on fight night when Manny Pacquiao guns for his WBO welterweight belt on Nov. 14 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

“We want him to go crazy,” Roach said. “I want him to hate my guts. I’ll get inside his head [whenever] I can.”

And that’s just phase one of Roach’s plan, which he got going by predicting Pacquiao would knock Cotto in one round. It isn’t plain needling, though. Told that Cotto is studying to become a counterpuncher for the fight dubbed “Firepower,” Roach actually hopes to rock the 29-year-old champion early to lure him into a brawl.

If he gets knocked down in the first round, he’s gonna go crazy,” Roach said. “We want to throw him off. He’s gonna try to be a counterpuncher but if Manny hits him, he’s gonna be back to his aggressive style and that’s where were gonna hit him.”

Roach has studied Cotto’s fights in the past and knows his penchant for slow starts and he expects Pacquiao to set the pace early.

“We will not give him any momentum,” Roach said. “I think we’re going to have a window of opportunity to catch him cold so we have to put some pressure on him right away but we are going to do it in a scientific way. Manny is not [the] reckless fighter that he once was. He’s a lot stronger now.

And part of that strength comes from the work the Filipino ring icon puts into training.

Talking to ESPN’s Dan Rafael, Top Rank chief Bob Arum, who is promoting the fight, praised the way Pacquiao works out in preparation for bouts.

“I know Cotto works hard, but in contrast to the other guy [Pacquiao], it looks like he’s taking a vacation,” Arum said. “Pacquiao goes for, like, four or five hours. It’s amazing. They train differently. Pacquiao is so work-intensive. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen.

“When I was with Cotto, I saw him do 10 rounds one day and six rounds another day. He looked good. He’d do his two hours and be done. After two hours, Manny’s just getting started. I’m glad Manny pays Freddie a lot of money, because he earns it.”

Former lightweight champion and Pacquiao sparmate Jose Luis Castillo had the same thing to say in an interview with the LA Times’ Lance Pugmire.

“You have to have [guts] to get in the ring with [Pacquiao], he’s very dedicated and is all about constant preparation. It’s going to be a great fight. The more intelligent man will win, and Manny is very smart.” – Inquirer.net

MANILA, Philippines—Maybe this time, Puerto Rico will grind to a halt to watch Miguel Cotto fight.

With his belt on the line and trainer Freddie Roach’s words under his skin, the reigning WBO welterweight champion understands exactly how much bigger the stakes actually are when he climbs the MGM Grand ring to face Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao on Nov. 14 in Las Vegas.

“It’s huge,” trainer Joe Santiago told DailyBreeze.com’s Robert Morales of the fight’s implications. “Everybody knows what Pacquiao has done and we know what Miguel is capable of doing. It would not only be huge for me and Miguel, but for everybody in Puerto Rico.”

A popular athlete in the Caribbean nation, Cotto (34-1, 27 KOs) could achieve the iconic status of Pacquiao—who compels an entire nation to sit still every time he fights—with a victory over the reigning pound-for-pound king.

The low-key Santiago also said he faces no added pressure going up against the tested tandem of Pacquiao and Freddie Roach, the renowned trainer whose prediction of a first-round knockout had Camp Cotto barking rebuttals all over the web.

“I have been around the camp for seven years, so I know how he prepares himself,” said Santiago. “The confidence the Cotto family had in me, made me feel good.”

Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37 KOs) isn’t just fighting for a rich purse, either. Already with six weight crowns—including lineal ones—the hard-punching southpaw from Mindanao hopes to bag an unprecedented seventh when he hunts for Cotto’s WBO belt.

Top Rank chief Bob Arum, confident as he is in the abilities of his current top-grosser, cautioned that Cotto may catch a good enough break during fight night to pull off an upset, citing the Puerto Rican’s performance against Joshua Clottey, who he narrowly defeated despite a nasty cut above the eye.

“For Miguel to come back after suffering that cut and to come back and pull out a victory I think shows an absolutely brilliant performance,” Arum told DailyBreeze.com. – Inquirer.net