Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico is one of the few fighters who was the common opponent of both Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. Having had the experience in fighting both, the Puerto Rican is picking Pacquiao over Mayweather in their super fight on May 2, 2015 at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada in the United States.

“After working with Freddie [Roach] I think Freddie is going to be huge in the fight,” Cotto said to the New York Post. “I’m going for Manny.”

Cotto’s contention is owed to the fact that he had worked with Freddie Roach in the past. Roach, the world-renowned trainer who handles the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles, California and who has worked with Pacquiao to become a household name since 2011, worked with the Puerto Rican starting in 2012 and largely credited by Cotto for resurrecting his career.

Cotto lost to Austin Trout on Dec. 1, 2012 and hired Roach after the first back-to-back defeats in his storied career. He bounced back with two wins in his next two fights winning over Delvin Rodriguez in 2013 and then over Sergio Gabriel Martinez to cop the World Boxing Council world middleweight title in 2014.

"A lot of people have said that Michael Jordan wouldn't be Jordan without [Scottie] Pippen. I think I've found my Pippen in Freddie Roach," Cotto said of Roach in 2013. Recently, Cotto moved from Bob Arum’s Top Rank Promotions to join hip-hop artist Jay Z’s Roc Nation Sports. While he’s changing promotional outfits, Cotto is still expected to be trained by Roach in his upcoming fights.

Cotto faced Mayeather Jr. on May 5, 2012 when he lost via unanimous decision to the tune of 117-111, 117-111 and 118-110 all in favour of the undefeated American. Some three years before that, he also lost to Pacquiao via technical knockout in the 12th round. Similar to the Mayweather losss, Cotto was also dominated in the scorecards, 109-99, 109-99 and 108-100 before the fight stoppage.

Mayweather (47-0-0, 26 KOs) and Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 KOs) will battle for welterweight supremacy in the bout many consider as the “Fight of the Century” and in this super fight, Pacquiao’s and Mayweather’s former rival Miguel Cotto is picking the Filipino over the American to come out on top after the May 2 fight night.

To contact author of this article, email j.quizon@IBTimes.com.au.

RELATED STORIES