WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto and challenger Daniel Geale faced off at today’s final press conference in advance of their HBO-televised clash on Saturday at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Miguel Cotto: I think people are making a big issue that doesn’t need to be a big issue. A catch weight is nothing I made up. In 2009, Freddie (as Manny Pacquiao’s trainer) made me go down from 147 to 145. Did anyone hear Miguel Cotto disagreeing with the catch weight? No, I was a gentlemen the whole way. Catch weight was our main point to make this fight happen. They knew. His group had agreed to go down to 157 and I hope he can be at 157 on Friday.
Freddie Roach: Gary’s making a big deal about the catch weight, but they’ve been around for a long, long time and he knows how to read a contract and he’d had that contract for a long, long time now. So I don’t think it’s an issue.
Daniel Geale: I can’t wait to walk away with another title. I’m going in there very confident. I know a lot of people aren’t giving me much of a chance, but I’m very excited. I have a huge amount of confidence in myself knowing that I’ve done a great training camp and knowing I put everything I possibly could into it.
Gary Shaw: I’d like to do away with catch weights. They’re fine if there’s not a title, make up whatever fight you want. But to me there’s enough confusion in boxing without further confusing the boxing fan as to what they’re watching.
