Even as excitement among the fans over the upcoming Manny Pacquiao vs Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight is building up with each passing day, Miguel Cotto, the reigning World Boxing Council middleweight champion, is of the view that the Filipino legendary boxer and Congressman will triumph over the undefeated American professional boxer at MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Cinco de Mayo weekend on May 2.

According to Latin Post, while initially Cotto refused to predict the outcome of the Pacquiao vs Mayweather fight, the Puerto Rican boxer changed his stand in a recent interview.

Cotto said that he believes Pacquiao will win against Mayweather primarily owing to his trainer Freddie Roach. In fact, the 34-year-old WBC middleweight champion has high esteem for Roach, who helped him breathe life into his career with successive victories against Delvin Rodriguez in October 2013 and Sergio Martinez in June 2014.

Stating that Roach will be the deciding factor in the upcoming super showdown between Pacquiao and Mayweather, Cotto said, "After working with Freddie I think Freddie is going to be huge in the fight," adding, "I'm going for Manny."

In fact, fighting styles of both Mayweather and Pacquiao are known to the Puerto Rican boxer. During their World Boxing Organization welterweight title fight in November 2009, Cotto took a 12th-round technical knockout loss to Pacquiao and was dominated by Mayweather during their showdown in May 2012.

Interestingly, even the former International Boxing Organization light heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver is of the view that Pacquiao has a good chance of winning against Mayweather, provided the Filipino scores a knockout.

In an interview with On The Ropes Boxing Radio, Tarver said that he sees Mayweather winning by decision, but the outcome of the match may change due to Pacquiao's vaunted punching power.

"I think Pacquiao is gonna have some moments and you know he has a very powerful punch," Tarver said, adding, "I think Floyd wins a decision but if this fight doesn't go the distance, you have to lean toward Pacquiao landing that shot within the distance."

Admitting that Mayweather has scored impressive victories earlier in his career, Tarver pointed out that the reigning pound-for-pound king has never faced a fighter like Pacquiao before.

Substantiating his view, Tarver said, "We've seen Pacquiao knocked out, but at the same time, he possesses the type of style and from a southpaw stance, we cannot lose sight of that," Tarver said, "Pacquiao is a tremendous southpaw, something that Floyd Mayweather hasn't seen a whole lot of, and Pacquiao is moving at light speed."