ARUM: PAC-COTTO TO FIGHT AT 145
July 20th, 2009 By RingTalk
Las Vegas, NV- The Miguel Cotto-Manny Pacquiao fight is set for 145 lbs. on November 14, as predicted here a month ago. Pac, 47-3-2, 37 KOs, a Filipino phenomenon, will meet Puerto Rico’s Cotto (31-1, 27 KOs). At this weight, I think Manny’s in water deep enough to where he will have difficulty staying afloat for 36 minutes.
WILL WEIGHT & SIZE FINALLY BEAT PACMAN?
Manny will not succumb to weight and size but to his daily schedule of meetings, shootings, travels, partying, dealings, speakings, guestings, cockfightings, billiards, basketball, campaigning, late night sleeping and what nots. Gacal and Michael Kontz can hardly keep up with his schedule. Boxing is not one of them. Maybe some pushups nightly with his wife.
The big question is: why did Pacquiao choose Cotto over Mosley who had offered to fight him at 140 and at a lesser purse? I don’t understand the reasoning behind it.
This one is goig to be a barn burner for as long as it last, I don’t see however any way Manny can win. Miguel Cotto by more than likely by brutal stoppage inside of eight. And even this result won’t make his critics go away, they come with the territory.
It just goes to show that once a fighter starts to show a decline in skills the fighters promoter will try to maximize all earning potential while he still can. the fact that Bob Arum will put Cotto in with Pacquiao knowing damn well he has zero chance of winning is a crime. Not only will Cotto (arleady damaged goods)take a worse beating than the one Margarito gave him, his career will be over as a top level attraction. A rematch with Mosely makes more sense and is a winnable fight. Cotto was a good fighter and a true sportsman, he deserves better.
Reason why Arum is sacrificing Cotto is because of his golf escapade with Dela Hoya. Arum smells something brewing and if he is to lose Cotto to another promoter, might as well make the most money off of him. This matchup will more than makeup Cotto’s loss in terms of the money going to Arum. If Cotto wins, he will feel obligated to stick with Arum for giving him the chance to beat Pacman and making the most money in his career. If Cotto loses, he will be handed over to Dela Hoya as damaged merchandise. Win Win for Arum.
But why did Pacquiao choose Cotto over Mosley’s 140 offer??????? Sure shows some guts and confidence!
Mosley want to fight Manny at 140 with no belt, his older than De La Hoya another excuse if Pac beat him convincingly. At 145 Cotto is still at the advantage and he weighs in 146 most of his fight at welter, let’s not forget Manny is a featherweight 3 fights ago.
AIl right. This fight has fireworks written all over it. I’m not sure who wins this one, but it’s fair to say that it will be by kayo in a give and take battle.
tony: Cotto did, after all, beat Mosley. Maybe Pac views the Cotto fight as more challenging. And before anyone plays the “but Mosley beat Margarito card,” let me point out that Antonio’s…uh…toys definitely weren’t present in the Mosley fight, whereas they well could’ve been vs. Cotto.
sancho: Big Pac fan, but Cotto certainly has a chance here. I don’t see this skill erosion; he had a tough fight with Clottey. So what? Clottey’s a top welter.
Gilbert: I feel you! I just don’t see Miguel keeping up round after round with Manny’s stamina. by the 4th round I see Cotto starting to swell up and start looking like Vinnie Pazienza. Think about it, Clottey is a raw pressure fighter with limited boxing IQ. Any top well rounded Welterweight whow would have had Cotto as hurt as Clottey did most likely Knock him out or stops him on cuts. I love Cotto but he is clearly the fighter on the decline between the two. Yet again I could be wrong, wouldn’t be the 1st time, LOL.
I definatly see cotto out boxing Pacman for 3 or 4 rounds, but I dont think he can keep the work rate up after six, his condition has failed him in every fight for years now, it will fail him again and Pacquiao will TKO him in 10. This is definatly Manny’s stiffest challenge since Marquez. Cotto is a very live underdog in this pick em fight.
Cotto by long, sustained beating. Pacquiao express derailed, hype over.
Of course they chose Cotto over Mosley. Cotto has shown vulnerability lately and Mosley has not. This is boxing politics.
Mosley is stupid, his trying to get a fight with Pacquiao who is currently on negotiation with Cotto. Yeah its boxing politics because Top rank will over shadow Golden boy’s JMM/FMjr fight with the MP/MC “the real mega fight”. Mosley looks good against plaster less Margarito that’s why he doesn’t want to follow it up with a fight against contenders with no name because he won’t look as good as the last time and that’s bad for business especially that Floyd jr doesn’t want any of him.
I think Cotto lost to Mosley 5-7 rounds. In the final 4 rounds
Cotto took a near beating from the great “sugar” Shane Mosley.
Pacman chose Cotto because Mosley is a great fighter with better stamina faster hands and is always in tip top shape. Mosley have been re-born since hiring Nazin as his trainer. No smaller man have ever beaten Mosley and that includes Cotto. And the only advantage Cotto has over Mosley is his age.
Cotto already took a beating of career ending proportions from Margarito. Clottey was a tough fight and I have Clottey winning 7-5 rounds, but Clottey and everybody else should have known that Clottey would never win a close fight against Cotto.
Who wins, Pacman vs Cotto?
I give the slight edge to the Pacman, base on the fact that I know Cotto can not outbox that Pacman. Pac is just too fast, maybe the fastest hands in the game, has decent pop at welter and stamina to go 20 rounds. Cotto’s best chance is to cut the ring and make a brawl and even if he does, it does not guarantees that he get the better of it. Pacman has better defense and better offense, is the better boxer. Pacman wins it by late round TKO or 8-4 rounds in a very tough fight.
The only disadvantage for Pacman is size, but this fight will be won by speed, stamina, boxing abilities and heart. The Pacman has the clear edge in all those categories.
Cotto signed a two year deal to stay with Top Rank, so no Arum doesn’t care who wins he will get all the money anyway as both fighters are in house.
Cotto should thank Arum for eternity for the great match making abilities of Top Rank, had he fought for another company his record my be a lot worse.
The biggest winner is Floyd, because Floyd is not in a tough fight and obviously this fight is very dangerous for the Pacman and Cotto. The winner of Cotto and Pacman might get Floyd. But again is the money is not there Floyd will not fight.
This fight killed the biggest fight in boxing, because if the winner of Cotto vs Pacman man struggles in winning, they would be seem a vulnerable.
Right now Pacman is seen as monster and should Cotto make him look human all the luster is lost and the fight against Floyd won be as big. Floyd Pacman was the biggest fight that could be made and the killed it.
Floyd vs Pacman would have made more money than Cotto vs Pacman and Floyd vs Marquez combined.
Arum is a greedy man.
Sancho: Never thought Clottey had Cotto hurt. And Sugar Shane couldn’t KO Miguel; only one who has was Marg (a wee bit suspicious:)). I think Pac will score a late stoppage on cuts in a war. Also, remember that the Clottey cuts were the products of butts, to be fair to Miguel there.
Gilberto: Vegas just posted Manny as a 2-1 favorite. If Miguel can survive the 1st 4-6 rounds without absorbing too much punishment he has a shot. If not, he’s in for beating. What are your thoughts of FMJ vs.JMM?
Cotto is a great bet here. Easy money…
Agreed.
Cotto’s jab is gonna give Pac difficulty getting inside to deliver shots. Once Cotto establishes the jab, he’s going to have an easy time backing Pac down. This will allow Cotto to fight in his best style (coming forward being the aggresor) and will allow Cotto to wear down Pac and land the big KO blow.
For the above reasoning, combined with Cotto’s greater size, power and reach will allot Cotto to earn a vicious KO in 8 rounds or less.
I will bet a mint on Cotto and cash out on this MoFo. I’ll also attend to be in house for the 2 best fights this year. Taylor vs Froch and Cotto vs Pac.
Sancho: Like I said, I favor Pac by late stoppage; I just fancy Cotto as a more live dog than you do. I actually disagree with your time table theory; Cotto has shown himself more vulnerable later in fights, whereas Pac has always shown great stamina, so I’d imagine Cotto’s chances would be better earlier on when he’s fresher. As for JMM/Floyd, I predict a rather boring, technical affair which Floyd wins by 7-5 or 8-4 decision. Keep in mind that Floyd’s been off a while, and I don’t know how the rib injury will affect him. JMM is a hell of a body puncher, so those ribs will be tested for sure. Also, as the fight is IMHO going to be mainly technical, I don’t think the size will play as significant a role as I did in say Pac/DLH (you saw how that turned out:)) or as some think in Pac/Cotto, as most think that fight will be contested much more in the trenches.