Pacquiao vs Clottey is a Pay-Per-View event produced by HBO. HBO is excited to present this fight on Saturday, March 13. Pacquiao will defend his WBO Welterweight title  for the first time against Clottey.

Earning his seventh weight division title and still peaking at age 30, the national icon cemented his status as one of the greatest boxers ever.

Pacquiao vs Cotto Photos


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Few would argue that the welterweight division has become boxing’s most talented weight class. When experts analyze the sport’s best “pound-for-pound” fighters, welterweights dominate most top 10 lists.

Manny Pacquiao is relatively new to the division but intends on adding more accomplishments in an already successful career. Recognized with established welterweight Floyd Mayweather Jr. as one of boxing’s top fighters, Pacquiao opted for a difficult foe in his bid for another world title Saturday night.

Pacquiao will take on Puerto Rico’s Miguel Cotto for his World Boxing Organization title at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, in another highly-anticipated bout in the welterweight division.

“It’s going to be a great fight between two great fighters,” Pacquiao said at a press conferece Wednesday.

Like Mayweather, Cotto is another welterweight considered among the sport’s top-10 fighters. Cotto (34-1, 27 KOs) realizes the possible riches and additional prestige that could follow if he defeats Pacquiao in the second defense of his 147-pound title.

The winner of the bout should become the logical opponent against Mayweather in a mega-fight likely to occur next year.

“My career has to continue no matter who wants to fight or not to fight Miguel Cotto,” Cotto said. “I am here for the big names and ready for the hot opponents.

“That’s what boxing needs — for the guys at the top to fight other guys at the top, like it was 20 years ago. Make the fights that fans want to watch.”

Pacquiao, a native of the Philippines who won his first world title as a flyweight, has fought top fighters such as Marquez, Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales while also capturing belts in the super-bantamweight, featherweight and super-featherweight classes. The 30-year-old Pacquiao will pursue his seventh title against Cotto.

“I feel stronger at this weight than I ever have,” Pacquiao said. “My punches are harder, my speed is intact. I keep getting warned about Cotto’s body attack. Cotto should be worried about my body attack.”

Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37 KOs) has fought only one time above 140 pounds, when he gradually broke down Oscar De La Hoya and forced him to quit on his stool after the eighth round of their much-ballyhooed bout last December. Six months ago, Pacquiao returned to the junior-welterweight class and knocked out England’s Ricky Hatton in two rounds.

“Miguel Cotto is a hard puncher and strong,” Pacquiao said. “He’s the champion so there is a challenge.”

Cotto, 29, believes he has made the separation from his lone career loss against Antonio Margarito in July 2008.

Cotto overcame the brutal 11th-round technical knockout loss to Margarito with victories over Michael Jennings for the WBO belt in February and a hard-fought decision over Joshua Clottey five months ago.

“I know what I’m capable of doing, and there is no doubt in my mind that I’m going to win this fight,” Cotto said.

“I’ve prepared for the best Manny Pacquiao, the fastest Manny Pacquiao, and I will be ready for anything he brings in to the ring.”

Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/other/story/1333002.html

Pacquiao vs Cotto Live Stream – Original post by ericksonx

Manny Pacquiao versus Miguel Cotto.

No disrespect to David Haye and last week’s big clash with Nikolai Valuev, but this should be a fight to savour.

The experts are falling in behind Pacquiao. They see in him as a boxer at his peak or even getting better, a pound-forpound superstar. Cotto is seen as a fighter on the slide.

I’m not so sure. I respect the opinion of those closer to the action who claim Cotto is not the fighter he was, but I reserve judgment until after this test.

The question is this: how much did the Antonio Margarito bout take out of Cotto? He said it felt like being hit by bricks in that fight.

Margarito has since been engulfed in controversy after illegal padding was found in the wrapping of his hands for a subsequent bout.

We don’t know if his fists were similarly enhanced against Cotto, but we know that the result placed the only loss on Cotto’s record.

As good as Pacquiao undoubtedly is, we have not been able to fully evaluate his credentials at the heavier weight. This was made at 145lbs, two under the welterweight limit. This tells you that not only does he see an advantage in making Cotto shed more pounds but that he is not confident at the weight against a fully-fledged welter.

Juan Manuel Marquez was coming up from lightweight and was really a career super featherweight. Ricky Hatton was not the same man after Mayweather, and Oscar de la Hoya was a weight-drained carcass at 147lbs.

Pacquiao was impressive against all three but in circumstances that do not allow complete confidence in a prediction for this fight.

Much is being made of Cotto’s close decision against Joshua Clottey. This ignores how tough an opponent Clottey is. There is no shame in being taken all the way by a Ghanaian warrior. I wake up at night in cold sweats thinking about his fellow countryman Azumah Nelson – and I never fought him!

The defeat to Margarito was brutal but he was winning the fight almost until the point the stoppage came.

Margarito had the style to trouble Cotto in a way that Zab Judah and Shane Mosley did not.

If we are looking for comparisons it is to the Judah and Mosley bouts that we should look. Cotto has handled speed before and power, and coped brilliantly.

If the experts close to the action are wrong about Cotto’s perceived decline post-Margarito then Pacquiao is in for one hell of a fight. The speed and power that did for Hatton will not do for Cotto in the same way.

He is a brilliant fighter, excellent technically and with a terrific heart.

If this fight were made before the Margarito bout I would have had no hesitation in making him favourite.

As it stands I believe he is the only fighter capable of forcing a stoppage win in the early hours tomorrow.

I accept that Pacquiao is justifiably favourite and that a points win is a sound prediction.

But I’m not yet ready to write off Cotto, and if he is at his best this is going to be the fight of the year.

Don’t be surprised to see the Puerto Rican the winner.

Source: http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/more-sport/boxing/2009/11/14/don-t-write-off-cotto-we-re-in-for-hell-of-a-showdown-115875-21820649/

Pacquiao vs Cotto Live Stream – Original post by ericksonx

With the fight just hours away, its time for me to make a final prediction about Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto. This fight has a lot of different factors and angles to it, making an accurate prediction difficult, but here’s how I see it going down:

First few rounds

As the pair square up in the middle of the ring, Cotto looks a hell of a lot bigger. This might look intimidating but it actually helps Pacquiao retain a bigger speed advantage by not trying to bulk up too much. At the start of the fight Pacquiao looks strong, but eventually starts to feel the bigger punches of Cotto.

For the first round or so he fires off everything at Cotto, who responds with heavy hooks and uses his jab well to keep Pacquiao at bay. As Pac-man lands more punches Cotto tests out the theory of Oscar De La Hoya who said Pac can’t punch, and doesn’t like the results. After perhaps the first couple of rounds Pacquiao will be forced to change his tactics and take less chances.

Cotto struggles to catch Pacquiao, but when he does he makes him pay for it. Meanwhile Pacquiao is forced to stick and move. At several points in each round Pacquiao’s aggression takes over and he gets too close to Cotto, who proceeds to punish him to the body. Freddie Roach is going berserk at Manny in the corner after each reckless incident.

Middle rounds

As the fight wears on Cotto begins to tire of chasing Pacquiao and seems to be looking to trap him in a corner rather than catching him with single punches. As Cotto starts to slow, Pacquiao begins to catch him with more punches and get hit less himself on the way out, nicking the rounds on the scorecards. Both fighters have started to mark up a little, and Cotto has a couple of small cuts around the eyes. Nothing serious at first, but getting bigger as the rounds progress. Cotto seems hesitant to take a lot of punches to land a couple of his own, but is being forced to do so by Pacquiao’s speed.

Later Rounds

Both fighters have slowed, but Cotto a lot more so than Pacquiao. Manny now tees off at will on the sluggish Cotto, who flails after him but by now can’t land a glove on Manny. Cotto is cut badly and getting hit but he doesn’t seem rocked and refuses to be finished. All the punches are one way traffic from Manny now as cotto looks aprehensive and tries to guard his cut for fear of a stoppage.

The fight ends with Pacquiao looking the stronger, but Cotto thinks he might have done enough early on to take it. Both fighters seem convinced that they have done enough, but Manny has clearly won more of the rounds than Miguel. The fight is called for Manny Pacquiao by unanimous decision. The announcement is made and Manny prepares to sing his victory song.

At some point the cameras inside the arena cut to several boxers sitting in the front row, who all want a piece of Pacquiao. Floyd Mayweather makes some noise as usual, but doesn’t seem that interested really. As usual Freddie Roach has some interesting insight into the preperations he thinks MIguel Cotto has made:

“There’s a Plan A and B,” said Roach. Either [Cotto] is going to use his strength and come forward and show us he’s the bigger or stronger guy, or he’s going to try to be like Marquez and be a counterpuncher. A lot of people like to do that because it gave us trouble. But you can’t become somebody else in eight weeks. Once he gets hit, he will revert back to what he does best.

“Cotto has got a great left hook, and when he gets you on the ropes he’s very effective. Our job is not to be on the ropes at all in this fight. Obviously, Cotto will pressure us at times during this fight, but Manny’s speed is too much. Foot-speed — that’s where the fight is won. And Manny excels in that department.”

The counterpunching idea is a sound one, although I don’t see Cotto having the speed or technique enough to make much out of it. Sooner or later he will have to chance gack to his old self, and lets not forget, while Marquez did give Pacquiao trouble, he was a natural counterpuncher, and he still didn’t actually even win either fight. Cotto trying to fight like Marquez will never be as good as the real thing, and the real thing wasnt good enough either. Interestingly Marquez is still pushing for a third fight between the pair, but with much bigger pay days out there for Manny if he wins I don’t see it happening.

Source: http://www.examiner.com/x-20066-Pittsburgh-Fight-Sports-Examiner~y2009m11d13-Pacquiao-vs-Cotto-final-prediction

Pacquiao vs Cotto Live Stream – Original post by ericksonx

The Miguel Cotto vs Manny Pacquiao fight is slated to be one of the best boxing fights of the year. At a press conference Wednesday night in Las Vegas, both Miguel Cotto, 29 and Manny Pacquiao, 29 weighed in and talked about the fight.

The Miguel Cotto vs Manny Pacquiao fight time is scheduled for 6 pm pacific time on Saturday, November 14, 2009 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. It can also be watched on PPV for $54.95 on HBO. See the link below for live stream information.

Miguel Cotto (34-1, 27 KOs) vs Manny Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37 KOs) are two of biggest-money making stars in boxing today, and they have been compared to some of the boxing greats in the 1980s, including Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Roberto Duran and Tommy Hearns.

A few months ago, the Mayweather-Marquez fight drew more than 1,000,000 PPV customers, and HBO believes the Miguel Cotto vs Manny Pacquiao might do even better than that.

Cotto had a catch weight Wednesday night of 145 pounds, two pounds under the welterweight limit, and he is considered the underdog in this fight, but no one knows what might happen. Cotto brings the rich Puerto Rico boxing tradition with him and a lot of determination.

“He is coming from a lower weight division and if he thinks he’s going to have the same power as Miguel Cotto, his thinking is very wrong,” Cotto said at the press conference. “I am prepared for anything he can bring me that night. He has a lot of things besides speed. I have to be prepared for all that he can show me.”

A native of the Phillipines, Pacquiao is the favorite in Saturday’s fight and could become the first boxer to win world titles in seven weight divisions.

Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach said that he will win by a “spectacular knockout,” but Pacquiao said that his objective is to do his best to uphold the pride of his country. “But if I knock him out, that will make me happy, too,” he said Wednesday.

In an ESPN forum Friday, Tyler C. from Salt Lake City, Utah asked Pacquiao, “Manny, How are you going to account for Cotto’s strong left hook?”

Pacquiao responded: “We’ve been training in the gym to overcome and counteract his strength. I think I’m the faster and quicker fighter so it all depends on who lands it fight. We have a good game plan to overcome Cotto.”

Source: http://www.examiner.com/x-19632-Salt-Lake-City-Headlines-Examiner~y2009m11d13-Video-Miguel-Cotto-vs-Manny-Paquiao-live-2009-biggest-boxing-fight-of-the-year

Pacquiao vs Cotto Live Stream – Original post by ericksonx

LAS VEGAS — Boxing is alive and thriving, and you can see it in the nationalistic pride that enveloped Las Vegas on Friday. The Filipinos and Puerto Ricans descended on The Strip with their colorful flags and chants, and they queued in orderly groups — Manny Pacquiao’s publiko/bayan here, Miguel Cotto’s publico/paisanos there — for a raucous weigh-in Friday afternoon at the MGM Grand Garden.

So much excitement, for two 145-pound boxers standing on a scale. But Pacquiao-Cotto is the biggest thing to happen to boxing since Pacquiao-Oscar De La Hoya. Or Pacquiao-Ricky Hatton.

You get the idea.

The Pride of the Philippines (49-3-2, 37 KOs) squared off Friday against The Pride of Puerto Rico (34-1-0, 27 KOs) when they stood on stage in their skivvies, the crowd of about 6,500 — Filipinos to the left, Puerto Ricans to the right — roared its requisite country’s approval.

Cotto’s trainer Jose Santiago, who rarely speaks English, threw out a “145 pounds, a**hole!” to Pacquiao’s trusted man, Freddie Roach, when Cotto stepped off the scale. Pacquiao, who is going for his unprecedented seventh world title in his seventh weight class, flexed his growing frame at 144 pounds, sending his fans into a cheering frenzy.

The drama continued. Antonio Margarito made an appearance on stage, infuriating the Puerto Ricans who revile him for destroying Cotto’s face and perfect record in a controversial 11-round loss in July 2008. Then Margarito had the temerity to parade outside the Grand Garden Arena among the hundreds who were turned away from the packed weigh-in.

“Cheater!! He is a cheater!!” people screamed at a defiant Margarito, and security guards rushed over to prevent a melee from breaking out in the crush that swarmed the MGM Grand Studio Walk.

This is what makes the boxing so unique now, and helps separates it from the All-American MMA culture that has captured this country’s imagination.

The pride, the pageantry, the intense rivalries, they all resonate with the pure boxing fan — the person who will shell out $54.95 for Saturday’s HBO pay-per-view show featuring the Pacquaio-Cotto 12-round welterweight main event. And the whole package goes to the hearts of the people of the Philippines and Puerto Rico, who are living vicariously through their countries’ greatest athletes.

Las Vegas needs this energy. And many in boxing will grudgingly concede that the sport probably needs Pacquiao to prevail Saturday night. Because Las Vegas has become Manny’s town, just as it once belonged to Floyd Mayweather, Mike Tyson and other actual current or former Vegas residents and boxing greats.

And ultimately, boxing needs — and will demand — that Pacquiao step into the ring against Mayweather.

Why would Cotto, a skilled, accomplished pure welterweight who is defending his WBO title, agree to take this fight against Pacquaio at 145 pounds, two pounds under the limit and his comfortable weight? Why would he agree to $2 million up front less than the challenger?

Bob Arum, the Top Rank promoter and mastermind who handles both fighters, has defended the honor of Cotto valiantly this week. But there is a simple truth to Cotto’s presence in the ring Saturday night.

“In this fight,” Arum said, “he is not the star of the show.”

He is absolutely essential to the process, however.

Cotto is a brilliant fighter, and his legacy can’t be tarnished by the brutal, bloody beating he sustained by the hands of Margarito 15 months ago. Who will say with certainty those hands weren’t concealing illegal plaster inserts under their wraps? After all, Margarito and his trainer had their California boxing licenses revoked when inspectors found hardened plaster in his gloves before a welterweight title bout against Shane Mosley six months later.

But Cotto will need to go down Saturday night. He is a 3-to-1 underdog so that boxing can get Pacquaio-Mayweather.

HBO’s PPV machine will rev up every ounce of its being for that dream mega-fight. Of course, Mayweather absolutely despises Arum, his former promoter, so there will be ample, calculated rhetoric between Top Rank, Inc. and Mayweather Promotions.
You have a perfect blending of style in this fight … I see a very tough distance fight, and there is going to be blood.
– Legendary Promoter Angelo Dundee
Arum has equal disdain for his former client, but even boxing’s most prolific promoter has conceded this week that a Pacquaio-Mayweather event could easily surpass the record 2.44 million buys in 2007 for Mayweather-De La Hoya. So it will happen.

If Cotto wins — and many in boxing are convinced he will beat Pacquiao by a late knockout or split decision — Cotto-Mayweather would be an epic affair for boxing aficionados.

Then again, the world’s most famous Filipino vs. the cocky, loud-talking boxing celebrity would be Dream Theater.

Where does this leave Pacquaio-Cotto, the matchup?

It will be worth every round, every minute.

Cotto, with his quiet dignity, has the edge in size and strength, and he will go to the body to punish his smaller opponent. By the time they step into the ring Saturday night, Cotto may weigh as many as 15 pounds heavier than his Filipino challenger.

Pacquiao, the smiling, generous people’s champion, is renowned for his uncanny speed, a right hand that can now match his left hook, and his ring skills, all of which have been honed to precision by Roach. He is boxing’s pound-for-pound champion, but Pacquiao is facing his greatest test.

“You have a perfect blending of style in this fight,” legendary trainer Angelo Dundee told reporters this week. “If I ever had a fighter fighting Pacquaio, I would implement things that Cotto brings to the table.

“I see a very tough distance fight, and there is going to be blood.”

Boxing will get the breath-stealing show it wants and needs, and the evolution of the sport will get a boost with what happens between Pacquiao-Cotto. Boxing is in an exciting place again. It’s in the headlines, sound bites and every day conversation of sports fans.

Look to the ring Saturday night, and you will see where boxing goes from here.

Source: http://boxing.fanhouse.com/2009/11/13/pacquiao-cotto-will-determine-the-direction-of-boxing/

Pacquiao vs Cotto Live Stream – Original post by ericksonx

From Las Vegas

Seldom has there been better proof that there is no accounting for taste.

Starting at 5:30 a.m. Friday, hundreds of people began lining up in the hallways leading to the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Barack Obama was not scheduled to appear, nor was Bruce Springsteen. Nobody would be changing bread and wine into loaves and fishes.

They were there awaiting entrance to the weigh-in for Saturday night’s boxing match between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto. Two nicely cut little guys, Pacquiao and Cotto, would strip to their underwear and stand on a scale, a man in a sport coat would nod that they each made the weight limit of 145 pounds and it would be over.

Oh, yes, that began at 3 p.m.

Lest we linger too long on thoughts of the current collective IQ of our populace, we must stretch for positives here.

That kind of fan outpouring signals the continuation of a sort of rebirth of boxing, which had seemed to be losing a generation of fans to the perceived thrill of muscular people rolling around with each other in cages. The younger generation calls it ultimate fighting. Graybeards call it ultimate stupidity.

Pacquiao and Cotto seem to have bridged both groups.

The men most influential in making this event happen, Ross Greenburg of HBO and Bob Arum of Top Rank Boxing, have been talking a lot about how many of those all-important web hits this fight is generating. Both also see the possibility that it will attract in excess of 1 million pay-per-view buys, which would put it in the rarefied air of only 25 other fights in history, most of them heavyweight matches.

The all-time record is 2.4 million buys for Floyd Mayweather Jr. versus Oscar De La Hoya two years ago. Matter of fact, Mayweather and Juan Manual Marquez did a million buys two months ago, and that one turned out to be little more than a workout for Mayweather.

Now, with Pacquiao’s massive Filipino following and Cotto’s similar Puerto Rican following — as well as a new buzz among the general sports fan — boxing seems to be acquiring a new swagger. Even at the current $54.95 pay-per-view price.

Perhaps most interesting is that all this noise is being generated for what is, most likely, a semifinal. If Pacquiao continues his rise from 106 pounds to a seventh boxing title in a seventh weight division by beating Cotto, and if Arum is able to make a match with Mayweather, then Pacquiao-Cotto will have been merely foreplay.

Quality foreplay, certainly.

Pacquiao, 49-3-2, hasn’t lost since 2005 and has been dazzling since he took big steps up in weight to go against David Diaz, De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton. Deeply embedded in the memory of boxing fans is Pacquiao’s spectacular left-hook knockout of Hatton in May. Hatton never felt the jolt of the canvas because he was out well before he got there.

Cotto, at 34-1-0, was among the most feared welterweights in history until he took a terrible beating from Antonio Margarito on July 26, 2008. That fight, of course, took on new meaning after Margarito was discovered with plaster of Paris in his gloves before a fight in January against Shane Mosley, who proceeded to win handily. Cotto has won twice since the Margarito fight and claims that people should pay more attention to that than to Margarito, whose presumed glove-doctoring Cotto is now calling “criminal.”

Pacquiao is a 3-1 favorite. His trainer, Freddie Roach, says Pacquiao is “100% ready,” and that his fighter’s superior hand and foot speed and a strategy to avoid Cotto’s lethal left hook means he will handle this fight easily.

Cotto’s trainer, young Joe Santiago, says he is stunned that Pacquiao is a favorite and says that every boxer who has faced Cotto had a plan to stop the left hook. “And he just keeps landing them,” Santiago says.

Some boxing experts think that Cotto, the natural welterweight, who has never fought below 137 pounds, will be too big for Pacquiao to handle. Roach, who had a say in this fight’s catch-weight of 145, says Pacquiao has gotten better as he has gotten bigger because he is such a good athlete.

“He could have picked any sport and excelled,” Roach says. “I’m glad he picked boxing.”

Usually, in boxing, the war of words is better than the war in the ring. This time, the words may represent more than just a pay-per-view sales pitch.

That would also make it somewhat more understandable for people to spend an entire day in an arena lobby to witness a nonevent weigh-in.

On second thought, no it wouldn’t.

Source: http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-dwyre14-2009nov14,0,3089210.column

Pacquiao vs Cotto Live Stream – Original post by ericksonx

LAS VEGAS, Nevada — Trainer Freddie Roach says fighting as a welterweight might become a regular thing for Manny Pacquiao because he is happier than he has ever seen him before a fight.

“If he couldn’t eat the day before the weigh in he was mad at the world,” said Roach. “He would be on edge because couldn’t eat. Now he can have breakfast and lunch before the weigh in and he is smiling and I have a happy fighter.”

Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto both weighed in Friday for their welterweight fight for Cotto’s World Boxing Organization world title at the MGM Grand hotel and casino.

The fight is being fought at the catch weight of 145 pounds which is exactly what Cotto tipped the scales at.

Challenger Pacquiao weighed in at 144 pounds.

The fight has been sold out for weeks and there was a standing room only crowd of about 6,500 for Friday’s official weigh in at Grand Garden Arena where it will take place.

Both fighters spoke briefly to their fans but did not engage each other and for the most part did not get together on the podium. There were words exchanged between Roach and Cotto’s trainer Joe Santiago who Roach has labelled inexperienced.

The two had to be separated by their respective camps.

The weigh in had all the drama of a fight night as the pro-Cotto and pro-Pacquiao supporters took turns shouting each other down. Hollywood actor Jeremy Piven introduced both fighters and joked with Pacquiao about his reputation for late night partying.

“This is like the Jimmy Kimmel show. Funny,” said Pacquiao, who weighed in wearing his boxers and a pair of white socks. “When I start to train for the fight there is no more night time. Thank you Filipinos for coming.”

Cotto also thanked his supporters as he took the scales in just his underwear.

“Thanks for coming,” Cotto said. “I will put on a great show. It will be a great day for Puerto Rico and Latin America people.”

Organizers turned away thousands of boxing fans who waited outside the arena behind a barrier. Those lucky enough to get into the weigh in included some who began lining up at 5:30 am.

Roach said he is so pleased with the way training camp has gone the past couple of weeks he will try to get Pacquiao to fight again at this weight.

“People kill themselves to make weight. It is over-rated,” Roach said. “When I have a happy fighter he fights well.

“He will be smiling in the ring walk and he is enjoying every bit of this.”

Pacquiao will be trying to win his seventh world title in as many divisions and what amazes boxing experts is he hasn’t show any signs of losing power as he fights heavier opponents.

Pacquiao’s six titles came in a half dozen weight classes ranging from 112 to 140 pounds. He weighed just 106 pounds in his pro debut in 1995 and captured his first title in the 112-pound flyweight division.

“As he gains weight his speed and power are both improving and it is hard to explain why,” Roach said. “He is comfortable at it so we are going to stay there.”

Some heavy hitters were also in attendance at the weigh in including Antonio Margarito who is the only man to have taken down Cotto when he beat him in a controversial decision last year.

Asked to predict a winner Saturday, Margarito, who is under suspension for using illegal gloves in another fight, just shook his head and said no.

Filipino boxing fan Brian Shelledy, of Los Angeles, isn’t shy about giving his opinion.

“Manny Pacquiao represents all the good values of Filipino people,” said the 37-year-old computer technician. “He comes from a poor background and he shows respect and is humble.”

New York policeman Gabriel Dones and shipping clerk Mike Maldonado flew in Thursday night from New York to cheer the Puerto Rican champ on.

“(Cotto) is going to win because Pacquiao hasn’t fought anybody with Cotto’s power,” said Maldonado.

Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iHXcNwmX2652mpPf_tcH3Ev-tBsw

Pacquiao vs Cotto Live Stream – Original post by ericksonx

I’m excited about the Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto fight this Saturday and out of all the possible matchups to be made between Pacquiao, Mayweather, and Mosley, this one has the greatest potential to produce the magical fireworks of a legendary prize fight and will be well worth your pay-per-view dollars.

That being said, Team-Pacquiao made a big mistake and after all the verbal sparring between Arum and Pacquiao’s representatives and the countless meetings that took place across the world’s different time zones, Manny Pacquiao’s advisors failed him and came away with a contract that could very well negatively impact the final stages of his career.

Now the financial split has yet to be announced and even though finances are always the priority, a good manager knows that sometimes the logistics surrounding a fight can change a fighter’s career more pervasively than a purse split.
When Sugar Ray Leonard challenged Marvin Hagler in 1987, poor Marvin thought that his team had controlled the negotiations because the Marvelous one received the lion’s share of the purse split, but Leonard’s brain-trust didn’t care about the money and put more emphasis on the fight’s particulars, “Hagler gave us everything we wanted, he was just worried about the money, but we didn’t care about the money, we wanted to win the fight, so we gave him the money and he gave us everything else,” commented Leonard’s career advisor, the astute Mike Trainer.

And because Team Leonard made some financial concessions to Hagler, he got to decide on the size of the ring and the bout was sanctioned for twelve rounds instead of 15-rounds, which were still being sanctioned at the time, but were in the process of being phased out.

It’s pretty obvious that team Cotto followed a strategy similar to Mike Trainer’s and probably left some money on the table in order to put Miguel In a better position to win the fight.

So instead of haggling over an extra half-million or so, they conceded to Team Pacquiao’s financial terms and held steadfast in their demand that the bout take place at 145 pounds.

Now I know boxing fans are thinking, “What’s the big deal, it’s just a couple of pounds,” but that’s just not the case.
Most fans have never had to make weight for a sporting contest and don’t realize how difficult it is for a fighter to make weight. The whole process is a tolling and debilitating experience and in this instance, those two pounds are going to make a huge difference.

Cotto had a lot of trouble making the 140 pound limit and was visibly weakened throughout his entire campaign as the WBO 140 pound champion and regularly complained about the physical toll it took on his body and was dropped and almost stopped by Ricardo Torres and almost taken out by the ordinary DeMarcus Corley in front of his hometown fans.

Since moving up to 147 pounds in the fall of 2006 his ability to recuperate and absorb punishment has increased substantially.

Just look how his equilibrium withstood all those shots from Antonio Margarito, a huge welterweight who may have had cement in his gloves and compare that to how Cotto was shaken up by a couple of punches from the light hitting DeMarcus Corley and it’s obvious that making the junior-welterweight limit weakened Cotto.
It’s because the process of having to lose six to twelve pounds two or three days before a weigh-in is so debilitating.

Now you may think cutting weight is scientific in its methodology, but unfortunately the process of cutting weight is barbaric and has to do more with basic arithmetic than the scientific method.
Most of the weight is water-weight and fighters know all the little tricks of the weight-loss-trade.
For instance, fighters know that after a good night’s sleep you generally weigh in one pound less in the morning. They also know that you can shed two to three pounds of water weight during a hard work out.

Just for those of you who aren’t aware of the rigors of making weight let me go over a scenario that occurs regularly before almost every fight card in the world.
Let’s say a fighter has to weigh in at 140 pounds on Friday at noon and its Thursday morning and they weigh 146. They can work out at the gym and have a little bit of water. 144. Then they can go home, rest, hopefully use the bathroom, sleep, and wake up in the morning. 142 ½. Then Friday before the weigh in they can work out and maybe use the sauna and weigh 140 pounds for less than an hour and make the contracted weight.
Just try to fathom that experience for a moment and ponder the thought of having to complete two professional level workouts with very little water and hardly any food intake over a twenty-four hour period.

Now that scenario is something closer to what a mid to high level amateur experiences, some of the professionals have to make some insane sacrifices to make weight. Imagine having to go through that experience for three, four, or even five days before a fight.

The simple fact of the matter is that making weight is tough and besides getting hit, it may be the most difficult thing a fighter has to deal with.
Guys like Jake LaMotta and James Toney always had more problems with the scales than their opponents. Henry Ramirez, who had over fifty amateur fights and trains a stable of fighters which includes Chris Arreola, is well aware of the problems fighters encounter at the scales and commented, “Everybody’s body is different and everybody cuts weight differently, but it’s a trying experience.”

Now Cotto moved up 147 pound in the fall of 2006 and will probably never fight at 154 pounds, he’s just too short and probably doesn’t have the length necessary to compete at the elite level in the higher weight classes.
He’s a welterweight plain and simple and now he has to drop two extra pounds to fight the Pac-man.

Now if Cotto were really struggling to make 147 I would say those two pounds would make a difference and that losing those extra 32 ounces would negatively impact his overall strength, but he makes the welterweight limit relatively easily, I mean he’s not like Felix Trinidad at welterweight or James Toney at Middleweight, and the two pounds shouldn’t have a negative impact on his physical state and that’s a bad thing for Manny Pacquiao.

145 pounds is only two pounds below the welterweight limit. So those two pounds that were subtracted aren’t going to make much of the difference, but the four pounds had the bout been contracted at 143 pounds would have made huge difference because they would have sufficiently weakened Miguel, just like it did when he was fighting at 140 because even though it would have been three pounds north of the junior-welterweight limit, Cotto has been fighting at welterweight for the past three years and his body has matured and developed. As a result the drop to 143 pounds may have even been more debilitating than making 140 had been because he’s bigger now.
The thing is Manny Pacquiao is human. He’s only had three fights above 130 pounds and now he is facing an elite welterweight in his twenties and only received a two pound weight concession.

Oscar De La Hoya made more concessions than Cotto and he was the sport’s pre-Madonna and was in his thirties and still agreed to drop to a weight he hadn’t fought at since Bill Clinton was President.

If Pacquiao’s team of advisors had actually been capable managers, and not blow-smoke-up-your ass hanger-ons they would have demanded that Cotto reduced to 143 pounds. Those two extra-pounds would have meant at least an extra-day or two of drying out because the lower you go, the harder it gets to lose the water weight, which would have weakened him just little bit more and slowed him down just a tad bit which would have made him more susceptible to Pacquiao’s counters and power.
Besides what was Cotto going to do? Fight a rematch with Margarito or Clottey, two huge welterweights that already gave him hell and don’t bring the kind of recognition and financial compensation that a fight with Pacquiao brings.

Pacquiao’s advisors had all of the leverage and failed to make an agreement that would have leveled the playing field between Miguel and Manny. Even Freddie Roach is aware of the strength disparity between the two and that’s why throughout the early part of the negotiations he was unwavering in his desire for the bout to take place at 143 pounds.

People might think two pounds can’t make a difference, but those seven pounds Cotto added after moving up to welterweight sure did and unfortunately for Manny Pacquiao he’s the one that’s going to have to deal with the impropriety of the contract on Saturday.

Source: http://www.fightfannation.com/pacquiao111309.html

Pacquiao vs Cotto Live Stream – Original post by ericksonx