TSS As PI: Searching 24/7 For Clues To Cotto-Pacquiao

By Michael Woods

Examining HBO's 24/7 for clues which might affect the outcome of the upcoming fight is one of the most enjoyable aspects of watching the expertly crafted infomercial. In the second installment of the Pacquiao-Cotto docudrama miniseries, TSS played PI, and looked for anything in the fighters' actions, physiques or behaviors that might inform a fight fan what is likely to unfold on Nov. 14, when Manny Pacquiao tries to secure a seventh title in a seventh weight class from WBO welterweight titlist Miguel Cotto in a 145 pound "catchweight" clash.

In the previous installment, we saw Cotto mixing business with pleasure; it looked like his training camp in Florida, away from distractions in his native Puerto Rico, took a load off the fighter with the frequently furrowed brow. In contrast, Pacquiao's camp was a picture less tranquil. He chose to stay in Baguiao, a region beset by severely foul weather, causing his trainer Freddie Roach to firmly request that the fighter switch up his plans, and decamp to a safer spot, free from typhoons, and perhaps, leeching politicians hoping to get a bump in the polls with a endorsement from Manny.


In the second episode, viewer saw a previously perturbed Roach in Manila, having made the eight-hour trek from Baguiao without Pacquiao. They hugged it out, it was made clear, and got back on track preparing for Cotto. Or, they got back on track as much as Manny's demigod status allows—fans clamor to touch the fighter whenever he exits Gerry Penalosa's gym. But Pacquiao seems to be able to clear his mind of distractions. And Roach makes sure of it, offering a $1,000 bounty to any sparring partner who dumps Manny on his can. So far, Shawn Porter and Jose Luis Castillo haven't been able to get that extra spiff in their envelope, but the added impetus gives Pacman more reason to stay on message in training, and tells viewers that at this juncture, at least, it certainly appears that all the money and adoration he enjoys hasn't swelled his head, and won't pave the way for a fall to Cotto.


Back to Cotto—the Puerto Rican hitter welcomed Miguel the 3rd to Tampa, for a week-long visit to see pop do his thing. That includes pre-dawn workouts at a local track. Perhaps the "stamina thing," Cotto's supposed tendency to fade in the last third of fights, will not be an issue come Nov. 14, if these track workouts have been installed, or modified, to speak to his gas-tank woes? Team Cotto did manage to get some chill-time in, going golfing, and viewers with old-school values might wonder if Miguel is splitting his focus too much, taking too much time with his son, instead of eating, breathing and sleeping Pacquiao 24-7.


Then again, Manny does manage to have a varied life during training camp. Witness Pacman's duet with a female vocalist on the 1977 Dan Hill classic "Sometimes When We Touch," which he filmed for a Filipino TV network as part of a farewell concert. That went swimmingly, but there was still the matter of the conflict within his crew. Fitness coach Alex Ariza and advisor Michael Koncz haven't been getting along, and snipe at each other in front of Manny, who stays above the fray, seemingly untouched by the chaos. Can Manny truly be as unruffled by the beefing as he appears?


A viewer watching this installment might wonder whether Cotto's sparring partners are of a lesser breed than Pacquaio's and be left to think that Pacman's camp is that much more effective than Miguel's. Cotto gets work in with 9-3-1 southpaw Kenny Abril, from Rochester, NY, and 7-1 Georgian lefty Fred Tukes. Contrasted with Pacman's crew, which included 26-1 Mexican Urbano Antillon, 10-0 Shawn Porter from Ohio and former lightweight champion Jose Luis Castillo (60-9-1), it does seem like Cotto's getting gypped in this department. Perhaps the time spent studying films of Pacquiao on the part of Miguel's dad Miguel Sr. and 32-year-old trainer Joe Santiago will compensate.


At Roach's Wild Card Gym, Pacquiao looks trim and on message. He doesn't seem put off by the absence of Michael Moorer, who helped Roach while Manny got ready for Ricky Hatton, and rubbed Manny the wrong way with his brusque manner. The Wild Card looks cramped but homey, while Cotto's training zone in Tampa looks roomier, but more complicated. Viewers see his wife Melissa, who he'd been estranged from, is back in the picture. She comes to the gym, with two more kids, and Miguel's mom, who wears an expression none too joyous. Perhaps those relationships don't siphon an ounce of Cotto's mental energy, perhaps he is relieved to be unburdened from the presence of his uncle Evangelista, who he split from in the spring. But we saw Miguel's dad admit he and his bro have severed ties totally, one wonders if having all these sticky family issues in his face benefits Cotto two weeks before his big bout.

Source: http://www.thesweetscience.com/boxing-article/7366/tss-searching-clues-cotto-pacquiao/

Manny Pacquiao is like Bruce Lee

Many readers have commented on the upcoming Manny Pacquiao vs Miguel Cotto fight on November 14.

Among the more memorable messages is this one, from a Chinese fan: “NICE PACMAN YOUR GREAT…FROM CHINA PEOPLE..YOU LIKE BRUCE LEE HERE IN OUR PLACE….”

The comparison is interesting, because Pacquiao and Lee have at least one thing in common – both were born in the house of Sagittarius (Lee’s birthday was November 27 1940, and Pacquiao’s is December 17 1978).

At a stretch it’s worth noting that two of Pacquiao’s greatest wins have occurred within a fortnight of what would have been Lee’s birthday – his TKO win over Marco Antonio Barrera (November 15, 2003) and his third-round KO of Erik Morales (November 18, 2006). Perhaps it’s no coincidence that Pacquiao agreed to fight Cotto on November 14!

Lee was famous for his abilities as a martial arts fighter, as well as being a movie star, but it seems he tried his hand at boxing too – with great success of course.

According to Wikipedia, Lee won the 1958 Hong Kong Inter-School Boxing Championship by incorporating tactics from the martial art, Wing Chun.

Lee died at the age of 32 on May 10, 1973, more than five years before Pacquiao was born.

Source: http://blogs.timeslive.co.za/longdrop/2009/10/19/manny-pacquiao-is-like-bruce-lee/

PACQUIAO WATCH: Asia’s best guns for immortality

FILIPINO boxing sensation Manny Pacquiao is set to leave for the United States Saturday where he will resume training for his November 14 title fight against Puerto Rican Miguel Angel Cotto. Pacquiao will try to wrest Cotto’s World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight crown and annex his seventh title in as many weight divisions.

Although the emergence of a cacophony of alphabet soup titles has watered down the prestige of boxing titles, Manny’s quest for immortality takes no precedence.

No fighter has ever done it before.

In fact, no fighter who started his professional career at 106 pounds has ever invaded the featherweight ranks and took away titles along the way.

Manny is gate-crashing into a weight class that has been dominated for decades by pugilists from the Americas. For all the boxing greats that trotted the welterweight division before, none of them has ever come from Asia.

A look to the Hall of Fame of boxing, Pacquiao had already eclipsed all Asian fighters in the history of the sport.

He captured his first boxing title two weeks before his 20th birthday by stunning undefeated Thai hero Chatchai Saisakul via an eight-round knockout.

He lost his World Boxing Council flyweight title when he failed to tip the scales, eventually dropping a third round knockout loss in an ensuing non-bearing bout.

He however bounced back and shocked South African Lehlohonolo Ledwaba to capture the International Boxing Federation super bantamweight crown in the undercard of the De la Hoya-Castillo light middleweight title fight in June 2001.

Little did Pacquiao know he would fight Oscar de la Hoya as a welterweight seven years after appearing on the same boxing card.

Pacquiao however broke into international fame when he pummeled Mexican great Marco Antonio Barrera, then reigning featherweight king, into throwing the towel in eleven rounds - six fights and two years later as a small featherweight.

The rest has been history as Manny would wrest titles in the super featherweight, lightweight and super lightweight by defeating Juan Manuel Marquez, Juan Diaz and Ricky Hatton in the same order.

In his fifteen years of professional boxing, Manny fought, both figuratively and literally, bigger opponents – the most memorable of them Oscar de la Hoya whom he forced to quit on the stool after eight rounds of welterweight boxing in December last year.

Against Cotto, Manny will be fighting in just his third fight north of the 140 pound limit.

Cotto has never fought below the 135-pound limit and is a natural welterweight where he was undefeated until Antonio Margarito knocked him out in July 2008.

Not only is Cotto naturally bigger than Pacquiao, the Puerto Rican is also stronger and younger. Some are saying Cotto is already a shot after his brutal defeat from Margarito.

Whatever it is, a victory over Cotto will place Manny in the solo and enviable spot as the only fighter in the history of boxing to capture seven world titles in seven different weight categories.

Manny is a once-in-a-generation, perhaps in a lifetime, specimen of a boxer gifted with physical attributes that defy physics and demolish conventional wisdom that a good bigger fighter will defeat a smaller good fighter.

A win over Cotto will not only solidify his place in the pantheon of all-time boxing greats, it will also be a triumph of Asians in a sport that was once a fixture of American arenas and may have dated back in the early days of the gladiators.

No Asian sports lover will not celebrate his victory.

Source: http://philboxing.com/news/story-28421.html

Pacquiao abandons Baguio camp

Manny Pacquiao has uprooted his training camp in Baguio City for fear of being stranded there in the coming days owing to the fast-approaching storm that is expected to hit Northern Luzon either Tuesday or Wednesday.

Pacquiao, preparing for a Nov. 14 clash with Miguel Cotto, left Baguio City early Monday morning for Manila and was back in training mode right after noontime as he showed up at a gym in Mandaluyong owned and operated by ex-world champion Gerry Peñalosa.

Pacquiao is scheduled to leave for the US this Saturday and will make Peñalosa’s gym as the site of the remaining days of his training camp.

This afternoon, Pacquiao is booked to spar with Shawn Porter, Jose Luis Castillo and possibly against Urbano Antillon or Danny Escobar. Freddie Roach has also lined up the same cast when Pacquiao bangs bodies on Thursday and on Saturday.

The decision to leave Baguio City in haste stemmed from the possibility that Pacquiao might get stranded there in the event the storm causes massive flooding and landslides just like two weeks ago when roads were blocked going in and outside the resort city.

Roach said Pacquiao is already 75 percent condition and by the time they begin working out within the familiar confines of the Wild Card in Hollywood, the 30-year-old southpaw would be near peak-form.

Source: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/225516/pacquiao-abandons-baguio-camp

Pacquiao too illusive, if not magical, for a “Jet-weight Cotto” Pacquiao Cotto Poster

I witnessed how the Coyotes beat the Los Angeles Kings last night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles before the upbeat crowd of over 18,000. Cayotes’ victory was less tight at 6-3. Speed and illusiveness were the differential factors of the power play. Nevertheless, it has been a tumultuous off-season for the Coyotes, who have endured bankruptcy and a recent coaching change. The franchise was put under bankruptcy protection in May and coach Wayne Gretzky quit nine days before the start of the season.

Well, as I watched the game, I thought I can somehow impart to Cotto some wisdom from the hockey rink. Cotto can only focus on what he can control as much as what the Los Angeles Kings attempted to do. I think Pacquiao’s speed and illusiveness might be too much for Cotto, unless he starts using now an eye-patch alternatively to either eye during his training sessions - which, of course, neither the Cayotes nor the Los Angeles ever did - to improve his peripheral vision and to control his range and angular dimensions. That, I insist it can help him evade some whistling discharges of Pacquiao’s left and right crosses.

Of course unlike the Cayotes, Cotto does not need to deal with a surface for ice-skating or roller-skating. Not even Pacquiao.

But, Cotto, flat-footed that he is, has less chances of remarkably asserting his agility over Pacquiao’s style of a cockfighting Kelso. He lacks fast lateral movements. I suppose Cotto’s bigger face is simply an easy moving target.

In the past two weeks, I reviewed nine tapes of Cotto’s last fights. And what I can draw from all angles is that Catch-weight King Pacquiao would be too illusive, if not magical, for “Jet-weight Cotto.” I say “Jet-weight” in the sense that, like Jet-weight King Fraud Mickey May, Cotto is likely not to comply the catch-weight limit and may rather pay the penalty, if there’s any, simply to conserve his natural size and strength.

And never forget, Cotto is capable of showing ring generalship over Pacquiao but may not have enough overwhelming recompense for defense, that the latter would just shine through out of sweet science like a diamond in the making as he surges to another level and once he feels the intensity of heat and pressure in the frenzy air of the MGM Grand Arena of Las Vegas, Nevada, this November 14.

Meanwhile, I received 238 e-mails this weekend inquiring about my take on Cotto-Pacquiao fight. They asked me so because they said I have been a bit accurate of my predictions of all Pacquiao’s fights in the U.S., inclusive of his loss to Eric Morales in their first encounter on March 19, 2005.

But, hold on to your conviction. Your reliance on my suppositions might be detrimental to your betting. I am not a boxing prophet. Nor am I beholden to crystal balls’ spirit of prophecy.

Conversely, bloodless as it was told, I rather want you to check on my intimation on Pacquiao versus Hatton which was brought to light in my article dated March 14, 2009, “Hatton may just freeze this late spring!”, which Hatton indeed froze. Here’s the link of said article at Philboxing.com: http://philboxing.com/news/list.articles.php?aid=1338&id=22835.

Another article dated December 3, 2008, which highlighted about the prospect of Pacquiao’s dominating performance over De la Hoya, captured the hearts of faith: “Pacman’s Mighty Fortress, Bolstering His Aura of Invincibility”. Here’s the link: http://philboxing.com/news/list.articles.php?aid=1338&id=20444.

As for Pacquiao-Cotto fight, I believe Cotto will bleed into submission. And, it’s going to be Pacquiao by brutal knockout again!

Source: http://philboxing.com/news/story-27984.html

Pacquiao ahead of training schedule

Manny Pacquiao is surprisingly ahead of his training schedule, which is four days old, that he is now ready for sparring, the boxer’s American trainer said on Friday.

“This is our best start ever,” trainer Freddie Roach told The Bulletin on Friday after presiding over Pacquiao’s training at the Shape Up Boxing Gym at the Cooyeesan Hotel in Baguio City.

Roach is convinced that the Filipino is fit enough that he can start sparring sessions on Tuesday.

“Manny is going to be ready (to spar),” said Roach, who, in the past had to wait until 10 days or two weeks after the start of training camp before letting Pacquiao do some sparring.

Two sparmates -- unbeaten welterweight prospect Shawn Porter and lightweight star Urbano Antillon -- are arriving in the country tomorrow morning from Los Angeles and motor direct to Baguio from the airport.

While there is still seven-and-a-half weeks to go before Pacquiao faces Miguel Cotto on November 14 in Las Vegas, Roach believes they are not only right on track but a little bit ahead of schedule.

For the third straight day, Roach let Pacquiao hit the mitts for ten rounds after doing nine rounds on Tuesday, just hours after Roach landed in Manila from a 15-hour flight from Los Angeles and less than an hour after arriving in Baguio.

Pacquiao and Roach are camping out in the City of Pines possibly until the third week of October.

Meanwhile, over in Tampa, Florida, site of Cotto’s training camp, top trainer Joe Santiago expressed the belief that on fight night at the MGM Grand, the sheer size advantage of Cotto as well as his natural strength will prove to be very tough for Pacquiao to overcome.

“We have great respect for his speed and we take our hats off to what he’s done for boxing, but on the day of the fight, Miguel is going to be the stronger man in the ring,” Cotto taskmaster Joe Santiago told the Puerto Rican newspaper El Nuevo Dia.

Source: mb.com.ph

Pacman form impresses Roach

BAGUIO CITY - From the crowd that flocked around the reigning pound-for-pound king came a yell: “You can easily beat Cotto!”

Manny Pacquiao smiled, and shot back: “Oo, may shampoo naman kami. (Yes, we have shampoo, anyway).”

The response may have been an attempt at humor—reigning WBO champion Miguel Cotto’s surname sounds almost exactly like the Filipino for lice—but trainer Freddie Roach, who arrived Tuesday to begin training Pacquiao in his quest for the Puerto Rican’s welterweight crown, was impressed at how quickly his ward has whipped himself into shape.



“He was very sharp,” said Roach after watching Pacquiao for the first time since the two teamed up to successfully destroy Ricky Hatton last May 2.

“If I didn’t know better, I would think he was in the gym for a month. His combinations are fast and his power is already there. His mind-set, we’re on the same page that we know how to fight Cotto.”

The trainer arrived in Manila along with conditioning coach Alex Ariza and American bodyguard Rob Peters and headed straight to this popular vacation getaway around lunchtime.

Wearing a T-shirt with the face of national hero Jose Rizal, Roach took charge right away in Cooyeesan Hotel’s Shape-up Gym.



“Without a doubt, this is our best start,” said Roach. “He’s now in great shape and I’m fine with that.”

Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37 knockouts) will battle Cotto (34-1, 27 KOs) over 12-rounds for the Puerto Rican’s World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight crown on Nov. 14 at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas. Both combatants agreed to fight at a catch weight of 145 lb.

Pacquiao started his workout ahead of Roach’s arrival, doing road work at this city’s hilly routes and working on crunches to firm up his abdomen.

“Mahirap gawin ito, pero kailangan (It’s difficult but we need to do it),” said the boxing superstar. “Body puncher si Cotto (This is difficult but we need to do it. Cotto is a body puncher).”

“My trainers and I have devised ways to fight him,” he added.

With Roach taking over the training yesterday, the two worked on counter shots and footwork inside the ring.

This weekend, four sparring partners led by undefeated American boxer Shawn Porter are scheduled to arrive. All are capable of simulating the style of Cotto, according to Roach.

“Porter is my main guy right now. He’s 11-0 with 10 knockouts and is a light middleweight who’s got a strong left hook,” said Roach.

Meanwhile, the declaration from Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s camp that “Pretty Boy” should be declared the No. 1 boxer in the world still doesn’t hold water despite an impressive demotion of Juan Manuel Marquez over the weekend.

At least, that’s what the sport’s acknowledged bible, Ring Magazine, says.

The highly respected magazine released its pound-for-pound rankings for September and had Pacquiao still at No. 1, with Mayweather shooting up to No. 2 after his triumph over Marquez.

Last Sunday, Pacquiao said Mayweather can have the mythical pound-for-pound title because the undefeated American earned it with his latest conquest, which came after a 21-month hiatus.

“[Mayweather] can boast about being better because he has finished his job [of beating Marquez],” Pacquiao said. “I still have to finish mine and hurdle Cotto.”

Mayweather leapfrogged past Shane Mosley and Bernard Hopkins, who were third and fourth on the Ring list. Marquez slipped to fifth with the defeat.

source: inquirer.net

Roach: Pacquiao very sharp

By Dennis Principe
If Manny Pacquiao were to fight Miguel Cotto this weekend, there is no doubt in the mind of Freddie Roach the Filipino boxing sensation could still win the highly-anticipated bout. This was how Roach described Pacquiao’s conditioning as soon as the two linked up for the first time since their 2nd round demolition of Ricky Hatton last May in Las Vegas: “He was very sharp. If I didn’t know better I would think he was in the gym for a month. His combinations are fast and his power is already there. His mindset, we’re on the same page that we know how to fight Cotto,” said Roach moments after their training.


The legendary trainer arrived Tuesday morning in Manila along with conditioning coach Alex Ariza and immediately proceeded to Baguio City where they arrived just before lunchtime.

Wearing a T-shirt with the face of national hero Jose Rizal, Roach took charge right away in Cooyeesan Hotel’s Shape-up Gym.

“Without a doubt, this is our best start. He’s now in great shape and I’m fine with that,” said Roach.

The whole time they were inside the ring, Roach and Pacquiao apparently were trying to work on the fighter’s counter shots as well as his footwork.

From time to time though Roach and Pacquiao discussed about their technique by whispering at each other.

After their more than two hours of work out Roach cleared to Fightnews that training in Baguio was never an issue in their previous discussions.

“It has nothing to do with the Philippines. The only problem I have is the jetlag and going back so I want to make sure we’re going to have enough time to come back and adjust and be 100%,” said Roach.

Roach insists they have to be back in the United States at least two weeks before the fight.

“That’s the minimum and we might go straight to Las Vegas and skip Wild Card because going from one gym to another gym and another gym gets a little bit crazy,” said Roach.

This weekend four sparring partners led by American undefeated boxer Shawn Porter who are scheduled to arrive and all, according to Roach, are capable of simulating the style of Cotto.

“Porter is my main guy right now. He’s 11-0 with 10 knockouts and is a light middleweight who’s got a strong left hook,” said Roach.

Pacquiao ( 49-3-2, 37 knockouts) will battle Cotto (34-1, 27 KOs) for 12-rounds with the Puerto Rican’s World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight crown at stake on November 14 at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas. Both combatants agreed to fight at a catch weight of 145lbs.

Source: http://www.fightnews.com/?p=24019

Manny Pacquiao vs Miguel Cotto: November 14, 2009 Showdown

This week's official announcement of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto fight scheduled for November 14 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas brings with it a wave of excitement for fight fans. The diminutive Pacquiao, boxing's acknowledged pound-for-pound king, will move north in weight once again to fight Cotto, the current WBO welterweight champ, at an agreed-upon catch-weight of 145 pounds.

Over the next four months, this match-up is certain to provoke a firestorm of debate among devoted followers of the sweet science. Both men are accomplished stars who inspire great passion in their fan base, and yet they have unanswered questions hanging over them at the moment—questions that will be settled once and for all when they fight in November.
Miguel Cotto Can Cotto Keep Pace with Pacquiao?

For Cotto, those questions center on a single, harrowing fight and its after-effects— his war with Antonio Margarito in July 2008. That fight is Cotto's only loss as a professional, but what a loss it was. In an electrifying fight-of-the-year candidate, Cotto took a commanding early lead, only to get steadily chopped down by his relentless opponent. Margarito was seemingly immune to pain that night, a Mexican terminator at 147 pounds. But when Margarito was subsequently caught with illegal, hardened inserts in his hand-wraps prior to his fight with Shane Mosley this past January, the speculation immediately swirled about the savage beating he'd dished out to Cotto. Was it administered with loaded gloves? If so, how much did it take out of the Puerto Rican star, and could he ever expect to be the same?

Those questions still haunt Cotto's career more than a year later. He's had two fights since the loss to Margarito—an easy victory over Michael Jennings in February to capture the vacant WBO welterweight title, and then a June battle with the tough veteran, Joshua Clottey. Despite fighting most of the bout with a nasty gash above his left eye, Cotto found a way to eke out a split decision over Clottey. But, according to Doug Fischer, the co-editor of RingTV.com, Cotto's performance provided no conclusive answers as to whether the boxer has made it all the way back to his pre-Margarito form.

"Some folks, like myself, were impressed with the way he gutted out a close decision against a bona fide welterweight contender, with basically one eye," Fischer explains. "But there's another camp that thinks he's just not the same guy he was. He appears to them now to be a solid welterweight, but not someone who could conceivably be the welterweight champ anymore or a top-five pound-for-pound player."

HBO commentator Max Kellerman agrees that the verdict is still out on Cotto. He sees the fighter's best blueprint for beating Pacquiao in Cotto's victory over Shane Mosley in December 2007, but wonders whether Cotto has that kind of fight left in him. "The dominant question here is whether Cotto can handle Pacquiao's speed," Kellerman says. "And the good news for Cotto is that his timing was able to offset Mosley's speed, and Mosley's lightning fast. But is this the same Cotto who beat Mosley? He cuts more easily now, and he doesn't seem as quick as he once did. And in Pacquiao, he's going to have to offset a guy who at this moment is faster than Shane, and who's a southpaw, and who has just shown us that he can really punch, even at these higher weights."

There's no doubt that Pacquiao presents a frightening package to any opponent right now, but he's not without question marks himself, particularly when faced with a proven heavy-handed puncher of Cotto's size and caliber. "The question for Manny is, 'Can he take a shot from a guy who has more than respectable power as a welterweight?'" Fischer says. "Because I think Cotto has the ability to catch Pacquiao and hurt him."
"Pacquiao has looked great in his last three fights," says RingTV.com's Doug Fischer, "but he's also fought the perfect opponents, the perfect guys to make him look like a million bucks."

Of course, whether Pacquiao could handle the power of naturally bigger men has been the primary subplot heading into his three most recent fights, and each time he answered with a resounding "yes" and with increasingly spectacular emphasis. Last June, in his first fight above 130 pounds, he dominated then-WBC lightweight champ David Diaz. Six months later, he moved all the way up to 147 pounds and destroyed Oscar De La Hoya in an explosive performance that catapulted him to superstardom. Then in May, he followed up his De La Hoya masterpiece with a crushing second-round knockout of junior welterweight champ, Ricky Hatton.

It was an astonishing trio of victories that, taken as a whole, would seem to pose quite a convincing response to any doubts about Pacquiao's ability to cope with the size and pop of just about anyone. Still, doubts linger.

"Pacquiao has looked great in his last three fights," Fischer says, "but he's also fought the perfect opponents, the perfect guys to make him look like a million bucks."

Fischer is quick to qualify that statement by saying that he's felt that Pacquiao was the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world going back to around his second fight with Erik Morales in 2006. Like almost everyone in boxing, he is blown away by what Pacquiao is accomplishing in the ring right now. Nevertheless, victories over the slow, plodding Diaz, the old and weight-drained De La Hoya, and then the artless and overrated Hatton have not completely sold pundits that Pacquiao, a guy who won his first title as a flyweight, is up to the challenge of fighting an elite welterweight.

The Cotto fight should put those doubts to rest one way or the other. "If Cotto still has it, Pacquiao is going to be in there against a natural welterweight in his physical prime with a lot of pride," Kellerman says. And then we'll find things out."

Or, as Fischer puts it, "The way Pacquiao got rid of Hatton was impressive, and you have to give him credit for it, because he just blew him out of the ring. If he blows Cotto out like that, then my God…he's just a great fighter."

And Fischer is talking great as in "all-time great." Come fight night, Cotto will seek to prove that he's still among the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport today. But Pacquiao will be competing for an even heavier bounty: to stake his claim among the best pound-for-pound fighters the sport has ever known.

Source: http://manny-pacquiao-fight-vs-miguel-cotto.blogspot.com/2009/09/manny-pacquiao-vs-miguel-cotto-november.html