Pacquiao versus Cotto: The Firepower Mega-fight

If you are involved in real estate business, you are very much familiar with the housing adage "location, location, location." Not surprisingly, in boxing today there is a similar tune and that is "prediction, prediction, prediction." This is the most common topic in every boxing forum and every boxing website on the Internet: Who can accurately predict the outcome of the much anticipated, mega welterweight showdown between the pound for pound king Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao and the current WBO welterweight champion Miguel Angel Cotto of Puerto Rico? Boxing fans from all over the world and of course, boxing experts (analysts, promoters, trainers, journalists, etc.) have something to say about this incredible and exciting match-up between the two best ring gladiators of the Sweet Science.

Legendary boxing trainers like Angelo Dundee and Emanuel Steward predict that Cotto's skills and power will earn him a victory over the most exciting fighter in the world in Pacquiao, while Pacman's astute trainer Freddie Roach and conditioning guru Alex Ariza boldly claim that Cotto will not last against their fighter's blinding speed and vaunted power. Many popular fighters, who either currently have a championship title or have held one in the past, like Bernard Hopkins, Mike Tyson, and Floyd Mayweather, Jr., agree with Roach and Ariza's assessment. Hopkins believes that Cotto's youthful face will be "busted up" in this fight; Mayweather states that Pacquiao "is a quick starter" and he leans toward the latter in this showdown; and Mike Tyson undoubtedly forecasts, "Pacquiao will win." There are countless predictions made by different, knowledgeable boxing experts for this championship duel and the fighters truly deserve all the accolades and recognitions because they amazingly stand out amongst all the fighters of today: two gallant warriors ready to face and destroy each other with their limitless arsenal of "Firepower."

On November 14th, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, we will witness a boxing classic unfolds before our very eyes, between the fighting pride of Puerto Rico, Miguel Angel Cotto and of the Philippines, Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao. The former (Cotto) eying to dethrone the pound for pound champion and the latter (Pacquiao) ready to defend his title as the best fighter in the planet and to cement his legacy as one of boxing greats, if not the greatest, by winning an unprecedented seventh title in seven different weight divisions. Regardless of the outcome, worldwide fans of the Sweet Science can proudly boast that they witnessed the greatest fight of all time in their generation: The Firepower Championship of Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto.

Source: http://philboxing.com/news/story-28452.html

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-Cotto 24/7

Number 1 pound-for-pound boxer in the world Manny Pacquiao will be making his third appearance in the HBO documentary series “24/7”. The Emmy Award-winning series will feature the preparations leading to the “Pacquiao vs Cotto” match this coming November 14 at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, Nevada.

The new four-episode series will debut in the US on October 24 with the remaining episodes on October 31, November 7 and the final episode will air on the eve of the fight, November 13.

“The ‘24/7' franchise provides an engaging and accurate look into the lives of boxers as they toil and sacrifice to get ready for a huge showdown in the ring,” Ross Greenburg, president of HBO Sports.

“Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto are dynamic individuals in and out of the ring, and our cameras will be there to capture all the drama prior to their fall face-off,” he added.

Manny Pacquiao was first featured in the 24/7 series when he was preparing to fight boxing legend Oscar de la Hoya whom he defeated last December 2008. His second was with Ricky Hatton whom he knocked out last May in just 2 rounds.

Source: http://philboxing.com/news/story-28278.html

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