Pacquiao to lose by KO to Cotto, says ex-champ

Amidst the snowballing prediction of a Manny Pacquiao win over Miguel Cotto in their November 14 showdown at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, there’s a single voice bold enough to go against the current tide.

Pix courtesy of GMANews TV

Former world champion Paul Malignaggi is betting his money on a Cotto victory over Pacquiao three months before the blockbuster bout is held.

As early as last June when a meeting between Cotto and Pacquiao was still unthinkable, Malignaggi already picked the tough Puerto Rican to walk past the Filipino ring superstar considered today as the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

Now that the face-off has become a reality, the 28-year old American from Brooklyn, New York stands by his earlier choice.

“I still stand by what I said," Malignaggi said in an interview with BoxingScene a day before he takes on former three-time world champion Juan Diaz in a 12-round bout at the Toyota Center in Houston.

“I think Cotto would knock him (Pacquiao) out…..Wait until everyone gets their reality check on November 14."

Although facing a natural welterweight in Cotto for the first time, the 30-year old General Santos City native has been initially installed as a 2-1 favorite to win the bout, owing to his status as the most feared fighter in the world today and to the string of victories he had scored in the last few years that saw him annihilate the likes of Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Marco Antonio Barrera, Eric Morales, David Diaz and Juan Manuel Marquez.

But none of that would make Malignaggi change his mind and switch loyalty to Pacquiao.

For him, Cotto is just too strong for Pacquiao to topple.

“The guy hits like a beast," said the one-time International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior welterweight king.

Malignaggi is an authority when it comes to Cotto.

Both undefeated back then, the two clashed for the World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior welterweight belt in 2006 at the famed Madison Square Garden, with Malignaggi suffering a 12-round decision loss to Cotto, who sent the New York native to the canvass in the second round.

At the end of the fight, Malignaggi had a broken right cheek bone, a bleeding nose and a cut around the left eye caused by a headbutt.

He admitted that the 28-year old Cotto is so far, the best fighter he ever faced in his career.

Malignaggi saw Cotto at his best again as he was at ringside when the Puerto Rican eked out a split decision win against Ghana’s Joshua Clottey to retain his WBO welterweight belt two months ago at the Garden.

“I’ve said it that Clottey would be a tougher fight for Cotto than Pacquiao," he pointed out.

“I think if they even put Pacquiao in the ring with Clottey, Clottey would knock him out also." – GMANews.TV


The Source:
GMA News TV

It's official: Pacquiao-Cotto set for Nov. 15

MANILA, Philippines -- The contract for the Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto showdown has been -- as the age-old cliché goes -- signed, sealed and delivered.

This was confirmed by Pacquiao's lawyer Jeng Gacal, who also said Cotto will be putting his WBO welterweight title on the line when the Puerto Rican star collides with the Filipino ring icon on Nov. 14 (Nov. 15 in Manila) in Las Vegas, Nevada.

With Pacquiao-Cotto officially a title bout, the current pound-for-pound king now has a rare chance to become the first boxer in history to win seven world titles in as many divisions.

Pacquiao had previously wrested the WBC flyweight, IBF super bantamweight, Ring Magazine featherweight, WBC junior lightweight, WBC lightweight and IBO junior welterweight crowns.

In a TV interview today, Gacal said Pacquiao and Cotto will slug it out at a catch weight of 145 lbs. Cotto had earlier insisted on meeting the General Santos City-based southpaw at the welterweight limit of 147 lbs.

Regarding the splitting of the fight revenue, Gacal said Pacquiao, as expected, will get the lion’s share at 65-35. He, however, did not specify how much the guaranteed purse is for each combatant.

The Pacquiao lawyer added that the fight will be aired over GMA Network, the same broadcast firm that aired Pacquiao’s previous outings against Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton.

"This will be a great fight. Although Cotto is the much bigger and stronger fighter, Manny is faster and also has power," he said.


Source:
PhilStar

Hopkins says Pacquiao will 'bust up' Cotto

A Manny Pacquiao hater before, now a certified "Pacman" lover.

Former undisputed middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins has come out in the open and declared the Filipino boxing superstar will beat Miguel Cotto in their highly-anticipated Nov. 14 showdown in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The 44-year-old boxer from Philadelphia and a known associated of the great Oscar De La Hoya in his Golden Boy Promotions made his prediction of a Pacquiao victory during an interview on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights.

“I just like Pacquiao because Pacquiao’s proven fight after fight after fight that he can answer the call. He is the legitimate pound-for-pound fighter right now until something else happens," Hopkins said, as quoted by FightHype.com.

The fighter known as “The Executioner’" previously went against Pacquiao when the Filipino icon took on De La Hoya in 2008, saying there’s no way the “Pacman" was going to beat “Golden Boy."

But Pacquiao scored a sensational eight-round technical knockout, apparently turning Hopkins into a believer. So much so that when the pride of General Santos City penciled a showdown with Englishman Ricky Hatton, Hopkins was already on his side – and rightly so as Pacquiao destroyed Hatton inside two rounds.

Now Hopkins sees the same thing happening to the 28-year-old Cotto, a Puerto Rican who is the reigning World Boxing Organization (WBO) super-welterweight champion.

“Basically, I see Cotto busted up. I don’t think his face is gonna hold up through 12 rounds of the fight," said Hopkins.

Cotto’s stunning loss to Mexican Antonio Margarito last year and his unimpressive split decision win over Joshua Clottey of Ghana recently doesn’t augur well in his 145-pound slugfest with Pacquiao, Hopkins pointed out.

“Cotto’s game. He’s a game fighter. We all know he comes with that Puerto Rican pride. He’s coming in to try and win the fight, but I just think the Margarito fight, where he suffered punishment from round one to the end, and also the last fight he just fought, he showed grit and he showed guts and he pulled it out, and he had a nasty cut.

“Too many things working against him, not for him, and he’s fighting a guy who’s going to take advantage of all those opportunities," said Hopkins.

In contrast, everything appears going in favor of the "Pacman."

“Pacquiao is a sharp shooter. He punches in angles. He’s got Freddie Roach, who’s going to give him all of the teachings and the smarts to be able to basically give Pacquiao the edge," Hopkins said. - GMANews.TV
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The Source:
GMA News
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Cotto crown at stake in tiff vs Pacquiao

By Roy Luarca
Philippine Daily Inquirer
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THE WORLD Boxing Organization welterweight belt will be on the line when Manny Pacquiao tangles with titlist Miguel Angel Cotto on November 14 in Las Vegas.

WBO president Francisco “Paco” Valcarcel made this assurance to Michael Marley of Examiner.com Friday afternoon to assuage fears of Pacquiao fans that Cotto’s crown won’t be staked because the fight, slated at the MGM Grand, is set at a catch weight of 145 pounds and not at the regular limit of 147 pounds.

Valcarcel said he appreciated Pacquiao’s quest for a seventh weight division world title, adding that it would “be ridiculous not to dangle the WBO title” considering that a highly respected champion (Cotto) is fighting the No. 1 contender (Pacquiao).

Officially, Pacquiao has reigned as World Boxing Council super featherweight, flyweight and lightweight champion and International Boxing Federation super bantamweight titlist.

Pacquiao, the pound-for-pound king, currently holds the International Boxing Organization light welterweight crown, snatching it from British icon Ricky Hatton, whom he demolished in two rounds on May 2.

In addition, Pacquiao, who’ll be fighting at over 140 lbs for only the second time in his sterling career, has been recognized as the Ring Magazine’s featherweight, super featherweight and light welterweight champion.

In his initial foray as a welterweight, Pacquiao sent future Hall of Famer Oscar De La Hoya with an eight-round stoppage last December also at the MGM Grand.

This early, bettors have installed Pacquiao a -215 favorite and Cotto, who’s going below 147 pounds for the first time in nearly three years, a +175 underdog.

This means that a $215 bet on Pacquiao would just net $100 while a $100 wager on Cotto would generate $175.

Both Pacquiao and Cotto, who hails from Puerto Rico, are being promoted by Top Rank’s Bob Arum, assuring the 77-year-old lawyer of a windfall in gate receipts and pay per view buys of the 12-round bout dubbed “Fire Power.”
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Pacquiao wants Cotto fined for excess pounds

By NICK GIONGCO
Manila Bulletin
July 25, 2009, 7:49pm
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Manny Pacquiao wants Miguel Cotto be slapped a penalty of $1 million per pound in the event the Puerto Rican fails to make the agreed catch weight of 145 lbs for their Nov. 14 fight in Las Vegas.

Pacquiao lawyer Franklin Gacal told the Bulletin that the reigning World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight (141-to147 lbs) champion might sacrifice shelling out an exorbitant amount as long as he doesn’t starve himself to make the catch weight.

“This is precisely the reason why we have to demand a big amount,” said Gacal Saturday.

The Puerto Rican press has reported that Cotto could get as much as $10 million — the biggest of his storied career — against Pacquiao.

Reports have it that Cotto’s purse alone is $6.5 million and that the amount is expected to rise once the accounting is over with the computation of the pay-per-view and ticket sales.

Pacquiao, in contrast, is guaranteed $12 million and stands to pocket more considering that he has a 65-35 revenue split advantage over Cotto.

Demanding a stiff penalty is not new to Pacquiao as the pound-for-pound king did the same thing — albeit in a smaller amount--when he squared off with Erik Morales for the third time in Nov. 2006.

Morales succeeded in making the 130 lbs but he was so dried out and weakened by doing so that Pacquiao blew him away in less than three rounds
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WBO: Cotto can be forced to stake his belt

EVEN IF MIGUEL COTTO DOESN’T want to, he’d likely be forced to stake his World Boxing Organization welterweight belt against Manny Pacquiao on Nov. 14 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

This was the opinion of WBO president Francisco “Paco” Valcarcel, who’s batting for the megabuck bout to be a title fight.

In a talk with Dr. Allan Recto of Philboxing on Tuesday, Valcarcel noted that the first thing Pacquiao needs to do is write the WBO a letter requesting that he and Cotto fight for the title and then tell chief promoter Bob Arum to inform the WBO about it.

Together, they can pressure Cotto to stake his title even if the fight is going to be at a catch weight of 145 lb.

Valcarcel also said in a separate interview with Jose Manuel Martino of Boxeo Mundial that Cotto still would have to pay the WBO $150,000 whether or not he risks the title or not.

Valcarcel said the catch weight poses no problem to a possible title bout. Oscar De La Hoya and Bernard Hopkins also disputed the middleweight (160 lb) belt at a catch weight of 158 lb on Sept. 14, 2004.

Though Pacquiao is willing to fight Cotto even if the title is not at stake, fight fans are pushing for a title bout because if the Filipino icon wins he’d become the only boxer to win titles in seven different weight classes, including the Ring featherweight belt.

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The Source:

Philippine Daily Inquirer
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Pacquiao’s camp blames Arum for ‘no-title’ fiasco

By NICK GIONGCO
Manila Bulletin
July 31, 2009, 7:11pm
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The insistence of Miguel Cotto not to put his world title at stake when he fights Manny Pacquiao is being blamed on Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum.

Pacquiao lawyer Franklin Gacal said on Friday that Arum's hasty decision to come out with an announcement about the Pacquiao-Cotto fight scheduled Nov. 14 in Las Vegas early last week could be one of the reasons behind the insistence of Cotto to stand firm on his decision not to stake the World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight crown.

"I don't know why Bob made the announcement when in fact we haven't seen the (official) contract," said Gacal when asked about the other pertinent details of the contract.

Arum has both Pacquiao and Cotto under the promotional banner of Top Rank.

Cotto's decision not to risk the WBO 147-lb crown stems from the fact that the fight is going to be at a catch weight of 145 lbs and that during the negotiations, Team Pacquiao did not bother to raise the issue.

Cotto said he will only risk the WBO title if Pacquiao agrees to face him at 147 lbs.

"(My decision is) final and firm," Cotto told El Nuevo Dia in a story that appeared on the paper's July 31 issue. "The belt is not going to be on the line in the fight."

Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach, already panicky about the prospects of bringing Pacquiao somewhere else other than the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, was bothered when told about the development.

"The WBO should make it a title fight. We don’t need the fight if the title is not on the line," Roach told The Bulletin. "I want Manny to do this for a reason. I want Manny to win seven world titles. Titles are overrated but I would like to see Manny do this."

There's been no seven-division world champion in boxing and Roach is dead-sure Pacquiao will become the very first when he faces Cotto.

Pacquiao has won legitimate world titles at flyweight (112 lbs), super-bantam (122), super-feather (130) and lightweight (135), but was widely recognized as well when he beat Marco Antonio Barrera for the Ring magazine featherweight (126) crown and Ricky Hatton last May even if the Englishman, considered as the best in the division, held the fringe International Boxing Organization junior-welter (140) diadem.
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