Cotto is Pacquiao’s Mayweather
November 1st, 2009
By Francisco Hernandez: When Manuel Pacquiao refused to fight Juan Manuel Marquez a third time, Marquez decided to chase Pacquiao into the lightweight and then the Welterweight divisions, hoping to either outshine the Pacman or shame him into a third fight.
Marquez didn’t waste time with small fights or has-been fighters, he wanted big fights that could make the most money and deliver the most prestige. In the lightweight division he challenged and knocked-out two great champions, dangerous fighters who had dominated the lightweight division: Joel Casamayor, and Juan Diaz. When Manny Pacquiao moved up to the lightweight division he challenged a club fighter named David Diaz.
All this is not to say that Manuel Pacquiao is not an excellent fighter. Despite the low level at which Oscar and Hatton had fallen, the way in which Pacquiao disposed of them was phenomenal. This is the characteristic that makes Manny Pacquiao so exciting, no one else in boxing today disposes of opponents the way Manny Pacquiao does. In his last three fights Manny has dished out severe one-way beatings.
Now Manny has chosen to fight a real risk, Miguel Cotto, just like Mayweather was a real risk for Juan Manuel Marquez. Cotto is a bigger and stronger man, who is at the top of his game. He is younger than Pacquiao and is in top physical shape. Cotto has the boxing technique needed to neutralize Manny’s speed, as he demonstrated against Judah and more emphatically against Shane Mosley. Cotto also has a granite chin. He took the punch of a Clotty who looks like a light-heavy weight. Cotto could not be knocked out by what were probably the plaster reinforced hands of Margarito.
The great Marquez took a high risk against Mayweather and although he failed to pull it off, he fought with great dignity, forcing Mayweather to fight out of a turtle shell; Mayweather was forced to rely on pot shots and was never able to mount a sustained offensive against Marquez. Marquez lost the fight because he didn’t have the power or the speed to mount an offensive himself to force Mayweather out of his turtle-shell. Now Manny is facing his own high risk in the form of Miguel Cotto. This is truly the defining fight for Manny Pacquiao whether it is in defeat or victory. In Cotto, Manny is facing the first fighter who has all the advantages over Manny. By logic, Cotto simply cannot be overcome by Manny.
Manny has been tested in three tough fights, the first fight against Eric Morales (where he was defeated) and the two fights against Juan Manuel Marquez (tie, split decision). In those fights Manny demonstrated a great heart and looked admirably even in defeat. But in those fights Manny was on level ground. Against Cotto Manny will be fighting uphill.
If Manual Pacquiao does the impossible which is to defeat Miguel Cotto, then he will have cemented his place amongst the great fighters. If Manny loses with dignity then he will not lose any of his hard won admiration. If Manny comes apart at the seams, is dismantled by Cotto, then he will have shown that he was not a fighter up for heroic tasks.
Tags: 37 Responses to “Cotto is Pacquiao’s Mayweather”
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Your quote “Marquez lost the fight because he didn’t have the power or the speed to mount an offensive himself to force Mayweather out of his turtle-shell”
my quote “Manny wins the fight because he has the power and speed to mount an offensive against Cotto.”
PS EXELENT ARTICLE ABOUT TO OF THE BEST FIGHTER OF THIS TIMES
BIG WILLY IF ANY ONE IS SITTING ON STICK ITS YOU AND I CAN TELL THAT THE ONE THAT HAS NEVER STEPED INSIDE A RING IS YOU MOST FIGHTERS ARE NOT RACIST AND MOST THAT HAVE PUBLICLY SAID RACIST COMENTS HAVE HAD TO EAT THERE WORDS ALLA MINTER TO HAGLER “NO BLACK MAN WILL TAKE MY TITLE” RIGHT BEFORE HE GOT TRASHED BY HAGLER.AND AS FOR HISPANICS IF YOU NEW ANYTHING ABOUT BOXING YOU WOULD NOW THAT HISPANIC BOXERS ARE RECOGNISED AS SOME OF THE BEST FIGHTERS OF ALL TIME PLEASE TAKE YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR ESCREMENT HOLE AND LEARN BEFORE YOU WRITE YOUR STUPID COMENTS
The secret to Freddie Roache’s prediction that Manny will KO Miguel in the first round…….Here it goes…The bell rings…The fighters meet at ring center, touches gloves…Manny says to Miguel “Look Your Shoe Laces Are Undone”…Miguel Looks…Manny throws a blinding right hook to Miguels left chin…Bang, Down & Out goes Miguel like Hatton, KO…10 seconds into round 1……
THE NEW WBO WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE WORLD & STILL THE BEST EVER POUND 4 POUND KING…Aloha
You guys always say something like this:
“If Manual Pacquiao does the impossible which is to defeat X, then he will have cemented his place amongst the great fighters”
where you replace the X with whoever Manny is about to fight next. Then when Manny wins you say this:
“Despite the low level at which X had fallen, the way in which Pacquiao disposed of them was phenomenal”
Before each fight, there is so much said about Manny’s opponent being too strong, too big, too good. Then when Manny wins, you whine and mope about how his opponents are washed up, weak, old, undisciplined, yada yada yada.
Maybe you should stop writing and get another career.
better than other columns but you forgot to say marquez fought a casamayor thats not that good overrated and a chubby juan daiz that cant even beat malagnaggi or nate campbell and they aint superstars….pacman will win this fight although if cotto wins even though i dont think he will but if he does its okay with me i’d rather see him win than an overrated mayweather and marquez
Right Eric… excuses are getting old.
Even Mayweather could not dispose the husk in ODLH and the overrated Hatton in a more elegant fashion than the Pac. And they’ll have more excuses.
Now, they are saying Cotto is too much… come November 14, they same people will come up with excuses that Cotto was weight-drained. By the way, Cotto weighed-in at 146 against Clottey. I know Cotto is gonna weigh in around 155 lbs come fight night. But it still will not matter. Whatever weight he is in… he’ll be taking a nap on the canvas before his bedtime.
hatton was not the same since maywether his punch resistance has gone clottey would get hammerd he os too slow but if he connected a ko would be sure
excuses are getting old to read, before the fight with dela hoya, they said he is too big for manny and hatton is too strong for manny. and after the fight they change excuses again. dela hoya is old and drain and hatton didn’t listen to his coach. people just admit it manny is a phenomal boxer and he is in his prime. and getting stronger.
i agree cotto too strong for manny,love manny but this might be a step too far but still should be competitive.
just watched the cotto pac man 24/7. it wet my appitite. cant wait for this fight.
there are 2 stephens. im not the one who wroye the pee joke. i will from now on call myself stephen a. im not a racist like the other stephen. peace out
Decent article, but what I don’t understand is that no one gives Pac credit for the ODLH and Hatton fights. True, ODLH was a shell of himself when he fought Pac, but how many people really gave Pac a chance in that fight? As far as Hatton goes…he’s alway, ALWAYS come in face first, and out of the 47 fights he fought, he won 45 of them going in face first. He fought exactly the same way against Mayweather, and Mayweather said this…”hatton’s the toughest fighter I’ve ever faced”. Pacquiao said this…”I’m suprised it was so easy”.
Saying any fighter is cherry picking actually annoys me. Right now manny is the guy to beat. Moseley wanted him, cotto too, and probably every other top fighter. He HAS to cherry pick, otherwise he’d be fighting twice a week trying to get through everyone.
Hatton was a good fight to take because of the money. Oscar too, and because itallowed him to reach a wider audience. Nobody expected oscar to look that bad, or hatton for that matter. And both fighters were hugely popular. You can blame him for taking the most profitable fighters, but they weren’t the easiest fights he could have taken.
Cotto will Reign Victorious!
i think that (stephen) like’s pee cuz he cant get off the pee and think befor you speak about mexican i am not mexican but i bet there alot more smarter than you are dumb kid go to school you uneduated racist
every BODY makes boxing in to a raceis topic like this JR name stephen its a sport you poor chld
know about the boxing i see marquez aint no punk he want to fight and manny cherry piks
FIGHTING HATTON WAS CHERRY-PICKING,ROACH SAW HOW A SEMI-RETIRED FIGHTER,LAZCANO,HURT HATTON BADLY ,AND KNEW HATTON COULD NOT TAKE PAC´S SPEED AND POWER.
Not bad at all. This writer didn’t go out of his way to belittle either fighter, and he gave me the impression that he was simply writing what he feels to be true. Unlike some of the people that write for this site I think this man was just writing about boxing and not writing down bs in order to get hits.
i agree 100% cotto by tko
thats why Manny had a tough fight with manuel marquez cause manny cant take the smell of his mouth “urine”
No “js”, Pacman is not the underdog on this fight, all the odds are 2-1 in Manny’s favor.
But don’t worry, this is a lie just like Manny’s on Welterweights.
Good points about Marquez being a real warrior and stepping up his ante. But the same is true for Pacquiao, regardless of what the detractors say. The Pac-haters have an easy time saying how out of shape Oscar was or over rated Hatton was, but let’s all remember that when Manny was going in to fight DLH, EVERYONE was calling it the biggest mismatch of the last decade. It was only since the blowout that people changed their tune. And yes, Hatton was over rated, but he did have the potential to damage Manny. But we ended up seeing one of the most incredibly devastating knockouts in recent memory.
There is no denying that Pacquiao is the underdog against Cotto. But isn’t this one of the characteristics that makes us respect a fighter like Pac? I really don’t understand why people are so quick to cut down boxers who have accomplished so much. Pacquiao, Marquez, Mayweather, and Cotto are some of the most exciting boxers in years. Why can’t we just appreciate what they do already??!
this is a writer that tries to write with neutral views on this fight. trying to come across diplomatic but still seems to let his self down with silly comments and obviously a cotto fan. how can this be impossible for pacquiao.?? this can go either way with both fighters. both have great potential of badly getting hurt. its boxing! nothing is impossible and anything can happen. one thing im sure of though whoever wins this fight i think will give a mayweather big trouble.
Manny is a great fighter. He comes from 106 and look where he is. He is an inspiration for many kids in Philippines. However, many boxing fans underestimate speed and boxing showed by Cotto in previous fights (Zab, Mosley, even Margarito from round 1 through 6, before the highly probable plaster gloves made effect). The boxing capability of Cotto can (and I think will)nenutralize Manny’s speed. Doing a honest comparison: Speed-Manny, Power-Cotto, Boxing-Cotto. Cotto by late KO or decision.
speed is all pac has over cotto. if pac isnt pressure, he isnt good. no way he is pressuring cotto for 12. cotto by ko in 5th.
blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
ok jmm is your man………..
My coment is simple..cotto is going to sweep the ring with manny .
These commenters/Pac fanatics don’t get it. This is actually a pro-Pacquiao piece.
Definitely this fight isn’t easy for Manny and Cotto is not a piece of cake as many Pacman’s fans believe.
The only thing Manny can do with his speed is running away from Cotto on the 24′ x 24′ ring and a early engage, as Roach says, it’s a big mistake for Manny.
The self-confidence in Roach/Manny Paquiao’s team it’s their mayor weakness for this fight. Big surprise for them and Roach throwing the towel in late rounds.
not buying it. pac man to win
david diaz club fighter lolololololololol
Francisco Hernandez is stupid,
david diaz former WBC champion,
whos manuel pacquiao
Why do people keep saying that fight Hatton was cherry picking? It’s just stupid to listen to.
Iko aka Francisikito
typo error lol
Manny not Manuel
or
Manuel not Manual actually
if you use Manuel use Emmanuel. ok
Your reasonings are flawed and pathetic. You underestimate Pacquiao’s win and provide the same trite post fight excuses for his opponents loss. These excuses are getting pretty old to read. If Pacquiao wins the next fight, I’ll bet you will say Cotto is not the same since Marg fight and shell of his old self. Give Pacquiao his due respect man. A smaller fighter willing to test against big name fighters or champions above his natural weight and appreciate what we are seeing.
After watching the 24/7 pee wee Marquez, Pacquiao made the right choice. who knows what was in his urine, Pacquiao could have caught something lethal. I would advise Pacquiao from now on not to fight any Mexicans because they are not normal. The world are now informed that all mexicans are pee drinkers.
Manual Pacquiao? who is this geezer?
not buying it. pac man to win