Pacquiao vs. Cotto: The Stronger Weakness will prevail
November 10th, 2009
By Jemique Harris: The highly anticipated match up between Manny Pacquiao is here and boxing fans are on edge. The vaunted gauntlet has been thrown down and now we will finally witness the aftermath. Pacquiao is a freak of nature who fights with the ferocity of the brush fire, exploding violently at the blink of an eye. Cotto, is the patient predator who relentlessly stalks and corners his prey only to be pound it into submission. Pacquiao is trying to achieve a record 7 belts in 7 weight classes, something that has eluded the all time greats.
In my analysis of the fight, instead of concentrating on each fighter’s strong points, I will focus each fighter’s weakness since I believe the weaknesses will determine who will be helped off the canvas.
Pacquiao’s weaknesses include: Marching forward with out providing angles, standing straight up with little head movement and holding his guard high leaving his ribs exposed. (result) Cotto throws a series of jabs (which will be picked off by Pacquiao) but gets Cotto into prime positon to throw thundering left hooks/uppercuts to the body negating the speed of Pacquiao.
Pacquiao likes to thump his gloves together after he gets hit and charges in as if to say “let’s get it on!” (result) Cotto agrees and hits Pacquiao with a barrage of head and body shots that crumble the rambunctious Filipino warrior.
Pacquiao has limited boxing skills and relies too much on his straight left (result) Cotto times pacquiao leaping in to throw a straight left and catches Pacquiao coming in with a left hook or straight right ending the fight. Or Cotto figures Pacquiao out that Pacquiao’s best defense his his offense and begins to break him down in the middle stages of the fight.
Now let’s move on to Cotto ahd his weaknesses.
Cotto’s weaknesses include: starting off strong but fading in the later rounds (result) Pacquiao weathers the storm of the first 5 rounds and punishes Cotto in the latter half of the fight with blistering straight lefts and right hooks to the head.
Cotto has developed scar tissue above his left eye. (result) whether the result of a headbutt or punch Paquiao, can target the cut and force the fight to be stopped on points or make Cotto uncomfortable enough to throw his game plan out the window.
Cotto is not fighting in Madison Square Garden and both fighters have the same promoter. (result) Pacquiao has a great chance to win if he stays busy in the latter rounds provided he is still around and in the fight (no home cooking in vegas for Cotto)
Cotto tends to fight “flat footed” in order to generate power in his punches. (result) Pacquiao pot shots Cotto and frustrates him and makes it a long night for Cotto.
In the end, I believe that Although Pacquiao is indeed a freak of nature who can carry his speed and power into the higher weight classes, Pacquiao lacks the boxing skills, size and defense to keep Cotto at bay for 12 rounds. The flip side of that is Cotto will underestimate Pacquiao’s sustained energy/speed and power. Cotto is not hard to hit and may possibly go on to lose on points. Both have the tools to win but which ever fighter exposes the other’s weakness will prevail. On a side note, if the fight is a barn-burner and highly competitive, expect an immediate rematch which will keep Bob Arum unaware that we are in a recession.
Tags: 23 Responses to “Pacquiao vs. Cotto: The Stronger Weakness will prevail”
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mmmm.. pacquiao 7 belts, 7 divisions, Cotto was good but Pacquaio was great. Complete domination from the mighty filipino. I think it’s time that Pacquiao get what he deserves and the credit that is owed to him. I think alot of critics and non-believers have finally seen what this Pride of the Phillippines could really do. Awesome!!
I dont agree with what you said that Pac has limited skills. Have you seen all of his fights? Even before Barrera fight he has skills. And its quite funny that all of Cotto’s weakness you said are just a little things that only a kid concerns to. Please improve your boxing analysis.
Good article. Some good points in there.
Cotto to win.
I don’t know about your observations but your’e referring to the old Pacman, his style from 2007 going back to 2001. This champ is a different beast. He’s well rounded now. This guy is like a pinball, he keeps you guessing now. Very unpredictable and hits like a heavyweight. I don’t see Cotto beating this guy unless he body slams him or keeps hitting him below the belt. Just stating the facts man.
BOTH BOXERS ARE IN GOOD SHAPE TRAINED HARD,LETS JUST WAIT AND SEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!IM EXCITED!!!!!GOODLUCK FOR BOTH OF THEM
Pacquiao will WIN! If you’re not down with that I got two words for you! SUCK IT!
I’m so tired of this people keep saying pacman is small and weak, if i can remember the same thing was told when he fought DLH,all you so called boxing expert saying he’s too small for DLH. when he fought hatton, hatton is too strong. and at the end he prevails. DLH become past his prime, hatton is overratted, once manny wins this fight they will come up with another excuse that cotto never recover from the beating of margarito. COME ON SO CALLED BOXING EXPERT. give manny some credits!!
Ayos ka mac 3c!!! Ha ha. Galeng. Manny’s
speed + Power + mind + heart = win as usual
Basag ang mukha ni cotto sa 4th round. then mga bandang 7-9 rounds mamamatay si cotto..ganun lang kasimple, ginagawa niyong technical masyado eh..
i thought this was a very good article. Its just like freddie roach said. that he will focus more on the habbits of the fighter. Good Article.
In every Pacman fight everybody hypes how he is smaller, weaker, and what not. But in the end he turns the table around on them. I guess it’s good for Cotto to think he is stronger and will beat up Pacman, coz that would open up his defenses and the Pacman will again do what he does best. KTF him out like that. So yeah I agree with everyone saying his got weaknesses and then we’ll see come Saturday what happens again..
Does anybody know if this fight is being shown in Germany?
i look for miguel to be able to stand up to manny’s punches..manny will finally discover how hard a true welterweight hits!!
good article. i agree. pacquiao has the speed advantage that everyone talks about but cotto is a smart fighter and has the size and heart of a warrior(both do). i think cotto is going to try and make pacquiao tire himself out. this isnt going to be de la hoya and pacquiao over again like people think. was i the only one who saw de la hoya not throwing crap at manny? cotto WILL pressure manny and throw. pacquiao is going to have to rely on cotto getting tired or landing that lucky punch
seems to me that pacquaio has bigger weakness.
Cant wait for this one, Pacmans got the speed, Cottos got the strength, Both have power, Both certainly have the strengths and weaknesses.
I seem to get my fair share of predictions wrong but i dont think Pacmans been tested at this weight, DLH wasnt in shape to test him, Hatton never even got to hit him. But thats all hes faced at these weights. Ive seen him knocked down and out by much much softer punchers than Cotto. And ive seen Cotto take huge punishment from bigger hitters than Pacman and still be standing and pretty much winning.
I just dont think Pacmans guna be able to do enough damage to Cotto to stop him getting through to him, and when he gets through a few times Pacmans guna be real hurting and knocked out.
But like i say i keep gettin predictions wrong and id quite like Pacman to do something against a big man like Cotto.
Jemique nice unbiased article. I agree with your take on the respective weaknesses of Cotto and Pac Man. Although, I can’t say for sure that Cotto gets tired at the end of fights. Did he not finish the Clottey fight in decent condition even though he carried a nasty gash for most of the fight?
What i am seeing is that the fight will be KO/TKO in favor Pacman. It will be liked DeLa Hoya versus PacMan. The strategy will be the same to wear cotto out on that game. it will bet between 7 to 9.
Well see on Saturday who will be the weakling guy
I know I suck in writing…. but spell check your article first before posting.
“Pacquiao vs. Cotto: The Stonger Weakness will prevail”
“Stonger”… is that even a word?
WHy will Cotto get tired? The same reason why Wiley Coyote never caught the road-runner, his feet move too fast. I like the article for the most part. I disagree with your analysis of Pac’s weaknesses. You say he doesn’t attack at angles, yet most people who pick Pac say that his speed AND ANGLES will play a part in his victory. You also said he has no head movement, but if you listen to the commentary for his last two fights, they were complimenting Pac’s head movement and how it was especially hard for DLH to time. Other than that, solid article.
Why people say that cotto get tired at the end, WHY??? That only happend to cotto in two fights, Margarito and Clottey, Oh What a coincidence, Two guys that are like a concrete wall, two guys that nobody have an easy time with. You get it??? Cotto does not get tired and with pac less, because pac is not a concrete wall. morales, marquez hit pac and shake him a few times, imagine what cotto will do. Best of luck to both figher but i think the better fighter will win and that is Cotto.
Cotto (W) pac (L)