Pacquiao thinks Cotto will beat Trout; could fight him next year

By Boxing News - 11/20/2012 - Comments

Image: Pacquiao thinks Cotto will beat Trout; could fight him next yearBy Chris Williams: Manny Pacquiao said today during his telephone conference call that he sees former three division world champion Miguel Cotto (37-3, 30 KO’s) defeating WBA World junior middleweight champion Austin Trout (25-0, 14 KO’s) in their fight on December 1st.

More interesting than that, Pacquiao says he could wind up fighting Cotto next year. For that to happen, however, Cotto will definitely need to beat Trout because it’ll look silly if Pacquiao fights another guy coming off of a loss. Pacquiao fought Joshua Clottey in 2010 after Clottey had been beaten in his previous fight against Cotto. Unfortunately, I can still see Pacquiao fighting Cotto even if Cotto loses to Trout. That would be two straight losses for Cotto if he gets beaten by Trout, as Cotto lost to Floyd Mayweather Jr. by a 12 round unanimous decision last May. But I can still see Cotto getting a fight with Pacquiao next year simply because it would make money.

I imagine Cotto would be more agreeable to a catchweight fight with Pacquiao if he loses to Trout, because it’s not as if Cotto would be in a position of power after a loss to Trout. Cotto might even have to fight at 147 to get a fight with Pacquiao under those circumstances, although I doubt that Top Rank would want to try and push for that because Cotto would surely say no.

Trout is a tough fighter and I won’t be surprised at all if he beats Cotto on December 1st. He’s a lot younger than Cotto and he’s a pure boxer. Cotto will struggle with Trout if he can’t take him out, because he’s not going to be able to out-box him. Trout rarely loses rounds, and I don’t see that changing in this fight. If Cotto can get him out of there early then he’ll win, but if not Trout will win a decision.



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