Boxing News – Cotto-Pacquiao Bout Looking Good; Roach Upset With Kotelnik

By Boxing News - 06/18/2009 - Comments

By Jim Dower: The perspective bout between WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto and Filipino star Manny Pacquiao is looking more and more like a reality as Manny’s promoter Bob Arum informed the media on Wednesday that he had a good meeting with Cotto’s management representatives recently, and will be looking to get things ironed out to make an announcement soon.

Arum is hoping to get up a fight between Cotto, 28, and Pacquiao on November 28. As of now, there would be a few things that might get in the way of arranging the fight specifically Pacquiao and his trainer Freddie Roach’s desire for the bout to take place at a catch weight.

In the past, Cotto has had no desire to meet Pacquiao at anything less than 147, but it seems that Roach and Pacquiao are adamant about the fight taking place at a lighter weight than 147, despite the fact that Pacquiao fought Oscar De La Hoya at 147 and fought remarkably well.

Besides the weight issue, Cotto has a bad cut over his left eye and that will need to heal before the fight. As bad as the scar is, it would take a miracle for it to hold up in training camp for a bout against Pacquiao in just five months. Cotto fought passively at times against Joshua Clottey, moving a great deal in some of the rounds to avoid getting hit with right hands.

If the cut reopens in a fight with Pacquiao, Cotto might as well give up and surrender because he would have little chance to beat the quicker Filipino star with only one good eye working for him. This is a win-win situation for Pacquiao and his promoter Bob Arum, because Cotto looked less than impressive against Clottey, and doesn’t seem to be the same fighter he was before his loss last year to Antonio Margarito.

Some boxing experts are saying that this is the reason why Pacquiao has suddenly shown interest in fighting Cotto rather than say Shane Mosley or Floyd Mayweather Jr. Mosley despite being beaten by a close decision by Cotto pre-Margarito, looks to be fighting at a higher level than Cotto is right now since Miguel was beaten by Margarito.

Pacquiao will get a good payday by fighting Cotto without the risk of being beaten like he would against Mosley and Mayweather. Those two would be very tough opponents for Pacquiao right now unless they came in at a very low catch weight.

Roach Angered by Kotelnik Cancellation

Amir Khan’s trainer Freddie Roach, who is also the trainer of Manny Pacquiao, is reportedly angry with the cancellation by World Boxing Association light welterweight champion Andriy Kotelnik, who pulled out of his scheduled June 27th bout with Khan because of a tooth infection. Roach had this to say about the cancellation: “I am really pissed off. So disappointed it’s not true. Really. It’s just bullshit.”

Roach went on to say that Kotelnik is going to “get knocked out” by Khan, and that the tooth problem for Kotelnik should be the least of his concerns. The bout has since been rescheduled for July 18th, with the fight now taking place at the M.E.N. Arena instead of the O2 Arena, because entertainer Michael Jackson will be performing on that date at the O2.



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