By Will Cruz: On November 14, Miguel Cotto will state his case as the best pound for pound fighter in the world. Many writers, fans, and so called “experts” have overlooked Miguel Cotto almost as fast as this fight was put together, and continue to dream about a mega fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather.
The more I think about all of the factors in the Pacman Cotto fight, the more I am convinced that on November 14, Miguel Cotto will solidify his case as best P4P fighter in the world and will derail 2 things that night; Manny Pacquiao and a Paquiao vs. Mayweather fight! Miguel Cotto is at a disadvantage in the weight issue, the money split, fighting in Vegas, and speed, subsequently the only actual boxing disadvantage, but none of this will matter when they step in the ring.
In an interesting interview by Freddie Roach recently, he claims that the Cotto/Mosley fight will be the lead in his development for a fight plan for Manny Pacquiao. His analysis is accurate in that Cotto was able to use his effective timing to neutralize Mosley. His comments carried a bit of overconfidence in my opinion and I believe that is the beginning of the end of Manny Pacquiao’s chances to defeat Miguel Cotto.
The problem with Freddie Roach’s analysis is that it isn’t complete! And they will put all their eggs In one basket. Miguel Cotto does have excellent timing, but has underrated speed, underrated defense, and an underrated ability to adjust to every style thrown in front him. It is incredible to me that Cotto is underrated in so many areas but somehow still outshines his opponents and ultimately comes out of every fight as the better fighter.
Heart is what Miguel Cotto signifies, but SKILL is what will earn him the victory against Manny Pacquiao. He will box Pacquiao beautifully in the early rounds, neutralize Pacquiao’s speed with timing, and ultimately close the distance in the ring and at that point Freddie Roach will realize he made a mistake and uncharacteristically overlooked a fighter as skilled as Miguel Cotto.
So when Miguel Cotto defeats the Pacman, once again the question will be why Mayweather won’t step up and fight the best P4P fighter in the world and as Bob Arum comically stated in Cotto’s last post fight conference, Mayweather will probably go after Ivan Calderon next.
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