Pacquiao to fight Cotto-Margarito winner next year?

By Boxing News - 12/06/2010 - Comments

Image: Pacquiao to fight Cotto-Margarito winner next year?By Chris Williams: Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is talking about matching his number #1 fighter Manny Pacquiao up against the winner of the Miguel Cotto vs. Antonio Margarito rematch bout next year, according to examiner.com. I can’t think of a worse idea than seeing Pacquiao face Cotto or Margarito again. Pacquiao already soundly beat both of those fighters and even though it will have been a year or more by the time he would be fighting one of them again that would be too soon for me.

I can understand why Arum would want to put Pacquiao back in with the winner of the Cotto-Margarito fight, because they, after all, are part of his Top Rank stable. But as far as giving boxing fans a competitive fight, I think a rematch between Pacquiao and Cotto or Margarito would be a terrible idea. Pacquiao easily beat both Cotto and Margarito to the point where there was no reason to think that the outcome would be different in a rematch. I do like the idea of Cotto and Margarito fighting again, because their fight in 2008 was an exciting one, unlike the Pacquiao-Margarito and Pacquiao-Cotto fights.

A fight between Margarito and Cotto would be a good gauge to see how much they have left in the tank. Cotto looked horrible in his loss to Pacquiao and looked bad at times against fellow Top Rank stablemate Yuri Foreman in June. I’d like to see if Margarito can beat Cotto for a second time and quiet some of the critics that think he didn’t beat Cotto fairly. In the same token, I want to see if Cotto can beat Margarito this time and not fall apart from the pressure. Cotto looked on the verge of quitting in his win over Joshua Clottey, and he looked even worse against Pacquiao. If Cotto has anything left, he should be able to beat Margarito in a rematch.

As for Pacquiao facing the winner of Margarito-Cotto, I think that is an awful idea. It’s bad enough that Pacquiao has been matched against Clottey and Margarito recently. Now he’s fighting 39-year-old Shane Mosley. That’s a nice mismatch. Mosley looks totally shot now. Pacquiao will then go from beating up Mosley to fighting Cotto or Margarito again in another mismatch. Oh, I’m sure Pacquiao’s loyal fans will enjoy seeing him fight Cotto or Margarito again, but I don’t know how normal fans will feel about it.



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