Manny Pacquiao vs Miguel Cotto Fight Preview
Top Welterweight Fighters to Battle in the Ring
Aug 19, 2009
Manny Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37KOs) and Miguel Cotto (34-1, 27 KOs) will clash for what is arguably the biggest prizefight of the fall. Contracted at a catchweight of 145 pounds, the fight promises action, technique, and drama that is worthy of an HBO Pay-Per-View card.
With his loss to Antonio Margarito and a bloody, hard fought split-decision victory over the rock hard Joshua Clottey, Cotto is no longer regarded as a dominant welterweight, but that hardly makes him a pushover. Especially since Pacquiao is fighting above 140 for only the second time in his career, and, this time, against an opponent in Cotto (28) who has plenty of gas left in the tank.
Whether or not the drubbing Cotto took at the hands of Margarito (one must assume Margarito's wraps weren't soaked in plaster of paris for the Cotto fight, since the commission signed off on them) has made him a lesser fighter than he once was is a debatable question and one that will be answered by how well he reacts to the fleet-footed, fast-fisted Pacquiao (30). With the exception of his TKO win over Michael Jennings in February, victory hasn't come easy for Cotto since his battering of Contender alumn, Alfonso Gomez in April 2008.
Pacquiao, on the other hand is riding an enviable wave of momentum. In his last six fights, against Erik Morales, Jorge Solis, Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez, David Diaz, Oscar de la Hoya, and Ricky Hatton, the "Pacman" boasts victories over three first ballot hall of famers in Morales, Barrera, and De La Hoya, with two of those victories, over Morales and De La Hoya, by knockout.
Manny Pacquiao is now a Boxer Puncher and No Longer a Brawler
Freddie Roach, it seems, has trained Pacquiao's tendency to rush in behind a double jab and straight right out of him. Now more judicious in his offense, Pacquiao can throw his left as a lead then roll under in either direction to avoid counters, flick a right jab and uncork a roundhouse left (which is how he knocked Hatton out cold), or any number of combinations. The key, though, is that he doesn't stand and brawl, he punches and moves.
Cotto used the same type of strategy against Margarito and was successful for most of the fight. The problem he had with Margarito was that the Tijuana Tornado's return fire was so heavy that the few punches he landed were enough to break Cotto down. While Pacquiao is an excellent puncher, one shouldn't expect his punches to have the same effect on Cotto that Margarito's did.
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