By Rick Reeno
Back in June, a few days before Miguel Cotto would step in the ring at Madison Square garden to defend his WBO welterweight title against Joshua Clottey, I spoke with Paulie Malignaggi about the possible maneuvering by Top Rank to match Cotto with Manny Pacquiao. Three years ago, also in Madison Square Garden, Malignaggi lost a twelve round decision to Cotto, and took a vicious beating along the way. Back in June, Malignaggi refused to believe Top Rank's possible plan to place Pacquiao in the same ring with Cotto. He quickly picked Cotto as the winner and said he was too physically big and too strong.
"The guy hits like a beast," Malignaggi said to BoxingScene.com.
The fight with Clottey came and went. Cotto won a close decision but he also struggled. I've had plenty of debates with people in the industry who follow the belief that Cotto is still feeling the physical sting from his TKO loss to Antonio Margarito from last July. For most of the Clottey fight, Cotto had to deal with a very serious cut above his left eye. Was the cut above his eye the main culprit for his struggles in the fight - or were his struggles linked to the Margarito sting? That question is the big debate among the industry thinkers.
Now the fight is done deal and Pacquiao will challenge Cotto on November 14 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
A few days ago, I asked Malignaggi the same question - who do you pick - Pacquiao or Cotto? I was curious to see if Malignaggi changed his mind after watching Cotto's performance against Clottey.
He did not.
Malignaggi stands firm that Cotto is too big and too strong.
"I told you before the Clottey fight that Clottey would be a tougher fight [for Cotto] than Pacquiao. I think Cotto will knock him out and I think if they put Pacquiao in the ring with Clottey - Clottey would knock him out also. I still stand by what I said," Malignaggi said. "Wait until everyone gets their reality check on November 14."
