By Mark Vester
With less than two weeks to go, WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto is getting a mountain of support from his countrymen, experts and other fighters. Cotto defends his title against pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao on November 14 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
"Miguel has all the tools to beat Pacquiao. Manny throws a lot of punches, but when he does that, he leaves himself wide open for counters, and that's Miguel's style of fighting," said WBO super bantamweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez to Primera Hora.
Juanma did point out that if Cotto gets tired like he did against Joshua Clottey back in June, he could be in for some problems.
"In his last fight, Cotto was a bit tired at the end and because Manny throws a lot of punches, that could make Michael tired. And if that happens, he will have problems," Juanma said.
Former champion Carlos Quintana, was demolished by Cotto in December of 2007. He told the paper that Cotto is too big and too strong for Pacquiao.
"Miguel is a welterweight with a lot of power and fast hands. Miguel has to make his fight. I don't think Pacquiao will exchange punches with Cotto, who will win either by decision or knockout," said Quintana.
Former junior middleweight king Ronald "Winky" Wright told Primera Hora that he is confident that Cotto will beat Pacquiao.
"If Cotto stays disciplined as he usually is, and goes to the body, he will beat Pacquiao. Cotto has a good defense to avoid Pacquiao's punches. A good defense wins fights. Cotto put on a boxing clinic against Antonio Margarito until he gradually wore out. But, we'll never know if Margarito had something in his handwraps," Wright said.
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