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Cotto was beaten, and battered like never before.
Margarito went on to fight Shane Mosley and lose, not only his title but also his reputation. It was announced later that Margarito and his team would be under scrutiny for using illegal substances, while wrapping the man from Tijuana’s hands. All kinds of questions where asked regarding the Cotto win, and when I asked Cotto what he thought of the latest controversy, he answered, “he had a great night with me, every fighter knows what's happening when the hands are being wrapped, that’s it.”
No doubt, it was an epic fight.
With 2008 behind him, Cotto came back to fight for the vacant WBO title against the likeable Englishman, Micheal Jennings.
Jennings was a tough, hard working boxer who had battled through life overcoming personal tragedies, and had fought in tremendous domestic battles to win the British welterweight title, and then win the WBU crown, to justify fighting for the WBO world title.
He was a fighter and if you get a call to fight for the highest honour, what do you do? You take it, and that’s what he did. In the fight, Cotto was relentless and was too much for Jennings, taking him out in the 5th round.
Less than 4 months later, he was matched to face the “Grand master” from Accra, Ghana, Joshua Cottey. Clottey was a good fighter who, like Margarito, no one wanted to fight him. He had gone the distance with Margarito at the end of 2006, and gave Zab Judah hell, in his last outing in Vegas.
In the fight, Cotto decked Clottey in the first round with a jab, and in the 5th round, he used Clottey as a heavy bag, punching out, well worked combinations, for just over a minute. Clottey to his credit, came back in periods of the fight, finding success with fast combinations, particularly right hands, due to Cotto not being able to see, as his eye was a bloodied mess from a headbutt early on in the fight, but overall, Cotto, was too precise and controlled to win by a split decision at Madison Square Garden.
Manny Pacquiao has been fighting since 1995, and in that time, he has fought his way up the rankings, boxing his first 23 fights in the Philippines, then winning world titles at flyweight, super bantamweight, featherweight, super featherweight, lightweight, super lightweight, and when he fights Miguel Cotto, for his title, he will be fighting for the chance to become the first person to win world titles in 7 weight divisions.
Who would have thought it possible? Manny Pacquiao did.
With huge wins and epic battles over the divisions elite fighters, men like Eric Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez, Oscar De La Hoya, and Ricky Hatton, Pacquiao has made hundreds of millions of dollars, but still isn’t satisfied. When I spoke to him, he told me he wants everything!! If you read into that, it means he wants his legacy intact, a fistful of dollars more, and Miguel Cotto. I would say, at this point in his life, he will fight Cotto, then win or lose, he will retire. I interviewed him before the Ricky Hatton fight and he told me he wanted one more and he was out.
THE FIGHT.
For me, this is a tremendous match up for the fans, and I believe it will be a very tough fight for both fighters. You have the bigger man in Cotto, and his power, against the smaller, faster Pacquiao. Both have tasted defeat, and both have been down in their fights. Cotto is relentless with controlled pressure, while Pacquiao is relentless. Cotto has had no problems with southpaws, (Corley, TKO 5th, Quintana, 5th, and Judah, TKO 11th round) and Pacquiao hasn’t had many problems.
Pacquiao has been knocked out early on in his career (once to the body, and once to the head). Cotto has been knocked down a couple of times but always got up.
For Pacquiao to win this fight, he has to stay in the middle of the ring, and double up on his southpaw jab, followed by left hooks, and right hand counters. As the fight goes on, Miguel will gradually try to make himself smaller stooping in, with his back bent over, and his head hanging in. This will allow Manny to catch him with left hooks, and uppercuts at will. Cotto will use his tremendous jab, and throw his usual jab, wide left hook, followed by his signature left hook to the body, and try to take him out early. If that doesn't hit the mark, then watch for the left jab, straight right, wide left hook to the body. Meanwhile, Pacquiao isn’t going to wait around for Cotto to do his best work, so Pacquiao will throw punches from all angles, hard and fast, particularly, right hands. If you watch Cotto, when he gets stunned or hurt, he does not know how to hang on or tie up his opponents arms. He never has. Freddie Roach will have noticed this and that’s what they will be working on in the gym. I feel Cotto knows this is his hardest fight, and he will be his usual “quiet assassin” and train accordingly. Pacquiao will be in the best shape possible as he knows this is for his legacy. A few questions will be asked, and answered, but my only question is ”how much does Cotto have left inside him after the Margarito fight?”
This will be a “Trial by fire” for him. Pacquiao is peaking right now as a fighter and I'm convinced Cotto has already peaked, mid to late 2007.
This fight is a mega fight, with one man achieving a greatness that will never be equaled and another man fighting his demons of the past, and also a chance to fight for his own greatness, next year, fighting the best fighter on the planet, Floyd Mayweather Jnr.
MY PREDICTION.
PACQUIAO ON POINTS.
http://philboxing.com/news/story-28212.html