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With the talk of Manny Pacquiao running for Congress in 2010 and the possibility that his next fight may very well be his last, the way I view his proposed bout against Puerto Rico's Miguel Cotto take sa new spin.
I for one am a big advocate for Pacquiao vs. Cotto because I truly believe that fight will be a blockbuster and an action-packed affair. But with the talks of Pacquiao walking away from the game getting more and more serious, I'm starting to have mixed feelings regarding a bout with Cotto.
Cotto is a great fighter don't get me wrong but if this will truly be Pacquiao's last fight, to me there's really only two names he can choose from. Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Juan Manuel Marquez.
As good as Cotto is and the potential of this match-up to be one of the best in recent memory, the drama and storyline just doesn't seem right for Pacquiao to go against Cotto for his last fight. If it was his second to the last fight, that's fine, but careers like Pacquiao, especially the fact that he has the choice to do so, are meant to end with a ****.
Honestly, I don't believe this is truly his last bout but I don't know that for sure. So just to be on the safe side, I'm leaning away from my instinct and taking Pacquiao's words for what it's worth. In that sense, I just can't really picture Cotto to be Pacquiao's dance partner in the end. The excitement is just not there the way it would be if he went up against his old nemesis and the guy he took the throne from. What's Cotto's sell? A bigger and younger fighter from Puerto Rico? Not quite as enticing especially since Cotto's loss to Margarito still lingers on a lot of fight fans' memory.
Think about the recent NBA Finals. This past playoffs was arguably one of the best in history with epic battles such as the Bulls vs Celtics, Rockets vs. Lakers, Celtics vs Magic and out of worldly performances by LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. It however ended in somewhat an anti-climactic fashion when the Orlando Magic defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers and advanced against the Lakers. The Lakers dispatched the Magic in 5 games and won the NBA title but the match-up the world wanted to see was either LeBron vs. Kobe in the Finals or a rematch of last years classic match-up between the Celtics and the Lakers. The Celtics lost their best player Kevin Garnett to injury however which left LeBron's Cavs as the fan favorites. Last year's MVP against this year's MVP. The best team in the East during the regular season against the best team in the west. Granted, the Cavaliers weren't good enough in the playoffs to get past the Magic, but the difference in boxing is, if LeBron was a boxer, he didn't have to go through Dwight Howard, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen or Joe Johnson at all, the promoters have the power to cut to the chase and simply match-up LeBron against Kobe for the dream fight fans have been clamoring for. The Lakers' victory was great and the Magic deserved to be in the Finals but the real icing on the cake for this playoffs was seeng the Cavs against the Lakers in the end.
Cotto gives you the same feeling when you found out the Lakers will be facing Orlando. He's a good and worthy opponent but he just doesn't stir up the same excitement. Fans want LeBron and the Cavs against Kobe and the Lakers. Take your pick, Kobe can be Floyd and Pacquiao can be LeBron or vice versa. The battle between two kings. Or you can take a page from last years NBA Finals when the Lakers met their old nemesis Celtics in what was one of the most viewed NBA Finals series in history. Juan Manuel Marquez plays that perfect Celtics or Lakers rival to Pacquiao. Their battles have been legendary without a clear-cut answer as to who really is the better fighter.
I apologize to those of you who do not follow basketball or the NBA as you might be scratching your heads right now thinking "what the heck is he talking about". Every hero needs an arch-enemy. Batman has Joker the way Spiderman has Venom, Federer has Nadal and Lance Armstrong with cancer. Pacquiao actually has the privilege to choose between two to end his career with. That's not to say that finishing his career against Cotto would diminish what he has accomplished in the ring but fighting Floyd or Marquez would be a nice bonus. Truth be told Cotto in my opinion will be Pacquiao's biggest challenge to date. But Cotto just does not bring that same drama and extra motivation the way Floyd and JuanMa does. Cotto will be a great test of Pacquiao's greatness, but for his last bout, even the greatest test falls a tad short in capping one of the greatest careers in boxing history in the best possible way.
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