Roach: "WBO Will Sanction Pacquiao-Cotto Regardless"

[Osirus022]

we rather take the word of professionals than a fool like u

lol ahi Va BoriKua lol

[Dave Rado]

Its easy to understand as its within the WW range and is a legit WW fight the title should be on the line , its not unprecedented It was always this way , if a WC lost a fight below the division weight limit that he is WC of he lost his title , when the title was not on the line the catch weight was always above the limit not below it , this fight is a legal WW fight no matter what way you spin it , in that the title will be on the line or Cotto will be stripped of it , how can you have a situation where a WC gets beat inside his weight class and he still holds the title ,,,,,,, they wont let that happen .

There is no Welterweight range, there is only an upper limit, and that limit is 147lb, not 145lb. You can weigh anything you like at the weigh-in as long as it's no more than 147lb - Henry Armstrong only weighed 133lb when he won the Welterweight title. So there is no range.

By specifying a lower upper limit than 147lb, it becomes a catchweight fight.

The WBO rules are that the upper limit for a championship fight at Welterweight should be 147lb, not 145lb.

All previous title fights that were catchweight fights, were only title fights because the defending champion agreed to put his title on the line. There have also been catchweight bouts where a title holder didn't agree to that and no title was on the line.

It would be completely unprecedented for a sanctioning body to force a champion to put his title on the line in a catchweight fight. If you know of an example of where that's happened, I'd like to hear it.

If Pac doesn't think he can beat the top Welterweights unless they come down below the Welterweight limit, how can he legitimately call himself the World Champion at Welterweight? That makes no sense. Cotto is right to take a stand, IMO. Just because other fighters have set a bad precedent in the past doesn't mean everyone else has to follow it.

And I don't see anything in the WBO's rules that would allow them to force Cotto to defend his title if it's a catchweight fight. And no sanctioning body has ever done that in the past.

[lcheezy]

i agree with freddie roach but the one thing that i don't agree with is the outcome of the fight. i know cotto is going to whoop manny. manny is not powerful enough to hurt cotto. clottey and margacheato with or without the plaster cast hits way harder than pac. pac just can't hurt cotto,period.

[oc9979]

No, see as Valcarcel stated yesteday (its on endi.com) the other option on the table is for Cotto to vacate the title and then for the vacated title to be put on the line for the fight but only if Pac wins. If Pac loses then the title remains vacated seeing as Cotto did not pay the sanctioning fees for the WBO. This way Cotto is not forced to budge from his stated stance while Pac is given the opportunity to win an historic seventh belt. This also helps Arum in his promotion of the fight. Its kind of a win-win-win compromise. And while it may seem weird that Cotto will not come away from the title should he win, I dont believe he cares either way: he comes away with a tremendous win and amazing leverage to fight Mosley, PBF, Berto, or whomever. And of course Cotto gets to keep that 3% that would otherwise go to the WBO.

but by doing these the WBO would come out as they manipulate the rating just to have it their ways and make money.

[Osirus022]

I'm getting so sick of hearing about this fight I could puke. Seriously. Why can't we just focus on a fight that's already done like Mayweather-Marquez? I know it may not be as crowd pleasing to some people. But at least it's between two guys that want to fight and not waste our time.

Co-Sign!!! That shows you who has more BALLS in the sport!!!

[Osirus022]

yes while holding up the wbo belt...

LoL yea u gave it the last touch right there!!

[m00ks]

So the WBO CAN do wtf they want, per my interpretation of their regulations and Mr Pinky's information. I still can't believe people are whining about 1 ****ing pound when Pacquiao isn't even a legitimate welterweight. He's doing this not only for money but for boxing fans and to make history and all poeple can do is whine and complain about a catchweight that STILL favors Cotto.

[Osirus022]

It is inevitable, an insult to common sense.

Q: is 147 lbs. a welterweight?
A: YES

Q: is 145 lbs. a welterweight?
A: YES - and anyone who says NO lacks something.

Q: is there a rule that you have to weigh 147 max to defend a ww title?
A: NO - And Cotto even defended it recently weighing only 146 officially.

Q: do contracting parties set up official weights for a fight?
A: NO - And 141 to 147 is the official welterweight LIMIT or boundaries regardless of being a title fight or not.

All these controversies all boils down to money.

You just blasted yourself on the last Q&A, 141-147 no matter how u weigh, BUT at ur own potential, not signing a contract where you cannot come above to the WW limit when its IN the weightclass

[ThunderWolf]

...it would be completely unprecedented for a sanctioning body to force a champion to put his title on the line in a catchweight fight. If you know of an example of where that's happened, I'd like to hear it...

You forget the Pac is rated WBO no.1 welterweight challenger and therefore this fight becomes a mandatory defense. Therefore a title defense is automatic as long as it stays within the welterweight limit. The sanctioning bodies makes the rules and decides on it, not the boxers. That may be irritating but it`s the real world. As in the Sugar Ray Leonard-Lalonde fight.

[street bully]

Hey Bully, your signature is funny as hell NAPO and RIPPER simply owned themselves...

They are more funny than anything else.