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The main questions around the Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto fights are whether this is a step too far weight-wise for the amazing Filipino and whether Cotto’s struggle with Clottey is a sign of too many hard fights catching up on him.
In his last three fights Pacquiao has beaten David Diaz, Oscar de La Hoya and Ricky Hatton, which looks good on paper. However, Diaz was, at best, a pretty ordinary lightweight champion, De La Hoya was a 35-year-old shadow of the guy he once was and Hatton’s wide-open attacking style was made for
Manny. To my mind Manny has not faced a real challenge since beating Juan Manuel Marquez in 2008. On the plus side, in all three more recent fights Manny showed the hand speed, mobility and power that have become his trademark.
Miguel looked unbeatable until the Antonio Margarito fight, and has not seemed to be quite the force he was since then, although against the tough Clottey he showed a lot more boxing smarts than he had in previous fights and produced a strong finish to win the fight.
If it ends early then it has to be Pacquiao and to win this one Miguel, who does not have the best defence in the world or the soundest chin, will have to survive some tough early going and avoid any facial damage, so that his strength can become a factor in the later rounds. For me Miguel can do this and come away with a points win or a late stoppage. So it will be Puerto Rico’s night.