By Ted Sares – Prediction: I see Pac Man beating Miguel Cotto in a fast paced action fight in which Manny will exploit Cotto’s weakness beginning in the mid rounds (but I don’t see it happening the other way around). This exploitation will be enhanced by Pacquiao’s incredibly fast in-and-out movement accompanied by just about every punch in the manual– and each thrown with malice aforethought—as he cuts and befuddles Cotto and starts to slow down his trademark stalk as he lands punches from every direction.
Now then, I clearly remember Cotto backing up in the late rounds against Clotty and I think I even might have seen glimpses of “Margorito” being somewhere in that ring. If Cotto backs up against Pacquiao (and I think he will at some point), the Filipino superman will be on him fast and will not let him off the hook. Of course, if Pac back up against Cotto going into the late rounds, that could spell doom for him, because Cotto is a stalker extraordinaire and who knows how to close off a ring and knows how to close a fight..
In sum, given his superb performance against Ricky Hatton and given Miguel’s not-so-superb performance against Clotty, Manny may well win within the distance, perhaps on cuts. Cotto will not like the overwhelming variety of weapons he faces including stinging jabs, right hooks to the head, left hooks to the jaw, brutal uppercuts (remember Margorito), speed, and in-and-out movement the likes of which he has never before seen. Miguel, on the other hand, will show Manny nothing new except strength and maybe one of the best body attacks in boxing. But speed will be the decisive factor here and speed is what Manny Pacquiao is all about.
One thing is certain; this will be a blood and guts type of affair
Outcome
This was another great stoppage as Manny continues his claim as an All Time Great. Taking the crowd out of the fight in the third round with the first of two knockdowns, he went on to perpetrate a beat down on Miguel Cotto using his great speed and superb foot movement. After a good start by a speedy Cotto, Pac Man showed that two hands are always better than one as he used both with malice aforethought landing punches from all angles and landing punches that his opponent could not see coming. Surprisingly, Cotto rarely landed his vaunted left hook and when he did land punches including some solid uppercuts, they had little if any impact on the Filipino superman.
Cotto began losing snap in his punches in the fifth round and from that point forward, the writing was on the wall. Manny’s crunching shots broke up Cotto’s face, and as the fight entered the last two rounds, Referee Tony Weeks appeared to be looking for an opportunity to stop the fight. He finally found it midway in the last stanza.
A superb performance by Manny Pacquiao. Now let’s get Floyd Mayweather Jr. in there and have the fight that the fans deserve.