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IBO and Ring Magazine light welterweight champion Manny “Pac-Man” Pacquiao is scheduled to fight WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto on November 14 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Cotto (34-1, 27 KO), whose only “loss” came at the illegal hand-wraps of a cheating Antonio Margarito in July 2008, is a gritty and powerful fighter and he will give Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37 KOs) more than he can handle in two weeks time.
“I consider this one of the hardest fights in my boxing career,” said Pacquiao, 30, who is rated by Ring Magazine as the greatest pound-for-pound boxer in the world.
Largely because of the manner in which Pacquiao brutalized Ricky Hatton (45-2, 32 KOs) and Oscar De La Hoya (39-6, 30 KOs) in his two previous bouts, “Pac-Man” is a decided favorite to defeat Cotto, 29.
Nevertheless, Cotto is a naturally bigger man than Pacquiao and his ample speed and superior strength should prove to be very troublesome for the diminutive Filipino.
Despite Cotto’s noted advantages, last week Pacquiao curiously offered his premature opinion in regard to a potential matchup with undefeated former WBC welterweight champion Floyd “Money” Mayweather, Jr. (40-0, 25 KOs).
“I don’t think it’s going to happen,” Pacquiao said about a lucrative battle with the man www.espn.com ranked #48 on their “50 Greatest Boxers of All-Time” list. “I’m sure he doesn’t want the fight.”
Pacquiao is a spectacular talent and his blinding speed could actually neutralize Mayweather’s elusiveness in the ring.
“Boxing for him is like a business,” Pacquiao said. “(Mayweather) doesn’t care about the people around him watching. He doesn’t care if the fight is boring, as long as the fight is finished and he gets plenty of money. I want people to be happy. You have a big responsibility as a boxer.”
Pacquiao is everything that is right with the floundering sport of pugilism and there is zero dispute that he takes his “responsibility as a boxer” with the utmost seriousness.
Still, no matter what ultimately becomes of the proposed Pacquiao versus Mayweather matchup, it is unwise for “Pac Man” to overlook his fight with Cotto for even an instant.
Pacquiao’s “people” will “be happy” because their fighter is a determined and valiant warrior.
However, for Cotto, boxing is not entirely “like a business.”
From Cotto’s vantage, boxing is essentially a fight and the native of Puerto Rico certainly has shown to date that he loves to scrap.
Therefore, Pacquiao’s only “responsibility as a boxer” should be to focus all of his energy toward Cotto and not on anybody else.
The impending fight with Cotto will be “one of the hardest fights” in Pacquiao’s career as a professional prizefighter.
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