Listen to any boxer about to step into the ring and you can’t help being convinced he will win. The doubts start setting in when the other boxer makes his case for why victory is certain.
So it is for the WBO welterweight title fight between champion Miguel Cotto and challenger Manny Pacquiao next Sunday morning SA time.
Pacquiao, or “Pacman”, has been gobbling up world titles and he is now going for his seventh in seven different weight divisions.
The 30-year-old is also going for a half-century of professional wins and his 28th knockout.
If his coach, Freddie Roach, is to be believed, Pacquiao will have little difficulty in knocking out the champion.
“I’ve put my money on a first-round knockout,” says Roach, even though it has been more than five years since Pacman knocked anyone out in the opening round.
But he continues: “If not the first round, then the ninth. Or the tenth.”
Among the Filipino’s recent victims have been Briton Ricky Hatton and “Golden Boy” Oscar de la Hoya. The latter scalp looks particularly good on Pacman’s CV, but most experienced boxing people will tell you that De la Hoya was already way over the hill when Pacquiao put him away.
The champion, Cotto, agrees with that. “Manny chose the right time to fight Oscar,” he says.
The 28-year-old also counters Roach’s prediction: “Freddie Roach is not the guy who is going to climb into the ring.
“I’m preparing for 12 rounds and nobody is going to know what will happen until the night.”
While Pacquiao has lost three fights already, Puerto Rican Cotto suffered his only defeat against Antonio Margarito, who has subsequently – in a fight against Shane Mosley – been caught illegally using a plaster-of-Paris- type substance between his hand wrappings. I swear, sometimes boxing is almost as shady as cricket!
The most telling information might be from observers in the Pacquiao camp who fear that the crowds attracted to training sessions by his rising superstar status, combined with the indulgent nature of trainer Roach, is seriously interfering with his preparation.
One was inspired to declare: “Pacquiao is heading for the beating of his life.”
It’s 4-10 on Pacman, 18-10 on Cotto and 25-1 on a drawn fight.
In the English Premiership, Manchester United head to Stamford Bridge for a top-of-the-table clash with Chelsea today.
Log-leaders Chelsea have looked by far the better side this term and I expect them to land odds of even money. United’s fans will no doubt climb into the 5-2 on their side, a price that is rarely available for the Red Devils. A draw is also 5-2.
