LAS VEGAS — He’s a once-in-a-lifetime warrior preparing for a once-in-a-lifetime fight, hoping to leave behind a memory that will last a lifetime.
And Miguel Cotto is out to foil all that.
Manny Pacquiao, admittedly the star of boxing’s latest blockbuster, offered little guarantees outside of the one he regularly makes, simply promising to make things interesting in his bid for history.
Speaking on Wednesday at the final press conference for his Nov. 14 super bout with Puerto Rican champion Miguel Cotto at the MGM Grand here, Pacquiao refused to bite despite media’s attempts to reel him in and coax him into making bold predictions.
Pacquiao said he would just do his best to provide an entertaining match for boxing fans around the world and bring honor to a country where everything seems to stop every time he steps into the ring.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime fight,” Pacquiao said. “If I win, I’ll make history in boxing and people will remember my name for a long time.”
Pacquiao is aiming for a world crown in a seventh weight class. It is his ability to break down weight barriers that has caught the imagination of an audience that has transcended the regular sports fans.
“Manny Pacquiao means a lot to boxing,” said Top Rank chief Bob Arum, who is promoting the fight. “Remember, boxing has had a limited audience for how many years. Now look at what has happened. Everyone is interested in Manny Pacquiao, his story.
“That’s a great thing for Manny, but it’s even a greater thing for boxing,” Arum added.
No willing victim
And now, Pacquiao hopes the boxing gods will repay him for all the hard work he has put into making the sport relevant across different sectors of society.
The latest world crown Pacquiao is hoping to collect is Cotto’s WBO welterweight title.
And the Puerto Rican, the underdog, is not going to simply yield to popular demand for a Pacquiao win.
“I’m not mad at the people—whether they want me to win or not,” Cotto told reporters. “I just work to win, and that’s what is going to happen on Saturday night (Sunday morning in Manila).”
“I’ve trained a lot for this fight and I know Manny’s skill,” he added. “But we have a great game plan for the fight and it’s going to be a great night for boxing, especially for Latinos and Puerto Ricans.”
Biggest obstacle
Cotto (34-1, 27 knockouts) is the defending champion, but there was not even a murmur of objection when Arum described Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37 KOs) as the star of the show.
“In this fight, (Cotto) is not the star of the show,” Arum said. “But without him, we wouldn’t be talking about record numbers. (Cotto) is the biggest obstacle to Manny’s bid.”
And it does look like the fight card, dubbed “Firepower,” is headed for record numbers.
“From every sign that we see, we know our goal of garnering more than one million pay-per-view buys is well within sight,” said Mark Taffet, a vice president for HBO Sports, which is beaming the fight on PPV.
‘Phenomenon’
And most of these buys will be from people eager to see if the division-hopping Pacquiao can use his unmatched hand speed to counter the power that a natural welterweight like Cotto brings into a fight at the catch weight of 145 pounds.
A day after Arum described Pacquiao as a “phenomenon unfolding before our eyes,” trainer Freddie Roach added to the accolade by calling the hard-hitting southpaw a “one-off” fighter who is as rare as they come.
“People ask me, ‘When are we going to see the next Manny Pacquiao?’” Roach told The Telegraph. “We’re not, not in my lifetime, or in your lifetime going to see another Manny Pacquiao. He’s a one-off. Fighters like him don’t come around that often.”
No taunting
Roach and Cotto trainer Joe Santiago both said their fighters were in tip-top shape and—after engaging in a word war for several weeks —stuck to tame statements with but little doses of bravado in them.
“Miguel, good luck to you and to your camp and we’ll see you on Saturday,” Roach said.
“Good luck Manny; you’ll need it,” Santiago countered.
Pacquiao and Cotto were respectful of each other and neither resorted to the usual taunting that accompanies press conferences such as Wednesday’s.
In fact, when the two fighters faced off for photographers, Pacquiao failed to hold his stare and broke into laughter. Cotto tried to keep his composure but ended up with a wide smile, too.
Knockout before 12th
But there’s no mistaking it’s going to be highly competitive on Saturday night.
“We’re going to go out and try to set the pace of the fight and not give Cotto any momentum,” Roach said.
He added that he’s still predicting a knockout for his ward—“before the 12th round.”
