Now if it can only live up to the hype.
View full size Lori Schepler / Associated Press View full size Lori Schepler / Associated Press Miguel Cotto has the tools to win on Saturday, but he will have to be on his game from the opening bell. Manny Pacquiao, the pride of the Philippines, and ‘World Boxing Organization welterweight champ Miguel Cotto, Puerto Rico’s favorite son, get together Saturday night in Las Vegas for what is expected to be the fight of the year.
Of course, we have heard that before so many times, but this one does shape up as a truly intriguing match. Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37 KOs), a champion in six divisions, brings his fearless style into another bout against a bigger, supposedly stronger, fighter. Cotto (34-1, 27 KOs), a three-time champion, boasts the methodical punching prowess to wear out most opponents.
“Cotto is a bigger guy and a hard puncher,” said Pacquiao during a conference call. “It is a challenge. I always believe in my power.”
Cotto, whose loss was to Antonio Margarito on an 11th-round TKO in July 2008, sees this as his defining moment.
“This is what Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler and Wilfredo Benitez did for years,” said Cotto. “They all fought against the best, the way I am doing.”
Cotto definitely has the tools to win. But he will have to be on his game from the opening bell because the “PacMan” will be slugging from the outset.
Obviously, Cotto can’t get caught or give away too many early rounds. Getting into the middle of the fight looks to set him up for landing his best shots, Pacquiao frustrated at not putting him away.
Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s gregarious trainer, does not see it that way at all. He’s predicting a knockout.
“Manny is a carrier of the incurable M1P1 Virus — PacMan Fever,” said Roach. “It has a short incubation period. Once Cotto is exposed to it, the prognosis is not good. He’ll be cooked, laid out in nine rounds. Even Louis Pasteur couldn’t create a vaccine to protect Cotto from this.”
With Floyd Mayweather Jr. waiting in the wings for the winner and a mega-payday, the stakes are what they should be in a prize fight.
The televised undercard includes middleweight Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (40-0-1, 30 KOs), son of the Mexican legend, against Troy Rowland (25-2, 7 KOs); Daniel Santos (33-2-1, 23 KOs) defending his WBA super welterweight title against Yuri Foreman (27-0, 8 KOs); and welterweight Jesus Soto-Karass (24-3-3, 16 KOs) against Alfonso Gomez (20-4-2, 10 KOs). It will cost $54.95 at 9 p.m. View full size Warren Little / Laureus via Getty Images View full size Warren Little / Laureus via Getty Images Marvin Hagler.
Results: Great Britain’s David Haye (23-1, 21 KOs) is the new WBA heavyweight champion after scoring a majority decision against giant Nikolay Valuev (50-2, 34 KOs) during a pedestrian 12-round match in Nuremberg, Germany. Haye won by two scores of 116-112, with the other judge scoring it even, 114-114. . . . Chad Dawson (29-0, 17 KOs) retained his IBO light heavyweight title with a unanimous decision against Glen Johnson (49-13-2, 33 KOs) by scores of 117-111 and 115-113 twice. . . . On the same card in Hartford, Conn., Alfredo Angula (17-1, 14 KOs) stopped Harry Joe Yorgey (22-1-1, 10 KOs) on a third-round knockout to win the vacant WBO junior middleweight title. . . . Cleveland lightweight Yuandale Evans improved to 4-0 with a four-round unanimous decision against Jason Rorie (5-4-2) in Camp Lejeune, N.C., on Nov. 4. Evans was this year’s Cleveland Golden Gloves champion at 132 pounds.
OAC news: The Ohio Athletic Commission will not hold its monthly meeting today because of Veterans Day. It will be held Nov. 18 at the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation, 4800 E. 131 St., in Garfield Heights at 10 a.m.
History: Marvin Hagler decisioned Roberto Duran over 15 rounds in Las Vegas to retain the middleweight title on Nov. 10, 1983.
Amateur news: Cleveland’s Zeddie Adams lost his international dual bout against Great Britain’s Scott Cardle on Oct. 30 in Des Moines, Iowa. The bout was tied on the computer scoring system, but Cardle was awarded the match when it went to the backup scorecards.
