Tungod, Inabanga, Bohol, Philippines – The historic bout is only days away… anxiety continues to build up… and the year’s most anticipated pugilistic faceoff hangs in suspense. Filipino pride and boxing’s most valuable commodity Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37 KOs) will try to improve his already very imposing resume, as he trades mitts with arguably his toughest opponent to date in Puerto Rico’s very own Miguel Angel “Junito” Cotto (34-1-0, 27 KOs). Regardless of the fact that this epic showdown has always been, or at least for the most part, business-driven, and neither primarily due to what the fans yearn for, nor by the combatants’ desire to eliminate all possible challenges on their way to boxing’s throne of supremacy, this fight, I should say, is definitely going to be worth every penny.
Every boxing fan craves for the best matchups. We all want the world’s finest fighters to challenge each other for domination and earn the distinction of being the top dog of this era. Luckily for us, blood thirsty fight fans, this is exactly what both Pacquiao and Cotto are doing this Saturday night (Sunday morning Philippine time) at the MGM Grand of Las Vegas, Nevada.
Pacquiao is eyeing his 7th World Championship belt in as many weight divisions – an unprecedented feat that would certainly cement his already cemented status in the annals of boxing. Cotto, on the other hand, will try to totally erase the stigma of his controversial loss to Antonio “Loaded Hands” Margarito. Both fighters have so much to lose in defeat, but so much more to gain in victory. With a great deal of attention put forth for this titanic clash, the eventual winner will definitely boost his stock exponentially.
Cotto has earlier suggested his willingness to give Pacquiao a rematch in the event that the latter loses. Although Pacquiao, for his part, hasn’t publicly declared (at least to my knowledge) his willingness to do the same, a revenue of this magnitude is hardly something that the businessman in Pacquiao would even care to think twice. If the fight turns out to be very competitive and action-packed, as we all expect it would, we might be looking at yet another trilogy involving Pacquiao. Having both fighters under the same promotional umbrella, Top Rank Incorporated’s chief honcho Bob Arum would most certainly want to stage the rematch instead of a possible hookup with Mayweather, with whom Arum has been at odds, not to mention the divided profit he would generate if Golden Boy Promotions would co-promote it.
Furthermore, when this happens, GBP will be left with no other choice, but to stage their own super fight – Mayweather vs Mosley! We all want this fight sooner than later. Mosley is not getting any younger and this might very well be the only chance we will ever see Mayweather fairly challenged, size-wise, speed-wise and skill-wise… but then again, that’s another story.
There are actually just two sure winners if things turn out as they’re expected. One is Bob Arum and the other one is you, my fellow fight fan. Uncle Bob runs away with all the moolah and fight fans gorge themselves up with a sumptuous buffet of great matchups that more than satisfies their superfluous pugilistic appetite.
Comments are highly appreciated. You can post them below or email them to [email protected]
