Miguel Cotto gave the most simplistic, yet on the money, quote of the Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto mega hype fight the other day. Cotto was quoted as saying,” On fight night, it is going to be just Manny, Miguel Cotto and the referee inside the ring”.
Just the other day Freddie Roach was quoted as saying, “We’re gonna make him quit”. While that quote make light fires, it still comes down to Pacquiao and Cotto in the ring.
It has always been the men in the ring and the unpredictability of it’s outcome. One man may dominate and be vanished in a split second, that is why predictions are meaningless.
All one needs to do is recall former WBA beltholder Big John Tate’s defense against Mike Weaver. Tate, who many believed to be Ali’s or Holmes successor, won 14 rounds, 2 minutes and 15 seconds of his fight. Some of the Tate’s fans were so assured of victory that they were prepared to leave the arena to beat traffic. That was the exact moment that Weaver landed two devastating hooks that literally chopped Big John down like a mighty oak.
This fight could be the same. One may dominate, only to be felled by a perfectly placed bomb. Nothing is certain, especially quotes of no real importance.
In the world of sports, as in life, sometimes less is actually more. That is the reason sports, especially boxing, are contested by two combatants or teams, and not on paper.
You can write down all of a man’s strenghts and weaknesses, but you can not measure the human spirit or the will to win. Heart is sometimes what seperates a champion from an also ran. That is the case we have here when talking about Miguel Cotto and Manny Pacquiao.
They are both superb athletes, each with his own indelible skill set. But their mark on boxing has as much to do with their willingness to face adversity head on and come out victorious, as it does anything else.
Yet fans and writers alike will continue to point out each fighters flaws and strenghts in a vain attempt to convince others that they know better.
I see this as a great fight. I also saw the Pacquiao-Ricky Hatton fight as a great matchup and we know how that turned out.
Everyone is an expert, but it is usually luck that makes our picks correct. There is no crystal ball, just two brave men who have the ability to become king of the boxing world.
That is why Cotto’s quote is so great. Even Freddie Roach said it could be a quick kayo or a tough fight, because it is his educated guess. The keyword being guess.
Some quotes are said just for the sake of the media. Meanwhile, Cotto’s quote is the simpliest way to state that we should prepare for a war.
