Cotto vs. Pacquiao: Manny Will be fighting a war with a popgun

By Manuel Perez: It’s always interesting to me to see a fighter that has gone soft from having faced mediocre opposition. They get this smug look on their face as if they’re invincible and walk around like their royalty or something. And it’s especially fun to watch them finally get put in with a good opponent and end up getting drilled, beaten up and taken out in a brutal fashion.

And that’s why I see Manny Pacquiao getting the living daylights beaten out of him on November 14th by WBA welterweight champion Miguel Cotto in their fight at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas. What we have here is a good old fashioned case of overreach on the part of Pacquiao. He’s faced an old, weight drained and badly shot Oscar De La Hoya and beaten him, and then Pacquiao has beaten Ricky Hatton, who looked as played out as an old dried up oil well at the time that Pacquiao fought him.

The wins, great money makers both of them for Pacquiao, give the impression that Pacquiao is nearly unbeatable. Yes, unbeatable alright, unbeatable against fighters that don’t have what it takes anymore. Okay, so Pacquiao is facing Cotto instead of a shot fighter.

Now we get to see Pacquiao in with a fighter that is still at the top of his game and not shot. Well, Cotto is a little diminished from his beating at the hands of the tough Mexican Antonio Margarito last year, but he’s still fighting at around 80% of what he was in the past. That should be enough for Cotto to easily get by Pacquiao. What we have here is a case of fools gold, with Pacquiao looking better than he actually is because of his wins over Hatton and De La Hoya.

Boxing fans needlessly are gushing over Pacquiao right now, praising how fast he is and this and that. He’s fast but he’s no power at welterweight. Pacquiao is only strong at the smaller weights. De La Hoya said himself that Pacquiao doesn’t punch hard. I have to believe an old champion like De La Hoya. He’s a great warrior and he’s telling it like it is. Pacquiao is fast, De La Hoya says, but he doesn’t hit hard.

So all Cotto has to worry about is landing his own big shots and don’t waste time worrying about getting hit by Pacquiao. He’s not the knockout threat that all these people are proclaiming him to be and fans will see that next month when he gets handled. Cotto is going to take Pacquiao to the wood shed and give him a terrible beating.

Pacquiao is going to be physical wreck by the time Cotto’s gets through with him. You ever seen someone that was in a bad car wreck? You know, with the bloody face, sideways nose, lips all busted up and teeth littering the car. This is how I see Pacquiao ending up by the time that Cotto gets through with him next month. Oh, it will be sad to see Pacquiao beaten so badly, but it will be good for boxing. I think it will make smaller fighters like Pacquiao think twice before moving up in weight.