LOS ANGELES, California – Buoyed by the recent lopsided victory of Goliath over David, backers of World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior welterweight champion Miguel Cotto (34-1, 27 KOs) have egged the 28-year-old native of Caguas, Puerto Rico to adopt the strategy employed by Team Mayweather Jr. when he squares off against boxing’s best boxer pound-for-pound Manny Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37 KOs) on November 14 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Cotto will stake his belt when he collides with the 30-year-old Filipino reigning International Boxing Organization (IBO) light welterweight king in a “catch” weight: 144 pounds.
Since he appears to be slightly physically superior being a natural 147-pounder, some of Cotto’s backers thought he could overwhelm Pacquiao by using his size to buttress his force and ring prowess.
Analysts believed Floyd Mayweather Jr. was “too heavy” for hitherto lightweight campaigner Juan Manuel Marquez to handle, not to mention Mayweather’s natural talent and skills perfectly tailored for the welterweight class.
Cotto, however, will not be the first fighter to have breached the 140-pound level that Pacquiao will face.
In December last year, the four-time world titlist in four different weight divisions, brought down the biggest Goliath in fight business – Oscar De La Hoya – with a smashing 8th round technical knockout (TKO) win in Las Vegas.
And on May 2, this year, Pacquiao silenced the cynics when he tore to shreds in two brutal rounds another Goliath, Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton of Great Britain also in Las Vegas.
The three – De La Hoya, Hatton, and Cotto – sat comfortably for years carrying world boxing jewels in their heads above the 135-pound weight bracket where Pacquiao reigned with unmatched supremacy and ferocity at the same time as World Boxing Council (WBC) franchise holder.
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Mayweather Jr. had reported to the weighing scale “over bloated” but was prepared to pay the $600,000 penalty in his 12-round September 19 conquest of Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Mayweather has denied it was his “over” weight that tore to ribbons Marquez face even as he nearly made the gutsy “Mexicutioner” wipe the canvas with his face for good in the second stanza with a searing signature left hook.
Having survived what could have been an embarrassing trip to dreamland and stretched Mayweather to the limit, Marquez offered no excuses except to grumble that he was fighting a Goliath who outweighed him by as much as 20 pounds a day before the fight.
Marquez thought an upset win over Mayweather could bring him closer to a record fourth showdown against Pacquiao, the man he has been passionately chasing all the way from superfeatherweight to lightweight until his gallant effort was put to a screeching halt by the Mayweather Express.
Mayweather claimed there was no way for any visitor in his division to derail his comeback bid even after a 21-month layoff; he even refused to speculate on his next fight saying he is the one who is undefeated and, therefore, shouldn’t be the one to chase any marquee name.
Mayweather was referring to endorsements from matchmakers for him to next face Pacquiao, the successor of his “best boxer in the world pound-for-pound” honor.
If Pacquiao will successfully dismantle Cotto on Nov. 14, Mayweather cannot anymore avoid mentioning the Filipino’s name as his possible next opponent. After all, the Pacquiao-Cotto tussle had to be reset as originally scheduled after Mayweather’s camp sought for postponement of his fight against Marquez from July 17 to September 19.
The grapevine said both Mayweather and Pacquiao need tune-up fights against dangerous foes before the rich deal will be officially packaged in a multimillion duel in 2010.
Source: http://philboxing.com/news/story-27696.html
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