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clottey wasted too much energy tryimg to get cotto dq'd, he should have been trying to win the fight, but that wasnt proving too easy as cotto was outboxing him, so he resorted to trying to win easy, and gladly the ref was having none of it. Iseem to recall the ref literally dragging clottey off the floor after his ridiculous play acting wore thin.

i make cotto marginal favourite over pacquaio because he is very good, and will also be easily the biggest man pacman has ever faced. pacman will be outweighed by nearly 20 lbs on fight night.

clottey was likely injured and rather than getting on with the fight, wanted to let everyone know it. because cotto has fans, and everyone loves the winner, clottey wasn't really injured, he was pretending or exaggerating.

neither were impressive and you'd think neither would deserve a shot at pac after looking like that. in fact, if cotto and pac didn't have the same promoter who wants to keep it in house, if cotto didn't look so vulnerable, the fight would probably never even be considered for a moment.

let's face it, there are bigger attractions and better champions out there than miguel "leaky stamina" cotto.

Autobarn wrote:clottey was likely injured

LOL - don't backtrack.

J wrote:Cotto is not the same fighter who fought mosely imo.

I agree, i thought he looked on the slide against Clottey, slow and ponderous and nothing near to the young sharp shooting combination puncher he was in the 140 division.

Its difficult to predict this fight because of that. But on the other hand, De La Hoya and Hatton never landed a punch on Pacquio, so the question still remains, can he take the power of a true welterweight?

Interesting match up... up until the Clottey fight i would have tipped Cotto with confidence, but i was so unimpressed with his work in that fight that i think Pacquio can get to him with his razor sharp, accurate punching. But can he do enough to keep Cotto off him, because if he cant, he could be in serious trouble.

No predection from me, i'm just going to sit back, enjoy it for the great match up that it is, and see what happens on the night!

im saying pacman is the genuine fave, size diff is minimal and cotto does have a suspect chin i thinl manny can take advantage

I really don't get why people say Cotto's performance over Clottey was basically crap. Clottey was and still is all wrong for Cotto. He has a great defence, a good chin and a very energetic engine. It had 12 rounds wrote all over. And yes, it was obvious that Cotto's got a stamina problem, so again, that was another tick in Clottey's favour.

A lot of us went for Clottey late KO, me included. And when he suffered that horrendous cut in the 3rd it looked like he would lose. But he rallied and took it to Clottey. At times it looked like Clottey had the stamina problem (I will never know why he didn't push on at the end of round 9). It was there for the taking - perhaps he thought he had done enough. Just for the record I had it to Cotto by a single point, and would've had no problems with Clottey being given the nod.

The thing that baffles me is that Clottey's a world champion (if the IBF didn't stupidly strip him), and Cotto fought him with one eye. Quite literally. In sparring I have been cut to 1/10th of the cut sustained by Cotto and I'll tell you now, it's not easy. I sparred 4 rounds with a decently sized cut on my eye, with a headguard on, and by the end I felt dizzy with the small amount of blood lost. Imagine being Cotto - blood was spurting out of him. It was amazing that Cotto managed to make it through 9 rounds with that - that for me makes it an amazing performance. It the cut hadn't of happened, the I feel Cotto would've won by a margin of 117-111 of something close to it.

And Autobarn. I like and respect you, but come on, Cotto pushed Clottey to the floor in round 5, got up, limped for a bit, then started fighting the exact way he had fought before he fell to the ground. For you to say that that incident cost Clottey the fight is laughable. Cotto had a real injury but kept on task - if Clottey got irreparably affected by that, then he's the single most weak-minded sole on the planet. One ahead of DG.

I don't mean to sound rude, but Clottey come on to Cotto after that 5th round. To me that's not a mental lapse. And Clottey did try to get Cotto DQ'ed throughout the fight. I think it was the 12th round when the referee hauled Clottey's arse off the canvas for playacting.

So just to reiterate, I thought Cotto showed everything vs Clottey. Yes, it's a given he will tire, and it's fair to say he's an 8 round fighter, but in the Clottey fight, he showed adversity, plenty of heart, skill, a bit of power, and the most important thing, he didn't collapse later on - in fact he won 3 of the last 4 rounds to take the fight. For someone with naff stamina against someone with a good engine, that's a pretty mean feat. It's also obvious that the cut hampered Cotto big time. Most of the shots Clottey landed were because Cotto's left hand kept wiping blood out of his eye and that created openings. It's also hard to see the right hand coming when you can't see out your left eye.

I think Cotto smokes Pacquiao, and early.

Right, I am being honest here. I'm going for a Cotto KO, and quite early.

Now, against de la Hoya I predicted the same, and against Hatton, I thought Hatton would get to him late. If Pacquaio does pull this off then I would've been proved wrong by him, and proved wrong big, three times in a row. To me, that's what defines a great fighter - to do what people don't expect, in a good way.

Has anyone been wrong about a prediction 2/3/4 or more times in a row when he's been fighting?

I suppose Tom Glover is another one.

I thought he would lose his last three, he didn't.

Go...

Got it wrong the first time, the Hatton fight I predicted an early KO win for Pac this time I'm going for a Cotto KO win.

Martin Gethin:

Siddique
Fewkes

if pac man wants to be p4p best he should fight cotto at 147 pac mans last 3 wins havent impressed me that much, diaz was the worst lighweight champ hatton was overated and de la hoya was weight drained. he should do what mayweather did and fight the best at there weight like he did with de la hoya who wasnt in his prime but had all the physical advantages in this fight

dioufy..did you actually think hatton would KO Pac ??

i think Cotto will win this one by the way...i also thought ODH would beat him

Pacman 9 cuts.

I do think Pacquiao will win but it will be a tough gruelling fight I see a late Pac KO when Cotto tires

Pacman win KO late on

diggler wrote:if pac man wants to be p4p best he should fight cotto at 147 pac mans last 3 wins havent impressed me that much, diaz was the worst lighweight champ hatton was overated and de la hoya was weight drained. he should do what mayweather did and fight the best at there weight like he did with de la hoya who wasnt in his prime but had all the physical advantages in this fight

the best at their weight?? when?

dont see Cotto, Margarito or Mosley on his resume, He's been dodging the best at 147 for years. Pacs resume is far superior imo.

oh and i got the de la hoya fight wrong but not the hatton one, Predicted a ko. I predict Cotto's work to the body will be too much for Pacquiao. KO 8

sweetscience wrote:dioufy..did you actually think hatton would KO Pac ??

Yeah, I did. Pacquiao been KO'ed to the body twice before - body-shots are Hatton's forte. I was wrong though.

pac either pts or late.

too fast and awkward for miguel.

i don't rule cotto out though.

cos of his own skills and power.

really looking forward to this one.

proper fight.

I'm going for Cotto, but not sure whether that's because that's who I would like to win, or believe should win based on the old adage about good little and big ones, or whether I really believe he's going to win.

Surely Pacquaio cannot move all the way to welter, against a proper welterweight at or at least near his prime, and win.......

From a mate in PR:

There is some controversy surrounding this fight. You guys know that Cotto's title will not be on the line and it was part of the contract. Cotto told that if the fight is not in the 147 pnds, were he won the title he wont put it on the line. apparently manny is asking now for the title to be on the line but Cotto wont agree to it unless the fight is at 147. Valcarcel, WBO president, is making preasure for the title to be on the line too (money move). Cotto said in the newspaper today that he wont risk it unless it is at 147 and that he will forfeit the title with no regret. He also said that this fight means more than the titles. Also he will start light work next week.

I am going with Cotto in this one. I am not convinced that Manny can take a punch from a fully feldged Welter banger like Miguel. I seem to remember that a Jab from Hatton troubled Manny a bit in the first round of their fight, and Manny even mentioned in the post fight interview that he 'could feel that Hatton was a big puncher.

Ricky and Oscar rarely connected so he is unproven in the whiskers department above 135 and I am pretty sure neither of those two have as big a dig as Cotto. I think Cotto will get the Stoppage late in the fight.

The danger for Cotto comes early on against Manny, same as Judah's speed and firepower gave him a hard time early doors. Pacman is powerful and fast and Cotto's defense has always been wide open through the middle with his head a stationary target. No doubt early on Manny's speed will be clear to see, and these will be the most perilous times for Miguel.

But if he gets through the early rounds then his strength will really show itself. I don't care who disagrees, but i saw Manny being troubled by Hatton's strength before Manny landed that fight finisher. Manny has been greatly flattered by that result. He'll no question find Cotto's strength a major problem.

Cotto gets past 4 rounds without shipping a load of punishment and he'll win this fight by a stoppage. Question is how much can Manny get at Cotto during the early rounds?