There certainly is a lot at stake when Manny Pacquiao goes for the win against Miguel Cotto, the reigning World Boxing Organization welterweight king and the pride of Puerto Rico this coming Sunday (Nov. 15, Manila time) at the plush MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
For one, Pacquiao has never lost a boxing fight in the last four and a half years.
He has won big fights against Erik Morales, David Diaz, Marco Antonio Barrera, Oscar “Golden Boy” Dela Hoya and most recently, against Briton champion Ricky Hatton. And these are no pushover opponents. They were blockbuster opponents, whom Pacquiao pummeled like punching bags on top of the ring.
Pacquiao could also be the first boxer ever in the sport’s rich history to win seven world titles in seven different weight classes should he be able to beat Cotto on Sunday, dubbed “Firepower”.
Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach already predicted recently that his prized ward could knock out Cotto as early as the first round considering the superb condition he has attained through the close to 150 rounds of sparring and serious pre-fight training he has gone through.
But Cotto, in interviews, refused to be intimidated.
In fact, he said, he is determined to prove that Pacquiao picked the wrong opponent at the wrong time because he himself, is completely focused and is determined to upend the Filipino world champion’s dreams of a historic seventh world championship.
To me, all these pre-fight talks could do only one of two things for Pacquiao—motivate him to go hard and go all the way into scoring a KO win against Cotto and bag the WBO welter crown or, get de-focused and engage in a word war that would get him nowhere in the end.
Bottom line? Get into the real fight.
Media people love the sidelights and the pre-fight talkies because these could obviously offer spice and drama to the world championship fight. Plus, controversies that may arise when they talk sell like hot potatoes, too!
So here’s my two-cent’s worth of advice to Manny Pacquiao—fight like the old “Pac-Man” that Mexican fighters dread so much and make the Filipinos proud once more! Mabuhay ka Manny!