Former two time heavyweight champion George Foreman is picking World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Miguel Cotto to beat Manny Pacquiao this Saturday night at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada, according to Sportinglife. Foreman says “I think there would have been a good opportunity for Pacquiao to win if he faced Cotto before he fought Clottey, but now Cotto is thinking defense,” Foreman said.

What Foreman says is true. Cotto is much more defensively minded now since the fight with Clottey and won’t be easily hit by Pacquiao on Saturday night. Foreman has a good eye for boxing talent and obviously can see how Cotto has adapted since the loss to Mexican warrior Antonio Margarito last year. Foreman says “I think Cotto is going to pull out a decision, and now because of the terrible beating he took against Margarito, he knows he can’t get into a knockout drag-out brawl. He’s going to be smarter and I think Cotto in a 12 round decision.”

I totally agree with Foreman, but I think Cotto can get involved in a brawl with Pacquiao and still win without too many problems,. He has the bigger power, then tougher chin and is used to being hit by much harder punchers than little Pacquiao. Cotto stood up to Margarito’s punches for nine rounds before getting hurt in the 10th and stopped in the 11th.

Cotto also took Shane Mosley’s fast and powerful shots for 12 rounds and ended up beating him by a 12 round decision. I think Mosley hits harder than Pacquiao and is about as fast as him. Cotto has also stood up to the blazing shots from Zab Judah, and beaten him as well. Judah, when he fought Cotto, was as fast as Pacquiao. So you see, Foreman has it right, Cotto will win. I see it as a knockout, but I’m okay with Cotto beating Pacquiao by a one-sided 12 round decision. If it turns out that way, it will give Cotto more time to give Pacquiao a terrible beating and show to the boxing world who the superior fighter is.

I kind of hope it does last that long, but I can’t see it happening unless Cotto holds back with his power shots and purposely carries Pacquiao in this fight. I know Cotto won’t do that, because he’ll want to take Pacquiao out as fast as he can to prove Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s trainer, wrong. Roach has made the bold prediction that Pacquiao will knock Cotto out in the 1st round. It’s a silly prediction, and I don’t believe a word of it.

I just think that Roach needed to say something that he felt would shock Cotto and what’s more shocking than saying that he’ll be knocked out in the 1st round? Roach should have at least made himself seem more credible by picking the 5th or 6th rounds, because it’s hard to believe him when he’s making a prediction as crazy that.

It’s like saying that the diminutive Ricky Hatton has a better chin than Cotto. Does anyone believe that? If so, tell me in what fight did Cotto get knocked out in the 1st round or even hurt in the first five rounds?

SOURCE: http://www.boxingnews24.com/2009/11/foreman-picks-cotto-to-beat-pacquiao-boxing-news/

WBO champion Miguel Cotto dismisses Manny Pacquiao’s power: “If they think they have more power than Miguel Cotto, they’re wrong.”

WBO champion Miguel Cotto has dismissed claims that Manny Pacquiao will be stronger when the pair clash on November 14 in Las Vegas.

The Puerto Rican was calm and confident as he played down the threat of the Filipino superstar who is searching for his record breaking seventh world titles in seven divisions.

“He’s coming from a lower division,” said Cotto. “If they think they have more power than Miguel Cotto, they’re wrong.”

Pacquiao has demonstrated his hand speed and strength with his devastating second round knockout of Ricky Hatton in May, but Cotto maintained he is ready for whatever comes at him.

“I’m prepared for anything he can bring…I’m prepared for all that he can show me,” said Cotto whose only defeat was marred in controversy after suffering a head-butt followed by an investigation into opponent Antonio Margarito’s hand-wraps.

Cotto bounced back from the defeat, going on to outbox Britain’s Michael Jennings and win a close points decision in a hard fought battle against Joshua Clottey. As for how he will handle Pacquiao, Cotto underplayed the possibility of a KO victory.

“I never come out to knock out any fighter, but if I hit him pretty good, I’m going for it.” said the champion who has knocked out 27 of his 35 opponents.

For Cotto, success against Pac-Man would propel him to the top of the boxing pecking order and make him a household name. Despite being the underdog he remains positive he can achieve this: “I’m very confident that I’m going to come out with a victory that night.”

SOURCE: http://sport.stv.tv/boxing/135483-cotto-im-prepared-for-anything-pacquiao-can-bring/

To date, Miguel Cotto has suffered one career defeat.

Not only was it a staggering defeat, but it was perhaps one of the most brutal episodes the sport has ever seen, and depending on who you believe, it could have been prevented.

It wasn’t until Mexican warrior Antonio Margarito was caught with illegal hand wraps this January before his showdown with Shane Mosley that Team Cotto began to wonder how different things could have been in his career had this common inspection been performed in the past.

Based on the deep gashes suffered, many fight fans believe that there’s little doubt Antonio Margarito used loaded gloves to cut down his spirited opponent.

The truth will never be known, but one thing for sure, there will be no room for error when Cotto faces another fighter known to do amazing things with his power…..Filipino, Manny Pacquiao.

According to sources, Miguel Cotto Sr. has vowed to never let such an error happen again.

 Despite the fact that this handwrapping inspection wasn’t performed against either the U.K.’s Jennings or Ghanaian power puncher Joshua Clottey – (Cotto’s two opponents after the Margarito showdown) – it has been made clear that the handwrapping technique by Team Pacquiao will be scanned harder than a box of cigarettes at a corner store across from a middle school.

Such an inspection  shouldn’t be an issue, as Roach and Pacquiao are clean competitors, but one can only wonder how far the mind games will go.

The beginning of the negotiation period for this fight initiated with a series of mind games, and considering that this move comes days after Roach vowed to have Bayless watch for Cotto lowblows, it appears those tricks won’t stop until the treat itself begins when the bell rings.

Inside the lines, there will be no room for games, as the watchful eyes of veteran ref Kenny Bayless miss very little. But then again, if Freddie Roach’s prediction of a RD1 KO is true, it probably won’t matter.

With only 9 days to go….the waiting is nearly over!

SOURCE: http://www.examiner.com/x-845-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m11d5-Pacquiao-to-have-handwraps-inspected-by-Team-Cotto

LOS ANGELES — Miguel Cotto’s handlers say they will carefully scrutinize the gloves and hand wraps of Manny Pacquiao before their World Boxing Organization welterweight title fight in Las Vegas.

Miguel Cotto Sr said Tuesday they blundered by not inspecting Antonio Margarito’s gloves prior to Cotto’s lone career loss in July of last year and vow never to let it happen again.

“We only commit the same error once,” said Cotto Sr. “We will never make that mistake again.”

The increased vigilance comes after Margarito was caught using “loaded wraps” in his following fight against Shane Mosley in January.

Unlike Cotto, Mosley’s trainers entered Margarito’s dressing room prior to the fight. There they noticed that a damp hard white powder had been placed in between the rows of wrapping and tape before Margarito put his gloves on for the fight.

It has never been proven that Margarito cheated by using a plaster of Paris type substance for the Cotto fight but suspicions are strong, especially in Cotto’s camp and that’s the reason for the stepped up inspections of opponents’ gloves and wraps.

Cotto, of Puerto Rico, senses he has the public support on this one.

“A loss is a loss. Nobody knows for sure if he uses it with me, or not, just Margarito and his team,” said Cotto, after a 90 minute workout at the Pound4Pound Gym in Beverly Hills Tuesday. “But it makes me feel better (about the loss). Boxing fans are knowledgeable. They are the judges.”

A classic boxer in the true sense of the word, Cotto is 34-1 with 27 knockouts.

Cotto bristled Tuesday at suggestions by Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach that the first loss is one of the toughest for a previously unbeaten fighter to recover from.

Cotto denied that the loss to Margarito had any negative effect on his confidence in the ring.

“Why don’t you ask Manny that question because he has had three losses I have just one,” Cotto said.

“My commitment is with myself. In my last fight (Joshua Clottey) I could have stopped the fight (cuts) but I decided to stay in the ring because of my commitment to myself and my family.”

“Sometimes when you lose you win. Since Margarito great things have come to my career.

“Where is Margarito right now and where is Miguel Cotto?”

Said Cotto Sr, “We have worked a lot with his mind and staying focused. Mentally he is a strong guy.”

Roach is predicting that the November 14 fight at the MGM hotel and casino won’t go the distance and that the favoured Pacquiao will knock Cotto out capture his seventh title in seven different weight classes.

“This is the problem,” Cotto said. “Freddie Roach is not the guy who is going to climb into the ring. If he prepares Manny for just nine rounds then he has three more rounds.

“He (Roach) can say whatever he wants. One day he says the first round and the next day he says round seven. I’m preparing for 12 rounds and nobody is going to know what will happen until the night of the 14th.”

Cotto said he is focusing on this 145-pound bout and doesn’t listen to talk about Pacquiao (49-3-2, 27 KOs) possibly fighting Floyd Mayweather in a mega title fight if he beats Cotto.

“He can fight Mayweather as many times as he wants after I beat him,” Cotto said.

Cotto respects Pacquiao for the way he has come from modest roots in the Philippines to become a world class boxer who is revered by Filipinos at home and abroad.

“He has earned everything he has,” Cotto said. “Manny looked good against Oscar De La Hoya and (Ricky) Hatton. But I’m not Oscar or Hatton. Manny chose the right time to fight Oscar.”

Cotto is looking forward to wrapping up training camp, heading to Las Vegas next week and says this is the biggest fight of his life.

“It is the most important fight of my career, but we’ll have to see on the 14th if he is the toughest guy I have fought in my career,” Cotto said.

SOURCE: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gPegqXbN7vAT8F8pghDHoDuCp4Mw