The 145-pound weight limit doesn’t seem to have affected either Miguel Cotto or Manny Pacquiao for tomorrow night’s mega fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Cotto came in at 145 on the nose, and Pacquiao weighed in one pound under the limit at 144. It’s interesting from one angle, which is that Manny Pacquiao came in at 142 when he fought Oscar de la Hoya at a full welterweight limit last December. So this is the heaviest Manny has ever been on the scales.

We’ll have more tonight and tomorrow, before we go live at 9pm ET on Saturday night for live coverage, scoring and analysis of the entire HBO PPV card.

The atmosphere for the weigh-in was incredible on the webcast, and every boxing writer that is there live in Vegas said the same, whether on Twitter or whatever. The crowd tomorrow is going to be totally mad.

Jesus Soto Karass came in at 148 pounds initially, then stripped down and weighed in at 147.5 for his welterweight undercard bout with Alfonso Gomez. JSK has to lose a half-pound, which shouldn’t be any major issue. Gomez came in at 145 1/2.

Daniel Santos and Yuri Foreman both weighed in at 154 pounds for their WBA junior middleweight title fight, and Troy Rowland and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. are fighting at middleweight. Rowland weighed 159, Chavez 160. Hat tip to Ramon Aranda of 411mania.com for the weights on the Chavez-Rowland fight, as ESPN cut their webcast just before those two hit the scales.

SOURCE: http://www.badlefthook.com/2009/11/13/1156385/weights-in-miguel-cotto-at-145

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) – Manny Pacquiao, the biggest drawcard in contemporary boxing, will face the toughest challenge of his career when he takes on holder Miguel Cotto for the WBO welterweight title on Saturday.

Although Filipino Pacquiao is widely viewed as the favourite in his bid to win a seventh world title in an unprecedented seventh weight class, the scheduled 12-round bout has whet the appetite of fans and boxing insiders alike.

Renowned trainer Angelo Dundee predicts “a great, great fight” at the MGM Grand Garden Arena while former heavyweight champion George Foreman has backed the bigger and more powerful Puerto Rican to win on a split decision.

“You have a perfect blending of style in this fight,” Dundee told reporters in the build-up to Saturday’s clash. “If I ever had a fighter fighting Pacquiao, I would implement the things that Cotto brings to the table.

“Cotto is a pressure fighter and he’s going to be on Pacquiao from the get-go. He’s got a great left hook and he’s a good body puncher.

“I see a very tough distance fight, and there is going to be blood,” added Dundee, who has trained Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard and Foreman.

“Pacquiao takes it to you all the time but in this fight he is going to have to back up. He’s smart, slick, and has great hand speed, but Cotto counters those things.”

Pacquiao, regarded by many as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, has a glittering record of 49-3-2 with 37 knockouts but Foreman believes he could fall victim to complacency.

RIDING HIGH

“Pacquiao has been riding high and has beaten some of the best in the world,” Foreman said. “And it leaves you kind of complacent when you’re winning.

“Even if you don’t want it to, sometimes you can’t get up for a big fight — and that’s a plus for Cotto. I think Cotto wins in a 12-round decision.”

Cotto, who has won a world title every year since 2004, has an enviable career record of 34-1 featuring 27 knockouts.

Although Pacquiao holds a significant speed advantage over the Puerto Rican, he has great respect for Cotto’s punching power, strength and intelligence.

“This will be my toughest test as a professional boxer,” the 30-year-old southpaw said. “I know he is an excellent, smart fighter and a great world champion.

“We also know he is good in body punching so I have to counter that. I am prepared for anything Miguel Cotto has to offer. I feel like I know him like I know myself.”

While Pacquiao and Cotto have consistently expressed mutual respect for one another in the build-up to the fight, the Filipino’s trainer Freddie Roach has been typically outspoken.

“We are in great shape and I have never seen my fighter looking better,” Roach said. “Pacquiao’s a much better defensive fighter than he’s ever been.

“I respect Miguel, but he’ll get knocked out in this one. I just think Miguel Cotto’s defence isn’t good enough. He’s hittable and people that Manny can hit he knocks out.”

SOURCE: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/11/12/sports/sports-uk-boxing-pacquiao-preview.html?_r=1

LAS VEGAS— The tickets have been snapped up the moment they hit the selling booths and everyone is expecting crazy figures from pay-per-view revenues.

All because the world wants to see how a once skinny, scrawny kid who used to sleep on cardboard boxes in the street can fight his way to the ranks of the big boys, winning not only fame and riches along the way but also boxing’s most revered mythical title: Pound-for-pound king.

“We are watching a phenomenon unfold before our eyes,” Top Rank chief Bob Arum said of the one-time flyweight king who is now on the threshold of becoming the first boxer to win world titles in seven different weight categories.

“I have not, in my 45 or 46 years in boxing, seen anything like this,” Arum said. “This should have never happened.”

Arum is referring to the fact that the devastating combination of speed and power hasn’t deserted Pacquiao despite the Filipino superstar’s ascension into the heavier ranks. Pacquiao faces Miguel Cotto on Nov. 14, where he will be gunning for the Puerto Rican’s WBO welterweight crown at a catch weight of 145 pounds.

“Manny seems to be punching harder now,” Arum said. “People have been asking if he’ll lose his speed as he goes heavier, but Manny seems to be faster now.”

Arum added that while credit goes to trainer Freddie Roach, who has shaped Pacquiao to be a complete and relentless mix of ring power, the boxer should get a lot of pats in the back too.

“Manny is one of the hardest workers in boxing. I’ve never seen any athlete who trains as hard as Manny does,” said Arum.

Arum said, however, that it would be wrong to take Cotto lightly and that the Puerto Rican’s presence on the corner opposite Pacquiao on fight night is actually what makes the highlight match of the card billed as “Firepower” one of the greatest the sport has ever seen.

“It will be a great matchup not only of the year, of the decade but also in history,” Arum said. “On one hand, here’s Pacquiao, who’s going up in weight and here’s Cotto, the toughest welterweight in the world who punches hard and can take a good punch.

While Arum still gets floored with the way Pacquiao has dominated legitimate welterweights, he believes that once Cotto rocks the Filipino, the latter will be in for a jolting surprise.

Because he promotes both fighters, Arum refused to make predictions about the fight. He did, though, tell audiences what to look for the moment the bell rings and the referee unleashes both warriors in the ring.

“I think the major factor will be if Cotto will be able to reach Manny with those devastating left hooks,” Arum said. “I guarantee you if Manny gets hit, it will be the hardest he will ever have felt in his career. It will be interesting to see how Manny will handle the punch if he does get hit.”

SOURCE: http://sports.inquirer.net/breakingnews/breakingnews/view/20091111-235601/Beware-of-Cottos-left-hook-Arum-tells-Manny

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