I've thought long and hard about this fight and it's a true pick em if there ever was one. So many unknowns on both fighters parts with Pac you don't know if he can take a punch from a real WW. Were his last two fights against a drained fighter and one whose punch resistance is gone valid wins or question marks. We really don't know. With Cotto is he the same fighter before Margo? Will he learn how to fight smart(clinching and imposing size)? Will his defense improve? We don't know. With that said I think Cotto will take Pac into deep waters and drown him. Cotto isn't Oscar and he isn't Hatton he's a full fledged WW who will be 160 in the ring on fight night. Pac's best chance is to get to Cotto early because the longer the fight goes on Cotto will become more and more confident. Cotto must weather the early storm if he does this he has a great chance because as good as Pac is he's a flawed fighter and will make mistakes as the fight goes on and has shown the ability to be outboxed. I feel Cotto's jab will be the difference in this fight because his jab has power to it and it will land on Pac who's there to be hit. Cotto will start to impose his will on Pac around round 7 or so where his heavy hands will start to take there toll on Pac who's never felt that type of power before. Pac will still be game but he'll move more than he has any any other fight and using alot of energy. I also think Cotto will rough up the smaller man by fouling with a low blow or two to try and take Pac out of his game something no one has ever done before. As the championship rounds come Pac will be in deep water where the cumlative body work by Cotto will be too much and he will saved by Roach. I don't think that Pac's power will bother Cotto too much who has been hit by harder punchers although Cotto can be hurt he recovers quickly. It really is hard to pick against Pac because his confidence is at an alltime high and the wining streak he's been on. It might come back to bite me in the ass but oh well. This is a no excuses fight Pac will get full credit from me if he wins and Cotto will get the same. None of that Cotto was drained or Pac is too small bull**** and I hope others do the same. May the best man win and may we have a night of boxing to remember for the ages.
If Cotto wins is cause he was better i wont have any excuses. Whoever wins the fight deserves lots of credit but i wont think any less of whoever loses either.
I see it as a 50/50 fight. It all depends on how well Pacquiao can take Cotto's best punches. Also I seriously doubt that Pacquiao can hurt Cotto, I think if Pac wins it will be by UD. I disagree that Pacquiao's best chance is to get Cotto early, if he gets too wild Cotto is more than capable of taking advantage of Pac's openings to land his crisp accurate punches. He should fight like he did against Oscar where he was picking his spots and taking full advantage of his superior footwork.
IMO And this is as neither a fan of Mayweather or Pacquiao as you can see in my signature.... If Pacquiao wins tomororw he's above Mayweather all-time no matter if PBF and Pac eventually face and PBF wins. We have no business at all even discussing Pac winning against actualy welterweights, thats what makes him great. Never thought I'd say that.
Pac is somewhat of a front runner he is very dangerous and starts very fast early. After that he falls off a bit still good yes but can be outboxed as shown by EM and JMM. I feel Cotto's best chance is in the mid rounds where his heavier hands and size will be the order of the day. To be honest I don't think Pac will have an answer for Cotto's jab and it will bother him because it comes fast with power. Although Manny has better footwork it's not complicated basic in and out and can be figured out and timed which Cotto excels at.
Because he's that much better than everyone else and isn't as flawed like these two, he would be favored by Vegas casinos against both not to mention he's a stylistic nightmare for anyone at 147.:deal