Will Cotto go southpaw? Will Pac come out fast? Has Cotto's cut healed?

These are just some of the many questions going into this superb fight. At the weigh in which I did not see live, some people I know said Cotto looked gaunt in days leading up to the weigh in, and looked a bit skinny At the weigh in. When I saw the weigh in on ESPN news...I thought Cotto looked good. We will find out if the effects of making 145 lbs will have hurt Cotto though. Miranda looked good for the Abraham rematch, and he ran out of gas early.

Pac looked good to me also, but some of my peeps said Pac looked soft looking body wise, or not cut like he usually is. I thought both fighters looked ripped and ready.

I won't take long to give my prediction, but this is how the fight goes imo.

Pac comes out fast giving angles and feinting alot, but not punching hard yet. PAc will do what we call 'spidering' his opponent meaning he will put both hands up at times to see how Cotto reacts. Spidering is another word for feinting-arms up, arms spread.

Cotto starts out moving to his left. I think Cotto goes southpaw as early as round 1. Cotto is a converted southpaw, and he did well against Judah, and other southpaws. Cotto has never dealt with a fighter as fast as Manny though.

Manny will come out looking to react to what Cotto does in the feel out round. Once Pac sees that he has a clear speed advantage, he will start to attack. Cotto will stalk Pac, but not aggressively yet...but when he gets PAc cornered, he will let go of those body shots. Pac will raise his hands, and say, didn't hurt, and come forward looking to retaliate like he always does.

Cotto will use the hard jab early and often. Pac will lean to the right and left circling before throwing the hard "gain your respect" shots. Once PAc has felt Cotto out, he will then proceed to go after Cotto, even fighting on the inside at times, and throwing his own body shots, throwing the right hook to the body. Cotto will try to counter Manny's aggression by throwing the jab overtime each time Pac gets aggressive. If Cotto gets caught early, it is over imo. If Cotto withstands PAc's early assault until round 5, he will have turned PAc flat footed, which means he only has to worry about Pac leaning left and right and throwing odd angled shots that he landed on JMM in the rematch.

I think that PAc is prepared for anything, and that he will only have to look out for Cotto's left hook and his jab. Cotto has too much to worry about imo. Pac now has a right hook that works well when guys come after him, and Pac can either left-right you, or straight left-right hook you which imo is his bread and butter. Pac may even try the uppercut with either hand since Cotto holds his guard high and wide with the chin down at times not seeing his opponent.

Cotto has done well against southpaws, but Corley did hurt him with the right hook which Manny will throw to the body, and then the head. Pac can be hit with the straight left, the jab, and the right hook as Morales showed us when he went southpaw, but can Pac be hurt is the question. JMM wobbled Cotto with the right hook in their rematch in round 2, so Cotto can try that also-which I know he will, but imo Pac will be expecting it.

In the end, PAc will have either cut Cotto early in the fight badly, or he will have caught Cotto with a shot and then finished him...or Cotto will have gotten past the early rounds, and can now use his great boxing to his advantage for the mid to late rounds. Cotto's only chance is box smartly, jab, and go southpaw and get the fight past 5-6 rounds because Manny is a 'will o the wisp' fighter, and once he times Cotto imo PAc will start to clip Cotto, and end it before 7 rounds.

Does Cotto have a chance? Yes he does though imo it is a slim chance because two arms are always better than one imo, and Cotto lacks a right hand to gain Manny's respect.

Manny will win by tko in 7 rounds or less!

 

Can anyone post who's on the undercard. Peace...