How Might Have Pacquiao/Cotto Turned Out Had Cotto...

Yeah, but he couldn't stand up to it, could he? This is a guy that went 12 with Shane Mosley and Joshua Clottey and took tons of punches from Margo who probably had loaded gloves on. It's not the STRENGTH of Pac that's the key, its the combination of (in this order IMO) speed, accuracy and snap that makes him so much better than other fighters. According to your list of questions:
1) Cotto is one of the best (if not hardest) punchers at 147 and Pac took a ton of his shots. If someone had asked me before that fight "Who would Pac have to fight and beat to prove he can take a punch? " Cotto would have been one of the guys if not the guy. So yeah, I'm convinced.
2) Cotto has great technique and gets a lot behind his punches because of it. Clottey is more concerned with defense and counter punching and doesn't have the natural snap that Cotto does. Clottey does his damage by being so damned tough and making guys work and, as in the case of Margo, catching them when they open up if they open up really wide.
3) If Tommy Hearns had been able to withstand Hagler's assault, could he have won the fight? Come on. This is a really dumb question. You can always say that "if one guy never got hurt by anything and only focused on offense like he was in there with a heavybag, how would he have done", but it has nothing to do with reality. Cotto is a VERY tough guy and Pac pounded him. I don't think there are many guys out there that can hang with Pac's speed and movement, so lets not try so hard that we start asking things like this.

 

Thats why Clottey will KO Pacquiao.....there is no catchweight and Clottey will not be weight drained !!!!

Cotto has himself to blame for that !!!

 

I think I did, and I think it was a dumb question. Are you basically asking if you think that if Pac had been wearing 16 oz gloves and Cotto wearing headgear such that Pac's punches had no effect but Cotto's did, would the fight have been different? Given such an advantage of not getting hurt by the other fighter's punches, could a world class fighter have won a fight? Of ****ing course he could. What does that have to do with anything remotely worth discussing? If you have to make such an assumption in order to come up with a scenario where Miguel Cotto, one of the best fighters of our generation could have won a fight then you should stop worrying about it and just say "wow, the other guy was ****ing good".

 

I'm not going to begin on the topic but I'm curious to know what that Av is San.

 

Cotto couldnt withstand Pac's assault..thats why he began to fight off the backfoot and thats why he got stopped.

If he was able to withstand Pac's attacks then of course the fight would have been different..but that would require Miguel to be a different and better fighter then he is.

 

Well lets assume he doesnt get decked and badly hurt early..of course that changes the dynamic of the fight.

But also I just think Manny is the better fighter and better conditioned. It was inevitable that Miguel was going to get tired, its just what he does.

Whether Manny fades aswell is pure speculation because it reality that didnt happen ..Miguel just couldnt consitently land without taking punishment from Pac, who was just to quick and awkward for him.

 

Im not to up on the situation right now but I assume they are asking for a catchweight?

It really depends on how that effects Josh IMO given how much he rehydrates. If he is still strong then physically he is going to be tough for Manny.

Combine that with his counterpunching ability, defence and chin and you gots yourself a fight. But I feel Clottey's boxing brain lets him down, tactically he doesnt seem have a lot going for him. He really does just sometimes allow himself to get outwork and doesnt seem like me a guy who really likes to open up and take risks to get his victory.
I thought he let the Cotto fight slip out of his fingers...It was a fight he could have really left no doubt about who the winner was but instead just sleepwalked the last few rounds.

In the end I think Manny has an answer for that even if Josh is at full strength...if he isnt then Pac probably does it fairly comfortably, unless a head clash spices things up.