It just amazes me that just three years ago, I was looking at this as merely a Dream matchup ... but the prizefighting heavens were looking down on me and other REAL fight fans and decided to give us what we want ... and this is what I'm talking about when I say "boxing builds fighters" ... both Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto have been making noise in the sport over the past three years, establishing their names and reputation, and tonight we get the payoff ... I'm probably more excited about "Firepower" than I was for Pacquiao's fight's with Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton combined ... how could I not be? ... two of my top three fave fighters on the planet and neither have ever produced a boring fight ... it's got a really good feel to it, despite boxing's critics saying the sport's only had three major PPV's this year ... well, my argument is that, it makes the events that much more special ... it's like when WWE had only four major PPV's a year, each one was special ... in my opinion, the significance of prizefighting PPV events is greatly diluted when you have one a month, you over-expose the product and the fighters, and it doesn't give the audience a "must see" attitude, because there is another PPV the next month ... another thing, it really speaks volumes about what level the sport is at compared to its rivals, when all it takes to garner interest from the general public is the 24/7 series (on a channel you pay extra for) ... but all that aside, I have a feeling I'll be talking about this fight for years to come ...
my official prediction (not that I'm the most objective of people to give one), but I see Pacquiao stopping Cotto in the championship rounds (11th or 12th) ... Pacquiao will eat some punches in this fight, I have no doubt about that, but he's got one of the best chins I've ever seen ... and in all of Cotto's fights, Miguel takes waaay too many punches, not exactly a defensive wizard ... I just see him being broken down methodically, and succumbing to the speed, punch volume and the weird angles Pacquiao delivers his punches from ... but like Pacquiao, Cotto and Arum have said, regardless of the outcome, the only winners in this fight are the fans of boxing ... WOOOOOO!!! I've got my Pacquiao shirt on and I'm ready to go ...
~J-Smooth~
