WORDS: CARLO PAMINTUAN
November 14, 2009 | 5050 views
WEIGHT AND DIRT
There are other points of interest in this fight other than the fighters’ strengths and weaknesses such as Cotto’s willingness to make the weight.
He can do a Floyd Mayweather (when he went up against Juan Manuel Marquez) and just come in overweight, pay the fine, and then kick some serious ass.
Pacquiao’s camp did a major blunder by saying that they’ll still fight Cotto even if he comes in two pounds overweight. Now Cotto can come in at 147 pounds in the weigh-in, and not worry that the fight may get cancelled, then come in at around 160 at the fight while Pacquiao would most likely weigh in at 142 then go up to about 149.
Another point of interest is Pacquiao’s ability to fight against dirty players. He fought terribly against Nedal Hussein, barely escaping with a win, and he also fought dreadfully against the late Agapito Sanchez, where Pacquiao only managed to secure a draw.
Cotto will use every trick in the book to get an advantage, specially when things aren’t going his way. He was hurt early in his fight against Zab Judah but he unleashed crippling low blows to stop Judah’s momentum.
In his last fight, Cotto picked Clottey up and slammed him to the mat reminiscent of what Hulk Hogan did to André the Giant. This is why Roach has lobbied for stiff penalties for Cotto if he employs dirty tactics. If Cotto plays dirty, it will be very interesting to see how Pacquiao will react.
