Can Miguel Cotto Beat Manny Pacquiao at Junior Middleweight?
Manny Pacquiao's victory over Miguel Cotto last November had its moments of excitement, but for the most part it was a relatively perfunctory affair. Cotto started off well but increasingly had trouble dealing with Pacquiao's hand speed and movement. As the fight went on, Cotto began to fade badly while Pacquiao surged forward, finding spot after spot to land telling punches. Cotto was dropped in the third and fourth round and took so much punishment that he wanted to quit in his corner after the 11th round. He came out for the 12th round but the fight was stopped after he was trapped against the ropes by a Pacquiao attack and did not return fire.
It was hardly the type of performance that leads fans to demand a rematch. But that just might happen this November, as Cotto is one of two fighters most often discussed as a "fallback plan" for Pacquiao in case a fight against Floyd Mayweather does not come together. Almost anyone who loves boxing wants to see Pacquiao and Mayweather fight instead of a Pacquiao rematch with Cotto. The nature of how Pacquiao beat Cotto last year gives some people even more reason to bristle at the potential of another bout between the two.
But other fight fans are excited about the prospect of Pacquiao and Cotto hooking up again. In fact, some people think that Cotto has a very good chance to hand Pacquiao a defeat in their rematch. The main reason for this is because the fight would be fought for Cotto's WBA junior middleweight championship. Their first bout was held at the welterweight limit of 145 pounds - nine pounds lighter than the junior middleweight limit.
This could be a huge difference in the rematch. Many people felt that Cotto had to cut too much weight in order to make the 145 pound limit and that this had a significant impact on his power and stamina. It certainly appeared that Cotto lost a lot of his punching power and started to lag in the later rounds against Pacquiao in their first fight. Cotto looked to be much stronger against Yuri Foreman last month when he claimed the WBA junior middleweight title, coming on strong in the middle rounds before the fight was stopped.
One person who feels like the change from the welterweight limit to the junior middleweight class for the rematch is Cotto's new trainer Emanuel Steward. He said that moving up beyond 145 pounds "changed everything in the physical system of Cotto." According to Steward, adding the weight has allowed Cotto to regain his power and his endurance that he had earlier in his career. Many people thought that Cotto looked over the hill when he fought against Pacquiao but that perception changed with his solid performance in beating Foreman.
Steward also thinks that some of the in-ring issues that haunted Cotto in his loss to Pacquiao would be different this time around. Specifically, he has worked with Cotto to get him out of his crouch and to fight more upright. Steward believes that against Pacquiao, Cotto spent too much time hunched over in trying to find his opponent. This made it difficult for him to see Pacquiao's punches as they were coming - never a good thing but especially bad against someone whose hands are as quick and who fights from as many different angles as Pacquiao. Fighting from a more erect position should help Cotto to see Pacquiao's punches better. Steward has also worked on Cotto's ability to deal with speed, having him train with fighters with quick hands at lower weight classes to prepare for the fast hands of Foreman.
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