Get Ringside to Cheap Manny Pacquiao vs Miguel Cotto Tickets Now!
Hopkins makes his prediction on the upcoming Pacquiao will stop Cotto
By Jun Medina, Special Correspondent
WASHINGTON, D.C.: Future Hall of Famer Bernard Hopkins predicted on Friday night (Saturday night in Manila) that Manny Pacquiao will stop Puerto Rican welterweight champion Miguel Cotto.
The 44-year-old Hopkins, the oldest man to ever hold the world middleweight championship, said Pacquiao-Cotto would be an action-packed, heated battle from the opening round because of fighters’ aggressive styles.
“In the end, basically, I see Cotto busted up,” Hopkins said during the live telecast of Friday Night Fight on ESPN2. “I don’t think his face is gonna hold up through 12 rounds of the fight.”
Hopkins, who is best remembered for his ten year reign as middleweight world champion during which he successfully defended his title a record 20 times, described Cotto as a “game” and “tough” fighter who reminds him of the late Arturo Gatti, referring Gatti’s never-say-die attacking game, which inevitably resulted in Gatti being bloodied in all his big fights.
“We all know [Cotto] comes with that Puerto Rican pride; he’s coming to try to win the fight. But Pacquiao is a sharpshooter. He punches in angles. And he’s got Freddie Roach who’s going to give him all the teachings and all the smarts to be able to basically give Pacquiao the edge,” Hopkins said.
Hopkins views were shared by renowned trainer and broadcaster Teddy Atlas who said Cotto absorbed too much punishment in his fight against Mexican slugger Antonio Margarito during their welterweight title unification bout on July 26, 2008.
Atlas, who trained former world heavyweight champion Michael Moorer and Canadian light heavyweight champion Danny Lalonde, said Cotto’s split decision win over Joshua Clottey last June 13 showed the Puerto Rican is no longer the same fighter, both mentally and physically.
Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37 knockouts) said he expects frenetic action from the opening bell when he fights Cotto on November 14 at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas.
Pacquiao said that although Cotto (34-1, 27 by KOs) is not staking his World Boxing Organization welterweight title, the super fight at the catch weight of 145 pounds is crucial for him to retain his mythical title as the world’s best boxer pound-for-pound.
“There will certainly be plenty of action from the opening round, and there would be no retreat or running away,” Pacquiao said in Filipino.
The Filipino assured his fight with Cotto would be exciting and never boring because both he and Cotto love to fight and trade punches in the middle of the ring.
Showing tremendous respect for his opponent, Pacquiao observed how Puerto Ricans idolize Cotto in almost the same way that he is adored by his Filipino fans.
“I have personally seen the legion of fans supporting Cotto during his recent fights against Clottey at New York’s Madison Square Garden,” Pacquiao said.
Get Ringside to Cheap Manny Pacquiao vs Miguel Cotto Tickets Now!
Pearl Jam
