Pacquiao- Cotto by the numbers

On the eve of his golden birthday Miguel Cotto is riding the support of fellow ex-champs such as Kendall Holt and Paulie Malignaggi, who call the victory in favor of the Boriqua bomber, into the last month of preparation for his super battle with Filipino icon, Manny Pacquiao. The Puerto Rican will turn 29 years old on October 29th, which is just about two weeks shy of fight night, November 14th.

The Caguas, Puerto Rico native, plans to bring a size and power advantage into the gun fight. Although their physical appearances, on paper, does not look that wide, you will need to trust that an eight-fight welterweight will rationally cruise through all power comparisons over the natural lightweight. But in the end, making the claim that Pacquiao is a natural lightweight is also cause for arguments considering his short stay in that division. As of right now, I’m not too sure where he belongs, but I don’t think it is 147 (welterweight).

Take a quick peek at the numbers that have been flying around:



Height: Pac 5' 6-1/2" Cotto: 5' 7"

Reach: Pac 67" Cotto: 67"

Chest Norm: Pac 38" Cotto 39"

Chest Expanded: Pac 41" Cotto 41"

Biceps: Pac 13" Cotto 13"

Forearm: Pac 12" Cotto 11-1/2"

Thigh: Pac 20" Cotto 22-1/2"

Calf: Pac 15" Cotto 12"

Neck: Pac 16" Cotto 16"

Wrist: Pac 8" Cotto 7-1/2"

Fist: Pac 10" Cotto 11"

Walk Around Weight: Pac 155 Cotto 160

Age fight night: Pac 30 Cotto 29



Both are natural southpaws, although Cotto fights in an orthodox stance.

Although physical attributes play a huge role, we cannot forget the last two, three active years either. For Cotto, this constitutes a period in which he was stopped by the tainted hands of Antonio Margarito followed by successive not-so-impressive wins over a rightfully unheralded Michael Jennings and tough Joshua Clottey of Ghana. His most recent ‘great outing’ was against The Contender alumn Alfonso Gomez, who is also on the November 14th “Firepower” card opposite David Estrada-conqueror Jesus Soto-Karass.

Manny Pacquiao, however, avenged his hard fought 2004 draw against Juan Manuel Marquez and then left the featherweights to tear the lightweight crown from David Diaz. Afterwards the Pacman made a couple leaps across a couple solid, talent-filled divisions to dismantle the Golden Boy and head-hunt the Hitman in jaw-dropping fashion.

If that doesn’t suit your tastes, keep in mind that Manny Pacquiao has not lost a round since his second fight with Marquez. I repeat: The Pacman has cleanly swept 19 rounds in a row from former champions (9-David Diaz, 8-De la Hoya, 2-Hatton).

In the end it’s hard to pick the smaller man, much like it is difficult to favor the more sluggish as well. But what about when the smaller man has the power too?

It’s easy to see why the public chooses to immediately dive into personal opinions when it comes to picking a favorite in a match-up. That’s fine, it’s only nature making its mark but when we sit down and dissect the last couple years, it’s clear that we have a phenom on our hands.

The big question is-- which star will lay claim to this title? Or maybe both can and will.

Pacquiao has definitely bloomed late in his career thus far. But if Cotto can pull off the win, he has just as much of a chance of toppling Floyd Mayweather Jr. as Pacquiao does. If that happens, then the one-loss wonder will definitely outshine the small blemish on his record (the TKO loss to Margarito), making him undefeated in more ways than the jubilant former king from Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Source: http://diamondboxing.com/newsstory.php?list=9925