Pacquiao deserves worthiest opponent

By Recah Trinidad
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 23:27:00 11/09/2009

THERE WAS GUARDED JUBILATION among boxing fans when news about Miguel Cotto’s alleged weight problem spread.

But there was also visible displeasure among those who had looked forward to an epic stand from Manny Pacquiao when the international boxing icon goes for his seventh world crown in a seventh division on Sunday.

Puzzled Pacquiao devotees were unsure whether to laugh or cry.

* * *

Suddenly, it was no longer as simple as Pacquiao winning and planting the national flag on a boxing summit where no other prizefighter had been before.

It’s like this. Before the reported weight woes by Cotto, there loomed the possibility of a classic encounter.

Naturally, a waiting bonus for his followers should be Pacquiao finally bringing out his best.

* * *

Didn’t Pacquiao himself swear that Cotto would be the greatest challenge in his career?

Of course, this should not be Pacquiao’s problem.

All he would normally need is enter the ring and fight the way the Pacman does.

However, reports on Cotto’s alleged weight woes have also weighed on the big bout.

OK, the original interest, the intriguing excitement was hardly diminished.

But out there in the streets, people started to worry over the exact manner of Pacquiao’s expected coronation as the greatest boxer ever.

* * *

At the Vergara Trading on Aglipay Street in Mandaluyong, the proprietor named Brin said a well-to-do trader who had dared them to bet against Cotto did not show up to formalize the wager.

Out in the Mandaluyong wet market, those who initially showed interest in placing a few bucks on the WBO welterweight champion from Puerto Rico either disappeared or just kept mum.

“Walang ganda kung lampa ang kalaban (It would be tasteless if the opponent is lame),” explained tall Tommy Diaz, who quietly lords it over a newsstand at the old loading point known as Gabby’s.

* * *

Pacquiao himself sounded a little uneasy when he commented on how Cotto has obviously mismanaged his poundage.

Pacquiao told Filipino mediamen at the Wild Card Gym that rapid reducing is bound to tell heavily on Cotto (“Malaking epekto talaga ‘pag hindi ka kumakain.”)

If Cotto, despite training well ahead of Pacquiao, indeed reports dried and half-empty for the fight, he could ultimately end up no better than a wet sack.

Or he could sail and flail, a piece of soggy laundry lost in the wind, at the height of Pacquiao’s stormy offensive.

* * *

Well, we can only hope that Cotto was just playing it dumb. (Cotto later declared Sunday he has no problem with his weight.—Ed)

And that he would show up for the fight truly worthy as advertised.

Cotto need not be told that he owes it to Pacquiao to provide him a worthy challenge, some degree of difficulty to lend the fight mythical incandescence.

Of course, asking for a remake of an epic like the Ali-Frazier “Thrilla in Manila” could be too much.

But Cotto must take extra pains to avoid ending up like he would next engage Oscar De La Hoya in a battle of paraplegics.

It’s a must for Cotto to raise the bar higher for the greatest boxer of our time.

Even Manny Pacquiao can’t go on winning as though he is avoiding to be charged with manslaughter.

Source: http://sports.inquirer.net/columns/columns/view/20091109-235262/Pacquiao-deserves-worthiest-opponent