Pacquiao vs. Cotto for the WBO Welterweight Title

by Charles Jay

BetUS boxing betting odds:

WBO Welterweight Title (12 rds. - 147 lbs.)

November 14 -- Las Vegas
MANNY PACQUIAO -300
MIGUEL ANGEL COTTO +200

Under 9.5 Rounds -145

Over 9.5 Rounds +115

Despite the fact that Manny Pacquiao (-300 to win in the BetUS boxing betting odds) is the fighter considered by most to be either the #1 or #2 fighter in the mythical "pound-for-pound" category, please keep in mind that this fight is for Miguel Angel Cotto's WBO welterweight title. I would suspect that the winner is going to be in for an even bigger prize; when all is said and done, there will probably be a fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. on the horizon.

When Pacquiao moves up in weight, as he's doing here, I guess it is natural to ask whether he is biting off more than he can chew. We seem to have had these discussions almost every time he fights, and invariably he has answered those questions in the most resounding way. This is a fighter who started his career at 106 pounds, which is one pound over the straw-weight limit, and he is now campaigning at 147, having already beaten up on Oscar De La Hoya in that weight class. So it is all a bit scary.

At some point, you would figure Pacquiao would just lose all power and be mosquito-like to his opponent, but that hasn't been the case. The blitzkrieg of De La Hoya was sensational. The destruction of Ricky Hatton sent shockwaves through the entire sports world. One knows he couldn't go on forever moving up in weight, but I am not detecting a loss of power as of yet.

Pacquiao has talent, without question, but that is not what makes him as successful as he is. He is not so much a fighter of incredible talent or technical ability as he is a fighter of incredible fury. News item: fury, when applied correctly, often trumps most everything else.

That is, however, unless the opponent is so technically proficient that he is able to slow down the pace and force Pacquiao to assume the boxer's role himself and wait for the opponent to pick him off, or worse yet, force him into a pattern of sleepwalking around the ring. Erik Morales, who had some boxing skills, was able to do some of that the first time he fought Pacquiao, and it was the one fight in the trilogy he was able to win.

Could that same thing be the case with Cotto?

We'll take the long way around in answering that one.

I have been around this game for a long time, and I can tell you that Top Rank did a great job in promoting Cotto (+200 in the BetUS odds) as someone who they could turn into a Latin hero like Oscar De La Hoya, who they lost. Cotto has come a long way in that regard, but I have never thought he was the real thing, relative to becoming another De La Hoya or a true contender for "pound-for-pound" honors.

Early on, you could see that there were some things at which Cotto was well advanced; for example, he had a left hook combination to the body and head that was the envy of even seasoned professionals. The problem with it was that the opponent had to be literally standing in front of him for him to execute it.

Source: http://www.betus.com/sports-betting/boxing/free-picks/pacquiao-vs-cotto-for-the-wbo-welterweight-title/