Roach Will Demand Weight Limit for Pacquiao-Cotto Showdown

For those of us that watched the Cotto/Clottey fight this past Saturday, boy were we entertained. I know I was. The fight had blood, guts, a tackle, and some serious soul searching. For the record I had Cotto winning the fight 114-113. If you wanted to argue that Clottey won the fight, you could do that. After all, had it been Cotto who got thrown down and then rabbit punched one may wonder if points would be deducted to Clottey. If you want to argue that Cotto won the fight you could also do that. After all, when you are fighting Cotto at MSG you best fight a full 12, Clottey to me didn't do enough in the final 2 rounds. If you haven't knocked down Cotto by the 10th. Then you best trap him and punch away for the final 2. To me it also looked like Clottey was looking for an easy way out, the tackle was a tackle but by no means was it a Lawrence Taylor tackle.

Over all, the fight was very close and could have gone either way, but no one should be screaming robbery. Clottey should have followed up on his work rather than fighting in spurts almost as if to stand back and admire the damage. Note to Clottey: next time bring a camera in the ring with you, the picture lasts longer, oh and also drink whatever Kobe Bryant is drinking and finish the job. If you got a guy with a busted eye, then let the leather fly. I'm not trying to be harsh on Clottey, it's just that if you are already questioning whether or not you will get a fair shake before the fight even starts, and then you best try your best to take it out of the judge’s hands. Clearly to me it seemed like every time Clottey let his hands go he would hurt Cotto, Clottey didn't do that enough so because of that, the fight was tougher than it had to be.



A month ago, I predicted that the fight would go to Cotto by Split Decision. I also mentioned that the fight could have a Mosley/Cotto ending, where you had Mosley chasing Cotto in the final 2 rounds. Clottey also chased Cotto in the final 2, but the difference was that Mosley threw shots and continued to throw, Clottey didn't. For those of you that didn't read my prediction from a month ago, here it is.



Miguel Cotto vs. Joshua Clottey- Cotto can outbox the tough Clottey by taking the gas out of Clottey early so in the later rounds when Clottey tries to go into second gear there won't be enough gas left in his tank. To achieve this, Cotto must go to the body hard, and must start early. Clottey is an animal who is at his best when countering, Clottey has a high guard that seems to block anything coming in. I don't believe that I have ever seen Clottey hurt, but then again I have never seen him in against someone with bone crushing power like the power belonging to Cotto. Cotto's best chance on winning this bout is to use the same plan that he used when he faced Margarito, to control the pace of the fight with constant movement. However, Cotto must add a lot more bodywork in this war than he used against Margarito. It is imperative for Cotto to stick and move because if the Boriqua Bomber comes to bomb away, I can see Clottey countering Cotto with a big right hook and stopping him in his tracks. Clottey is an excellent fighter, the only knock on him is that sometimes when he counters, Clottey tends to take a step back to admire his work. My advice to Clottey would be to follow up on your work, finish the painting that you are painting first, then afterward you can admire your masterpiece. I think that Clottey will win the fight but Cotto will get the nod. This has the makings on being like the Cotto/Mosley fight, in that fight, I felt that Mosley won the fight by taking the last 2 rounds, but Cotto got the nod because some of those middle rounds were too close to call. I can see the same thing happening here. Clottey would need to knock out Cotto to win or knock him down at the very least in order to get some breathing room on the cards. This fight has a De La Hoya/Quartey feel to it, Cotto as the boxer, slugger De La Hoya, and Clottey as the high guard, laser stiff jab Quartey. Cotto by Sd.



So where does Clottey go from here? I for one would love to see him get a crack at Andre Berto. Or even someone like Luis Collazo. Come to think about it, Berto has unfinished biz with Collazo, the right thing to do would be to somehow land a rematch with Cotto. Collazo on the other hand is still waiting for Berto to do the right thing and give him that much deserved rematch. I have a hunch that Clottey like Collazo may find himself waiting and waiting and waiting. The biggest fight for both Berto and Clottey outside of Mosley, would be to face each other, So Clottey have Bob call Lou and let's make it happen.



Now on to Cotto, so where does the Boriqua Bomber go now? Pacquiao, you say? No way come on, cut it out, stop it already. For starters, Freddie Roach is no dummy, Pac-Man versus Cotto will not become a thought unless Cotto can drain himself to the bone and fight Pacquiao between 143-144 pounds. How many of us seriously think that Cotto who was killing himself making 140 will agree to a fight against Pacquiao at that weight? Also I would like to add that please do not be fooled into thinking that Pacquiao would kill Cotto since Clottey gave Cotto a war. For starters, Clottey and Pacquiao are two completely different fighters. One is a machine that is outside of a tackle impossible to hurt, and the other is a come forward guy who has been hurt and can be hurt, you and I both know who is who. Money wise, the biggest fight is #1Pacquiao and #2Mayweather. #1 is not going to happen unless Cotto can get below 144, so scratch that from your imagination. #2 how I could list the reasons why it won't happen, but truth is that I am now laughing so hard at the wise cracks as to why it won't happen that my ''ribs'' now hurt. Cotto vs. Mosley 2 the rematch! Note to Shane: Since you are the champ and you dominated the man that beat Cotto, make the fight in L.A. or Las Vegas.

Source: http://www.diamondboxing.com/newsstory.php?list=8044