Pacquiao vs Cotto let the punches fly

Mississippi Fight Sports Examiner | Brad Cooney

So here we go again. Once again the crime in Manila will come to a halt, as it always does on the day of Manny Pacquiao's fight. The entire nation of the Philippines will be dialed in to see if their hero can once again bring victory back home for them. He's done it before on several occasions. This time he is up against a full fledged welterweight champion who throws a cannon ball hook, that's tough as nails, and has no reverse gear. Don't think for a minute that Cotto isn't dangerous, because he is.

Pacquiao has had a training camp laced with distractions, yet still seemed to have pulled through it all. The second leg of the camp was at Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles, and it's there were things seemed to have settled into place. With extremely good sparring out of Jr Middleweight Shawn Porter, Pacquiao looks to be ready to go against a bigger and stronger guy. That bigger and stronger guy of course is welterweight world champion, Miguel Cotto.

Cotto, on the contrary, has had a quiet and very focused training camp. But will that be enough to get by the speed and power of the pound for pound king, Manny Pacquiao? Oscar De La Hoya had one of the best training camps of his life when he prepared for Pacquiao. It didn't help him much as he was eating all of that leather in the ring that night though. Pacquiao is a very difficult fighter to prepare for. He's a guy that throws a ton of punches, at different angles, and he's tough to hit. The sweet science, hit and don't get hit.

A possible problem for Pacquiao is this, he does get hit sometimes. If he gets hit by Miguel Cotto, it will be interesting to see how he takes it. Cotto can bang with that hook of his, so it will be curious to see how effective he will be at landing it. Throwing that hook at Pacquiao is one thing, but landing it effectively is another.

A possible, more likely problem for Cotto is this, he cuts easily. Pacquiao will be throwing lasers and he will be throwing plenty of them. He hits harder than someone his size should be able to hit, so if he is able to cut Cotto it will have an impact on the fight.

Once again Pacquiao is in a fight that matches up his speed against his opponents power. So far speed has prevailed, and power has failed against Pacquiao. More people are predicting a Pacquiao victory over Cotto. This writer happens to be one of them. My official prediction is that Manny Pacquiao will win this fight. He more than likely will win a unanimous decision rather easily. I am banking that Pacquiao will stick to the game-plan, and won't stray into Cotto's wheelhouse too frequently. Cotto should be too strong and resilient to get knocked out, so this fight will more than likely go to the cards.

There will be some punishment dished out on Saturday night. The fists will be flying and someone is going to walk out of the ring victorious. Cotto's power vs Pacquiao's speed. You make the call!

Source: http://www.examiner.com/x-23590-Mississippi-Fight-Sports-Examiner~y2009m11d12-Pacquiao-vs-Cotto-let-the-punches-fly