By CompuBox
If Mayweather-Marquez was the pay-per-view appetizer, Miguel Cotto vs. Manny Pacquiao may be the main course because unlike the former one can’t easily predict the result of the latter. Pacquiao’s attempting to become just the fifth fighter in history to win five titles in five different weight classes. Oscar …

Kevin Iole, Yahoo Sports (Sports.Yahoo.com/Box)

“This is a great fight fan’s fight. They’re two action fighters with styles that will mesh well in the ring. Each has the ability to hurt the other and each likes to fight an offensive fight. I like Pacquiao, though I don’t discount Cotto at all. I’d actually pick Cotto if he hadn’t fought Margarito. That fight seemed to take so much out of Miguel. In his two fights since, he’s appeared to have slowed and has been hit more than I’ve ever seen him. I think Pacquiao’s speed and quickness will make a big difference. If the old Cotto reappears, that could change things big-time, but I’ll go with Manny by decision.”

By Jerry Izenberg/Columnist Emeritus
LAS VEGAS—The names are passed down generation to generation — from trainer to trainer in the steamy gyms, from fathers to sons in the barrios and all across the Island from San Juan to Ponce:
Sixto Escobar, the first Puerto Rican to win a title in …

By Bob Velin, USA TODAY
Manny Pacquiao will be looking to make history Saturday night when he takes on Miguel Cotto in a welterweight title fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
The 29-year-old Filipino superstar, who made a grand entrance along with his opponent at the scene of the fight …

American promoter Bob Arum predicts a brutal ending in the world welterweight bout between Filipino Manny Pacquiao and defending champion Miguel Cotto this weekend.

By FightFan News Wire (10-Nov-2009)
Big George Foreman leads the list of boxers, professional athletes, celebrities and the esteemed press core who all have opinions about the outcome of FIREPOWER: Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto this Saturday November 14 at MGM Grand Garden Arena! Read on to see which fighter the …

By John Nguyen
For whatever reason, fight fans have a hard time being objective about Manny Pacquiao.
For the most ardent fans of the Filipino phenom, he’s a demigod. His straight left vaporizes his foes, his smile calms crying babies, and his sweat cures the gout.
For …

By Tim Starks
So begins our marathon coverage of one of the biggest fights of 2009, Manny Pacquiao against Miguel Cotto, culminating in a live blog of the bout Saturday. Now — the importance of Pacquiao-Cotto. Later today — a look at the one major question facing each boxer coming into …

By Matt Stolow
Don’t quote me, but I believe the first round Saturday night will be as wild and frantic as the upcoming Examiner.com Annual Boxing Writers Christmas Party in Denver, Colorado.
Seriously, there will be the nationalism of two proud countries on display and as Larry Merchant once told me, “People …

By Martin Rogers
As Manny Pacquiao squeezed into a bright red padded spandex leotard, complete with a yellow belt and matching goggles, the symbolism was as fitting as the outfit was ridiculous.
Who knows whether Pacquiao fully appreciated the comical nature of the scene, played out on a movie set a few …

By SC
In preparation for this weekend’s super fight between WBO welterweight titlist Miguel Cotto and world junior welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao, Bad Left Hook will look back on the major title fight histories of both men.
This morning, we looked at Miguel Cotto. Now, a glance at Manny Pacquiao.
We are …

Las Vegas, Nevada -"MANNY MANIA" — Six-time world champion pound-for-pound king Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao(ctr),General Santos,Philippines is surrounded by hundreds of fans and media as he makes his ‘Grand’ arrival at the MGM Grand Tuesday for his upcoming "FIREPOWER" World Welterweight championship fight against three-time world champion and the pride of Puerto Rico Miguel Cotto, Caguas, Puerto Rico. Pacquiao vs Cotto is promoted by Top Rank, in association with MP Promotions,Cotto Promotions,MGM Grand and Tecate, will take place, Saturday,November 14 at the sold out MGM Grand in Las Vegas and will be available live on HBO Pay Per View.

Photo Credits : Chris Farina/Top Rank

VIEW PHOTOS

By Colin Seymour
TIME magazine’s lengthy feature on Manny Pacquiao in this week’s issue begins by describing how Manny throws a baseball with “a balletic grace at odds with the savage power that the best pound-for-pound professional boxer on earth exhibits in the ring.”
That angle throws like a girl.
Balletic grace …

By Brett Okamoto
Manny Pacquiao made his grand arrival at the MGM Grand on Tuesday, marking the first time in the world champion’s career the Las Vegas ceremony didn’t take place at Mandalay Bay.
Although Pacquiao is known to be superstitious — he stays in the same hotel room at Mandalay Bay …

By David Tyler
David T. - Fred you have already predicted that Floyd Mayweather Jr. and your Ninja, Manny Pacquiao would win their next fights. Would you like to discuss a possible Mayweather/ Pacquiao super-mega fight?
Freddie Roach – Dave, everywhere I go that’s all that I am asked, …

By Doveed Linder
Boxing reaches the mainstream when the best fight the best and it doesn’t get much better than Manny Pacquiao vs Miguel Cotto. The Pacquiao-Cotto fight this Saturday night is without a doubt the most meaningful fight of the year, if not the past few years. …

Manny Pacquiao is not invincible, and will be beaten on Nov. 14. There, I said it.

I have been accused of “hating” Pac for my views, which is laughable because I’ve never met him. He is simply another sportsmen to me, a very good fighter in an era filled with them. His place in the history of boxing is neither assured nor agreed upon at present; how History judges him will undoubtedly be a result of the next five or so years..

There are, of course, certain things that the attentive observer cannot deny about Pac. He’s got a terrific left hand, and he has developed, under the guidance of trainer Freddie Roach, into a complete fighter that uses all the weapons at his disposal effectively. He has been outsized in a number of his fights in the past two years, and has come up on the winning end against fighters far more accustomed to the heavier classes. But does that mean that he can really move up to welterweight, and expect to win this Saturday?

The answer, in short, is no. Though very evenly matched, Pacquiao lost both fights to Marquez. He defeated David Diaz (who?), and then beat De La Hoya’s trembling ghost into submission. He also beat Ricky Hatton, and because I am not one that subscribes to the “Hatton is a club fighter” theory, Pac gets credit for this- he beat a very good fighter by dismantling him with hand speed and power. Fair enough.

Possible history is fast approaching and it’s nice that a modern fight promotion isn’t built on fighters who spend the majority of their time trading insults or down playing each others accomplishments. Cotto and Pacquiao appear to hold each other in genuine high regard. Regardless of all the predictions and ranting by fans each man will be facing the best fighter either has ever crossed paths with. You can argue it back and forth but there is so much proof to support that statement that I’m completely comfortable in making it. Aside from the ever increasing antagonist vocal range of Freddie Roach this has been a pretty respectful build up as far as the fighters are concerned..

It kind of dispels the old myth that a successful boxing promotion needs negative sound bites and boorish behavior to sell. As a fan base we’re proving to be more sophisticated than people generally give us credit for. This fight will sell because the fans know the caliber of each guy. And that’s all we need! A fight like this doesn’t need a build up for hard core fight fans because it’s our drug.

For fans that prefer action over technical prowess this is the one! Or at least should be the one. As I said in previous articles I think this will be more controlled chaos than absolute chaos. But, regardless you know a fight between these two guys practically guarantees something electric is going to happen at some point. It has to. read more

By Gareth A Davies
Could Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto recreate 8 minutes of ring mayhem as Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns did 24 years ago ?
Promoter Bob Arum thinks it is possible.
Hagler v Hearns, at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, in April 1985, is regarded by many as the most …

By Scott Levinson
Manny Pacquiao has claims to six world championships, but how many are legit?
Manny Pacquiao has won titles in six different weight classes (some incorrectly say five), but which ones are legitimate? Who can really sort through the muddled alphabet-soup mess? Well actually, even in the murky confusion, …

By Doug Fischer
Being a fulltime boxing writer is, for the most part, a great gig.
The athletes I write about for RingTV.com are fascinating — often inspirational — personalities, and some of the events I get to cover are right out of a hardcore fight fan’s dream.
The welterweight showdown between Manny …

While Floyd Mayweather and his minions may disagree, right now, Pacquiao is not only the biggest name in boxing, but also it’s most important figure. Mayweather gets some free gear from Reebok, Pacquiao gets to be a part of a world-wide campaign. And because of it, ’Firepower’ is gaining steam.

” I’ve never seen such a response, forget about the normal boxing sites, I’m talking about outside the general public- Time Magazine, New York Times with a huge Sunday blowout piece. New York Times!!!” exclaimed Bob Arum, who promotes the Filipino icon. ” It’s significant because its reached out- not only to the sports people, but to the general public. People are fascinated by the fight because they’re fascinated with Pacquiao and they know that Cotto is a tremendous obstacle.”

The New York Times covers boxing about as often as the Haley Comet comes around. Time Magazine, not only did a five-page spread, the Asian edition has him on the cover. Arum, has been around superstars for as long as he’s been involved in this business, from Ali, to De La Hoya and now Pacquiao. ’the Golden Boy’, who Pacquiao bludgeoned last December to exponentially increase his popularity, was the last fighter to have any transcendent appeal.

In contrasting the two figures, Arum explained,” De La Hoya, had going for him- in addition to good looks, obviously, and a certain type of charisma- he was an American kid of Hispanic heritage and therefore you could exploit all of that in promoting him. Manny, has been much more difficult because he’s a foreigner, he comes from half-way across the world and he’s not an athlete that the American public would generally seem to cotton to and adopt. But through his body of work and through what people have seen and because he is the kind of kid he is, people are fascinated by him. And that is something that was more of a stretch than it was for Oscar.”

By Ben Thompson
“Manny takes every shot pretty well. Manny's a tough guy. Manny's very tough. People don't understand that. For Manny to come from flyweight and to come up to welterweight and be able to take the kind of punches he takes and deliver the kind of power that he …

By Ben Thompson
“I think Pacman is by far the number one pound-for-pound boxer. I've watched other guys over the last few years and he seems to have that exciting style that basically is untouchable right now…Manny is definitely ready. I think this is his time and I think you guys …