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

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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 Mark Vester
The returning Floyd Mayweather Jr. was confronted with a serious question. Why is he fighting Juan Manuel Marquez instead of Shane Mosley? Mosley is viewed by many as the top fighter at 147-pounds, a division where Mayweather resides. Floyd returns on  July 18 against Marquez at catch-weight of 144-pounds. …

Despite recent reports that he's only interested in facing Floyd Mayweather Jr., it appears Manny Pacquiao will play the waiting game before dismissing all other options for his next fight. Although his next bout is already set for October 17th, he has yet to decide who will be the lucky winner of the PacMan Sweeptakes and it looks like Floyd Mayweather Jr., Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley, Juan Manuel Marquez and others are all still in the running. Of course, that being said, it should already be clear who the winner will be.

“I feel that Manny Pacquiao’s big enough and should be strong enough for me and him to have a good fight,” said the 37-year-old, 5-foot-9 Mosley, a former world junior middleweight champion.

“Pacquiao was the only one that said yes, he would actually fight me, and I commend him for that. That’s how tough fighters should do.”

Mosley said he won’t be like the now-retired De La Hoya, who dodged criticisms about a supposed mismatch on his favor prior to his fight with Pacquiao in December last year in Las Vegas.

“The pound-for-pound guy is Pacquiao, so that’s my number one choice,” said Mosley. “I think about the future and accomplish my goal. My goal is to be the pound-for-pound No.1 fighter.”

By Robert Cassidy
To this corner, Manny Pacquiao is in the driver’s seat. He’s on top, he should dictate terms. He is wildly popular at home and in the States. If he fights Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Sugar Shane Mosley or Miguel Cotto, it’s big business.
Let’s try to make some sense …

“I want it to be known that I want to fight Pacquiao and I want to fight him now,” Mosley told the AFP. “I’m willing to meet at a catch weight to make that happen.

“I know this is what Freddie Roach wants as well. I am the best fighter in boxing and I am ready to reclaim the title of No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter.”

Roach has said the weight could be 143 or 144 pounds. Mosley, 37, has not fought below 146 since 1999 and has fought as high as 154.

“When I was growing up I used to admire Oscar de la Hoya, he was my hero,” Pacquiao explained.

“I also used to like Roy Jones Jnr and Julio Cesar Chavez but Oscar was my number one.

“I was very honoured to actually fight him, that was a real high point for me because of the amount of respect I had for him.”

Although Hatton had built a reputation as a hurtful puncher, Pacquiao said the now-retired “Golden Boy” possessed the edge in power.

“Hatton was strong but he wasn’t like de la Hoya because Oscar was very heavy-handed,” he said.

“Anyway, at this level when anyone hits you it hurts!”

His easy-going demeanour can make you forget that he is one of the most dangerous unarmed men on the planet. Pacquiao doesn’t talk big but his record speaks for itself.

The Asian superstar believes a big part of his continuing success is down to the input of trainer Freddie Roach at the Wild Card gym in Los Angeles.

“Freddie has helped me a lot,” he explained.

“He has shown me a lot of new things and helped me to develop. He is a great trainer and I think he is the best in the world.”

Pacquiao’s mentor Freddie Roach has stated several times that the de la Hoya fight at the welterweight limit of 147 pounds was a one-time excursion and that henceforth Pacquiao will be fighting at the junior-welterweight limit of 140 pounds. Roach also said that if any of the fighters residing at welterweight and above wants to tango with Pacquiao then they must boil down to 142 lbs. for the fight to happen. There are many who decry this demand as Pacquiao just trying to get an unfair advantage. On closer examination, however, this is just an attempt by Roach to level the playing field for Pacquiao on the premise that making weight would weaken Mosley and Cotto a bit. Though Pacquiao fought de la Hoya at 147 lbs. he weighed in for that fight at an official weight of 142 lbs. which was the highest weigh-in weight of his career. For his fight with Ricky Hatton, Pacquiao weighed in at 138 lbs. So the contention that Pacquiao should fight Mosley and Cotto at the welterweight limit of 147 since he fought de la Hoya at 147 holds no water. For the record, Pacquiao has never fought as a welterweight his whole career. His highest official weight was 142 lbs., which is closer to junior welterweight than welterweight.

On the other hand, Mosley and Cotto are too big for Pacquiao. While Pacquiao’s highest fighting weight was 148 ½ lbs. Cotto and Mosley balloon to more than 160 lbs. come fight night. Cotto is 5’7” and has been fighting as a welterweight since December 2006 while Mosley is 5’9” and has a reach of 74 inches and has been fighting as a welterweight and Junior middleweight since September 1999.

Miguel Cotto had a conference call with reporters today. And while it was just Miguel Cotto on the call, the presence of Manny Pacquiao was a constant. Reporters asked Cotto in a variety of ways whether or not he would fight Pacquiao. Cotto wasn’t biting, continually stating he is focused on his next opponent, Joshua Clottey. (Which is not an easy fight, by the way.)

If it should happen, a Pacquiao-Cotto fight would be a fantastic action fight, while Mayweather Jr., the man most people expect Pac Man to fight next, generally engages in dull fights.

All Cotto would say about Pacquiao, when asked about the Hatton fight, was this: “It was a very strong moment for Pacquiao.”

“Floyd, quit running. Stop running. Stop saying that, oh, you know, I’m not a pay-per-view attraction, or this or that,” Mosley said in a recent television interview. “I’ve been fighting longer than you. I’ve been making money longer than you. That’s probably why you’re coming back to the sport right now is because you need money, you lost your money, now you had to come back and get some more money.

“We can make money together, alright? So let’s do it,” he added.

Mayweather has said he will fight all top opponents during his return.