Pacquiao, most likely to fight Cotto
Posted on June 21st, 2009
It looks like our Pambansang Kamao, Manny Pacquiao will be facing Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto in his next bout. And it will be in a place where Pacquiao has scored two of his biggest wins – MGM Grand, and not the Madison Square Garden in New York where a large Puerto Rican community is always ready to support Cotto.
The probability of the two fighters squaring off is even made greater by the fact that they are both promoted by Top Rank chair Bob Arum.
It could be remember that the hotel’s Garden Arena was host to Pacquiao’s two great victories, the first one against Oscar De La Hoya in December, and another one last May against Ricky Hatton.
Arum told Las Vegas Review Journal, “I wanted to give everybody a shot,†and added that he also talked to Daren Libonati, director of the Thomas & Mack Center – the place where Pacquiao demolished Erik Morales in 2006.
Once the details are finalized, the schedule of the bout will be on November 14, 2009.
But even while the Pacquiao-Cotto fight almost reaching finality, Shane Mosley is still continuing to appeal for a fight against Pacman. He is even asking Fighthype.com to launch a poll as to who Filipinos would like to see battle Pacquiao. “We have the biggest names by far,†Mosley said of Pacquiao and himself.
At the website of mannypacquiao.ph, a poll was conducted as to who Pacquiao should fight next, Mosley is only third in the ranking at 13.3 percent. Leading the poll is Floyd Mayweather, Jr. at 46.3 and Cotto at second with 34 percent.
Cotto’s last fight, on the other hand, was an unconvincing split decision over Joshua Clottey last June 13, at the Madison Square Garden, coinciding with the Puerto Rican Day parade.
