Pacquiao-Cotto bout, a title match after all
Posted on August 3rd, 2009
The fight between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto on November this year will be a title bout after all. Earlier, it was reported that Cotto won’t be putting his title on the line with his match against Pacquiao, or that he will only give Pacman a shot at his title if he fights at 147 lbs.
The World Boxing Organization (WBO) has stepped in and removed Pacquiao’s concern. WBO announced last Sunday that Cotto will defend his welterweight crown against Pacquiao in a catch weight of 145 lbs, and not 147 lbs.
Francisco “Paco†Valcarcel, president of WBO, told Puerto Rican newspaper El Nuevo Dia that the fight is going to be for the title and that everything will come to a “happy ending†for both parties.
Atty. Franklin Gacal, Pacquiao’ lawyer, had spoken with promoter Bob Arum and told him that the fight will at 145 lbs and that Cotto will put his WBO title on the line in the bout, as indicated in the contract signed. Coach Freddie Roach said that Pacquiao meeting Cotto in a non-title bout is almost without value.
With the talks on the title being settled, Pacquiao now would only need to find a new training camp. He was advised that the first half of his training should be done outside of US territory because of an IRS regulation called the Substantial Presence Test.
Meanwhile, Arum’s Top Ran will be staging the megabuck fight. He plans to embark on a huge promotional tour of four cities in September. This will kick off with the lead event of Yankee Stadium in New York on September 10.
Then they would proceed to Cotto’s hometown of Caguas in Puerto Rico on September 123, AT&T Park in San Francisco on September 13 and Beverly Hills in Los Angeles on September 14.
The two boxers are scheduled to clash it out on November 14, 2009 at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas.
