Pacquiao vs. Cotto: Is The Fix In?

by Paul Magno on November 8, 2009

With Cotto-Pacquiao staring us in the face, I can’t shake this cynical feeling that the fix may be in.

I’m not talking about the fight being fixed, pro-wrestling style.

There won’t be a room full of greasy old men chomping on 10 dollar cigars, planning out the details of a bogus fight. No, it’ll have to do with the tidal wave of sports history washing over and beating down a bonafide warrior from the island nation of Puerto Rico.

Reigning WBO Welterweight champ, Miguel Cotto, hasn’t caught too many breaks lately. He’s been beaten with allegedly illegal wraps by Antonio Margarito and, in his most recent fight, he was cut badly and pushed to the edge by tough African welter, Joshua Clottey.

Even when signing for the fight of his career and his largest payday to date, Cotto has been on the receiving end of less than fair treatment for a fighter considered to be one of boxing’s biggest names.

First, a catchweight stipulation was forced on him as a condition for making the Pacquiao bout. A catchweight of 145 lbs., on the surface is not all that brutal for Cotto, a fighter who weighed-in at 146 for his last contest.

However, for Team Pacquiao, the poundage, itself, was never the issue. The real reason behind the catchweight stipulation was to get inside Cotto’s head and possibly force Cotto to over train out of fear of being financially penalized for coming in over the agreed weight.

The result of this head game seems to have worked to some degree as Cotto opened camp several weeks earlier than normal and has made adjustments to lifestyle and diet…all for that one, “inconsequential,” pound.

Next, came Team Pacquiao’s insistence that Cotto put up his welterweight title in the bout, something that Cotto was squarely against. When the reigning champ balked at putting up the title to an unranked challenger in a catchweight bout, the WBO stepped in and instantly made Pacquiao the number one contender while informing Cotto that he would either put up the title or be stripped.

Again, score another one for Team Pacquiao’s quest to get inside Cotto’s head.

To add insult to injury, if you scour press reports, you’ll find Bob Arum, head of Top Rank and promoter of both Cotto and Pacquiao, discussing Pacquiao’s next fight and upcoming plans; No such talks take place regarding Cotto.

Also, as Pacquiao attempts to “make history” by being the first fighter to win seven titles in seven different weight classes, don’t think that the weight of history isn’t already weighing heavily on the officials of this bout.

It’s basic boxing knowledge that officials often have a tendency to lean towards what should happen in such important encounters instead of what’s actually happening. The desire to be part of history is strong; the desire to not impede history is even stronger. Coming into the November 14th battle, Pacquiao will find a group of officials who are, at the very least, willing to give all things Pacquiao the benefit of the doubt.

So, with a catchweight stipulation on his mind and after having conceded every possible advantage during pre-fight negotiations, Cotto steps into a ring full of Pacquiao-friendly officials, a solitary man, belittled by his own promotional company and bullied by the sanctioning body he represents.

Then, after suffering these indignities and mind games, he has to go up against the Filipino Buzzsaw, boxing’s current pound-for-pound champ, Manny Pacquiao.

If Miguel Cotto doesn’t prove to have a will of iron and a resolve of solid steal, he’s lost this one before the opening bell even rings.

Last 5 posts by Paul Magno

The Bantamweights: Boxing's Little Giants - December 9th, 2010
Nate Campbell: A Story of Beating Odds and Finding Peace - December 2nd, 2010
Andre Berto: A Victim of Circumstance? - November 23rd, 2010
And Now a Touch of Class: Paul Williams vs. Sergio Martinez - November 18th, 2010
Danny Green Outpoints BJ Flores - November 17th, 2010

Tags: Manny Pacquiao, Manny Pacquiao vs Miguel Cotto, Miguel Cotto

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Sotyx

Cotto will lost because he will get knockout and not because it’s fix
robert

Finally someone will show that pacquiao was all hype. Fight fans will never forgive cotto for revealing this scam.
JohnnyR

What a bunch of crap!

Welterweight is from 140+ to 147lbs The limit being 147 anything above that is a Middleweight. Team Pacquiao doesn’t have to insist on a title fight because it is a Welterweight fight and the belt is on the line. This only thing that would have kept the belt from being on the line is non-payment of the $150,000 sanctioning fees from each fighter. Which would have been paid for Cotto and I vaguely recall it was paid for him. The decision is with the sanctioning body.

This fight is a gold mine for Cotto that will enable him to retire so there is absolutely no reason to have pitty for him and his career.
ulolka

this is crap, if pacquaio wins , its fix, if he loses, he did not concentrate in his training
Carlito

Mr. Magno youre assessment is obviously biased against the Pacman. Welterweight is 141 to 147. Its not defined anywhere in any boxing rule that its mandatory for a title to be defended at 147. Look it up. Furthermore, Cotto was nearly handed the WBO belt with his fight against Michael Jennings, after he lost his other welterweight belts to Antonio Margarito. The fact that Cotto is a championship caliber welterweight is all that matters as to why Pacquiao wants him. Btw, the catchweight was not forced upon him, it was agreed upon. Your use of language in this article shows your bias agains the Pacman. Learn some basic journalistic skills and show some neutrality even if your forming your own opinion, otherwise its not an article, its propaganda.
Ryan

the catchweight was never forced on Cotto. Cotto stated that the lowest he would go was 145, and so Pacquiao agreed and signed the deal.

141 – 147 is the legitimate welterweight range so stop trying to diminish Pac’s accomplishments and setting up excuses for Cotto like the judges being against him, which is pure crap and delusional thinking.

This whole article is complete bias and absolute trash
http://Pacland Dr. Ros G. Aquino

Hey MR.MAGNO,
Please be accurate of what you are reporting here, it may backfire on you as you are liable here for slander and oral defamations.As if you are so sure of what you were saying, Be a responsible journalist,you dont have to do this to get more hits on your articles.you are destroying the totality of boxing as a sport. Be sensible enough men i know you are an educated man wake up, i lost my respect on you, you are a disgrace to sport journalist.
DOC.A
Clark Kent

Stop making excuses for fighters. Whoever loses should take responsibility. Only cowards make excuses and Cotto or Pacquiao are not cowards. The fans and the writers are the ones making the excuses for them. No one should fight this fight outside the ring. Whoever wins will be worthy of respect. Whoever loses is still worthy of honor for both fighters are going against the odds.
Jack Cole

Woooow! This is not correct! Hey there mr writer? Just as stated by the previous posts, you should have checked your facts straitgh before making this article.. I don’t want to repeat myself, however, do you really know the WW bracket? Don’t you bother reading previous articles to support your information?

Tanga ka magno!

This article is not only biased but a hater! Better yet you’re too bitter!
john

It’s all about money, who will not give a couple of pounds here and there for a few million dollars. Just enjoy the fight. Everybody wins here. The two fignters will make millions of dollars and we get to watch a good fight.
Chacaroy

Many posters as well as bloggers embarrassingly err when they say that the welter weight limit is 147. They further make themselves sound like fools when they criticise Manny for wanting to fight at a catchweight. The minimum weight in the welter weight division is 141 lbs, the maximum is 147 lbs. Thus, the catchweight of 145 lbs is well within the division and 147 is not. One more pound and it’s into Jr middle! Based on reports I read, Cotto is even heavier than 147. Purportedly, he is 160. If Cotto, is having difficulty meeting the 145 catchweight, as pacquio speculated in another blog, I suspect he is having difficulty meeting 147, as well. He has no business hanging around the WW division! Posters and bloggers should be criticizing Cotto, instead.
Jman

What a shame! How can this writer even write such article..Get your facts straight Mr. Magno..Im surprised they are paying you money to write garbage articles!
blizz

If you think that pac is all hype then you are a whack! Pac does not even need to talk smack to sell fights. Pacman is fighting the way he fights even before he was a amateur fighther. It’s either you are a pachater or a cottonuthugger.
michael

tsk tsk the have created excuses already and the ffight has not yet already began…i pity these people, theyre not giving credit when the credit is due…mybe that’s hhow the world works
Jack Cole

booohhoooo ungas na magno! Gung-gong ka! Gulo ng article mo!
Hapa

Chacaroy, you hit it right on the head! Everybody should read it. If 147 lbs is the only weight for WW and only 140 is for Jr WW, then I feel sorry for those who fall in between- they cannot fight for any title! Well, they can create new divisions for them, for example, the catchweight 141 lbs division, and the catchweight 146 lbs division. I know it sounds pretty stupid, but it is in line with writers and posters who keep saying the WW limit is 147 lbs.
je

sometimes what we read can misslead us! sometimes can enlighten us! may the best writer wins!
BisDak

The Ref and the 3 judges on this fight will be hounding your crappy blogger A$$.
You’re accusing them of fixing this bout already.
Speedy

Relax Paul Magno. Your man Cotto will be sent soundly to sleep by Pacquiao so the judges score cards will be rendered imaterial and insignificant.

Prepare your next article after Nov 14. Something like, I was wrong and yeah Cotto is not the same person, weight drained etc, etc…
Erik

Another idiotic writer, that doesn’t know anything about boxing! Paul, get a real job, and stop writing about a sport you know nothing about. For your information, 145 pounds is considered welterweight, and now you’re saying the judges are in favor of Pacman? Paul, stop using drugs, your brains, or what little is left is deteriorating!
atomicboxer

lets just be man enough to face defeat….if pacman wins by KO it means he’s a better boxer….if cotto wins he’s ang better boxer….don’t just make excuses….it makes pacman eager to win by KO because of this articles….
smiley

manny is fighting a man and not a boy. miguel is man enough to make the right decision. if you think miguel is at a disadvantage even before the fight, make a formal complaint at the right authority…
the outcome is plain and simple, THE BETTER MAN WILL WIN…no alibis please…
http://familyfinancialhelpusa.com/ Johanne

Why do people sound as if “catchweight” was invented by Pacquiao. Catchweights have been in existence even before to make a fight between a smaller fighter and a bigger fighter more fair. Just look at Sugar Ray Leonard when he won his (then record equalling) fifth title in a fifth different weightclass in a catchweight bout(Tommy Hearns won his fifth title in five different weight classes two weeks earlier than Leonard). Do people rip Leonard for it? No because it was legitimate.

Secondly, The Welterweight limit is 147 lbs. It simply means that a fighter should not exceed 147 lbs. But any fight wherein the fighters weigh in between 140-147 is still considered a legitimate welterweight fight.

Thirdly, Miguel Cotto weighed 146 against Joshua Clottey. It’s not like Cotto would have difficulty to make 145lbs – why else was he confident in agreeing with the catchweight.

Hence, putting the title on the line is completely legitimate. The only reason why Cotto didn’t want the fight to be a title fight was because of the sanctioning fees. But now that Bob Arum has agreed to pay for the sanctioning fees himself, then Cotto agreed to put his title on the line.
faq_u

faq u magno…
Yes Yo!

Mr. Magno, what is your basis in saying that Cotto is stepping into a ring full of Pacquiao-friendly officials? This is just baloney! Are you already making an advance excuse for Cotto losing the fight by decision? Well. don’t bother, ‘coz the fight will end by KO, in Manny’s favor. But even if the fight does go the distance, please remember that Cotto is a “fader” and Manny is a much more conditioned athlete who can go non-stop every round for the full 12 rounds. He has proven that time and again. So, if its going to be a decision (which I doubt), it will probably be in Manny’s favor.
smiley

as par as I can remember Pacman’s corner originally wants 143lbs. they give in to COTTO to make it 145lbs.
WHO FORCED THE CATCHWEIGHT AT 145LBS?
WHERE ARE YOU GETTING YOUR TWISTED INFORMATION?
EMREAL

THIS IS AN INTERESTING FIGHT. Every time Pacman gets to fight a bigger man, his haters always discredit him (how ironic!), telling everyone that it’s so unfair for his opponent being weight-drained. BUT NOBODY AMONG THIS HATERS even think about Pacman being OVERWEIGHT and fighting BIGGER MAN?!! These guys ALWAYS SEE the WEIGHT DRAINED issue because PACMAN always win! If Pacman loses, they would see the OVERWEIGHT and dont-fight-a-bigger-man issue. What an idiotic analysis!

I would have had sympathy for these haters HAD PACMAN’s OPPONENTS been “forced” to fight him at HIS WEIGHT (now 135-140lbs), BUT NO, THERE IS A CATCH WEIGHT!!! There is ALWAYS a catch weight!

JUST STOP all these whining and just wait for the result. WIN or LOSE, PACMAN and COTTO are already two of the boxing greats in this generation!

PS: How does this leave FLOYD MAYWEATHER who, although admittedly very good, couldn’t even finish off a SMALLER, OVERWEIGHT Marquez?
ester magno

your not a good writer, your quite a biased and beside d point
ester magno

Your a bad writer, change your profession. A qood writer is firm and unbiased. Were d same surname but quite sure i dont believe in you.
ester magno

your pretending to be a journalist
ester magno

my fellow magno is pretending to be a journalist! He is the Public Relations (PR) of COTTO.
ester magno

CHANGE YOUR PROFESSION NOW!
Adama Nelson

Modern boxing mafia is only in the mind of a racist people like you Paul who will never accept Cotto’s defeat to a little man from Asia until Manny beat the Klitschko brothers.

You are only making an excuse if the little Pacman defeated the Great Cotto. You blind yourself deeply, Cotto only has huge body fats while the little Pacman has pure muscles (call him steriod guy like the greatest trainer of all time Mayweather Sr). Research for their body statistics and say how big Cotto is againts Manny.

This is very hard for the small Asian country to make history specially in boxing. But, if Pacman win again this time, only the wise will give credit to him but not you.
cockfighter

Who is this Paul Magno? Dude consult your psychiatrist, there must be something bothering you.
bs

STOP BEING A HATER. GROW UP, KID. ARE YOU AN AMATEUR WRITER?
WANGXI

Magno, I’ll grant that your opinions were made sans subjective bias. I’ll take your article as blaming the Cotto camp for their lousiness and thirst for a big paycheck why they nodded to a “Pac-favored” match-up. But I cringe at the thought, judging by the many responses you get, that you’d headline “Pacman” in your succeeding articles to get hits. And I’ll also remind you that Pac and Cotto will fight like real fighters in the ring — with, without or despite your opinions.
GUEST

FIX YOUR MIND MR. MAGNO…
miguel

JOURNALISM AT IT’S WORST!!!
rodel

You must have missed to take your meds again as ordered by your psychiatrist.
Paul Magno

LOL…

Yes, Welterweight is anything over 140 up to 147. So, what was the purpose of the arbitrary 145 weight? This designation degrades the victory if Pacquiao wins, which I think he will.

To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time that a sanctioned world title fight has been contested at a fixed weight within the weight class…

I like both Cotto and Pacquiao, both are credits to the sport, but Team Pacquiao has done an outstanding job at cancelling out every possible advantage that Cotto brings to the bout.

Team Pacquiao has won this bout in the negotiations…
conrad philips

Obviously, the writer is a noob. No one forced Cotto to sign in any fight contract unless he truly knows what the consequences are. You are treating Cotto like a kid who does not seem to understand anything..The writer is a noob, probably someone who lost his job and now posing as boxing writer….
smiley

HEY, MR. PAUL MAGNO, KINDLY CHECK THE BOUT BETWEEN DELAHOYA & HOPKINS AND LALONDE AND LEONARD….THEY ARE BOTH CHAMPIONSHIP FIGHTS…AND PLS READ ALSO OTHER ARTICLE SO THAT YOUR HISTORY IS NOT CONFINED…
rAncOn

……can’t believe i waste my time reading this article…….
bolo punch

tsk, tsk, tsk… sad to see people always finding reasons to downplay and put in doubt pacquiao’s quest for greatness. it would be unfair to both pacquiao and cotto to have their fight which has historic magnitude to be put under a cloud of suspicion.
CELESTINO PETALLAR

The fight between MP & MC may go in either way. If it’s true that MC’s weight is still at 150 plus by now, then there is no way that he will win the fight because he has a lot of things to do to make the weight. And by doing so, he will be physically exhausted and tired comes fight night. The only chance that he has would be his lucky punch if it comes, but the possibility is very remote because of MP’S speed. And granting that the report is not accurate and MC makes weight with ease, then the fight boils down to speed versus strength. From there, we could ask whether or not MC can hit MP? Assuming that MC can hit MP, can MP take the punch? How about if its MP who hits MC, can the latter take MP’s punch. So, the detemining factor in this fight may come to light only comes fight night. But we’ll do pray that both may not be harm badly that may cause disability (GOD FORBIDS).
Flydragon

Moronic Magno.
Research before you write. Idiot.
It is Cotto who wants 145 lbs, pacquiao wants 143 lbs.
Welterweight is 141 – 147 lbs.
Pacquiao has the Junior welterweight belt, Cotto the welterweight. Cotto has no belt when he fought Jennings. Cotto should have voluntarily put his belt on line, but he had to be forced to do it. 145 lbs is very much closer to 147(Cotto’s weight) than 140(Pacquiao’s weight). Pacquiao’s body frame is smaller than Cotto’s. You are already laying your excuses if Cotto loses. What an a$$hole of a writer. You Cotto supporter should believe in Cotto; instead you clearly doubted him. Now, it’s clear. You are trying to fix Cotto! It is you who is fixing Cotto’s mind. Thanks for your help. I hope Cotto reads your article.
ares

the truth is cotto agreed to 145lb catchweight ,without the title on the line. It was only after this was agreed upon pacmans camp come out and said there was no use fighting cotto if the title was not on the line. wbo then stepped in and said cotto must defend the welterweight title even though its at a catchweight. this is wrong. ww is anywhere between 140 and 147, not 140-145. its only becaause pacmans now a cashcow that wbo ranked him no.1 contender without even having 1 fight at ww, therefore forcing cotto to defend. ive followed pacman for a long time and i think he is one of the best eever, but dont tell me this 145 crap is fair to cotto. if pacman does win i ddont want to hear anyone say hes won 7 titles in 7 divisions, it will only be 6 1/2. what would the reaction be if floyd said he wanted to fight for paul williams jnr.middleweight belt but not at the limit of 154. lets make it 151. this sort of shit kills the sport of boxing that i love. how could anyone in there right mind think this is legitimate?
Paul Magno

@Conrad

No, not a noob…just a realist who understands that a big part of most battles happen outside the ring…

Tossing the biggest payday of his life to a fighter who has gone without a monster payday thus far and is nearing the end of his career is a “must take” fight.

Cotto had every right to expect his promotional company and the sanctioning body he represents as champ to, at the very least, be fair as negotiations started.

Blaming Cotto for signing a contract that belittled his status as one of the sport’s best is like blaming a thirsty man for drinking his water too fast.

Team Pacquiao used Manny’s popularity and influence to lure Cotto into an offer he couldn’t refuse…
Carlito

If this is not fair to Cotto (having to fight at a catchweight of 145lbs) then how fair would it be to Pacquiao who came all the way up just to meet the weight Cotto required him just to make the fight possible?

Cotto is a natural welterweight whose last fight weighed at 146. He has been fighting at that division for nearly the entirety of his professional boxing career. And Pacquiao has been fighting at 130 lbs and fought last at 140lbs against Ricky Hatton. Although his fight against ODLH was at 147 he went all the way up and had to gain several pounds just to make the fight happen.

What would be fair to you making Cotto fight the obviously much smaller Pacquiao at his own preference, and his natural weight, of 147? And ask him to stake all the feat he had done in the past including having the P4P title?

That is ridiculous, to say the least.

————————-

the truth is cotto agreed to 145lb catchweight ,without the title on the line. It was only after this was agreed upon pacmans camp come out and said there was no use fighting cotto if the title was not on the line. wbo then stepped in and said cotto must defend the welterweight title even though its at a catchweight. this is wrong. ww is anywhere between 140 and 147, not 140-145. its only becaause pacmans now a cashcow that wbo ranked him no.1 contender without even having 1 fight at ww, therefore forcing cotto to defend. ive followed pacman for a long time and i think he is one of the best eever, but dont tell me this 145 crap is fair to cotto. if pacman does win i ddont want to hear anyone say hes won 7 titles in 7 divisions, it will only be 6 1/2. what would the reaction be if floyd said he wanted to fight for paul williams jnr.middleweight belt but not at the limit of 154. lets make it 151. this sort of shit kills the sport of boxing that i love. how could anyone in there right mind think this is legitimate?

Posted by ares | November 9, 2009, 12:02 am
nuetral corner

Paul there is probability in your analysis, but boxing is a game of wit, speed and power which is played before the actual fight. Sorry for the sucker who is already on the losing side of the game.