FIREPOWER AT LAS VEGAS: THE PRE-FIGHT READINGS

FIREPOWER AT LAS VEGAS
(The Pre-Fight Readings)

By Doods A. Amora, PEE

PACMAN Vs. COTTO!

RP (Republic of the Philippines) vs. PR (Puerto Rico)!

A display of contrasting firepower will again radiate to engulf the boxing world. Soon to take place in the now favourite combat capital known as the desert city of Las Vegas, the big engagement is on November 15 (Philippine Time) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Blazing Asteroids from the Skies: Featuring Guided Projectiles, Modern Artilleries and Novel Weapons of Demolition!

And New Breed of Heroes, too - in a different kind of War! And excitement in the superlative degree is assured. Boxing will again be alive. With all the guaranteed thrill and adventure, it will surely be the biggest boxing event of the year! THE WBO WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE WORLD!

FIREPOWER draws divergent forebodings and wherefores amongst boxing pundits crazy on the sport. Visions, speculations and predictions all the time precede great battles as emotions fly high amidst the horror of the unknown – the terror on the aftermath from the blast of uncertainty...

Who will partake in the spoils of the war? The Filipinos or the Puerto Ricans? The protagonists being living icons in their respective countries, so much national pride is at stake in this superfight!

I am one of those who fear for it... As a Filipino and together with my countless cohorts; we are looking up for the best that can happen in this episode. Following the country’s devastating natural misfortunes coming one after another, we need a respite and that breather must be a big hit - a huge win by Manny Pacquiao!


READING THE PACMAN

Manny Pacquiao, the Filipino, is the Tornado from the East. The Pacific Storm... so to speak.

Pacman, The Most Exciting Fighter of the Planet is The Pound-for-Pound Best in the World!

Now fighting for the Welterweight (147 lbs) Championship of the World, everyone knows the phenomenon of this once-upon-a-time 106 pounder. As never before imagined, Pacquaio had gone past David Diaz, Oscar Dela Hoya and Ricky Hatton in stunning & devastating subjugation over these big men. In these fights, multitudes of fight fans and boxing experts could not believe the conclusion of the perceived but in reality, conflicting mismatches. Now, the small Pinoy fights big – and every time he fights, boxing becomes alive again.

Pacman's cat-quick footwork will surely run around circles - bringing him to hit at will on Miguel’s facade, most likely in a much better performance from his previous Diaz, Dela Hoya and Hatton fights. With the dreaded ‘Manila Ice’ lurking in the background and the game-ending ‘Left Cross or Left Straight’, a knock-out in the first round is certainly threatening. As we knew, speed from all angles kills.

Freddie Roach, the Coach, in a complete departure from his earlier pronouncement that the fight would go the full distance, now is predicting a first round knock-out. He must have seen it, I believe. Or probably he sees a setback should the fight goes the distance. Or perhaps, Freddie, the shrink, the master battle psychologist, must have brought Cotto under his skin into the proverbial “Roach Trap”. Of course, that's Freddie's patented secret.

Whatever it is, with Freddie engineering the attack, the Pacman has the capability to do it. Cotto, they say, is hittable. Cotto is a slow starter and is perceived vulnerable in the early rounds... Cotto all the while is wide open for lead lefts and left counters.

Expectedly, Pacquiao’s offense must be in high gear from the beginning to end. And remember, although Pacman’s defense is his offense - but not anymore, because brand new sorties reminiscent of Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do and Dumeniko Du Surigao’s Nimo Naranai Do are already in his arsenal as revealed in the Hatton fight. That certainly will give Miguel a pile of perflexing problems.

READING MIGUEL COTTO

TOUGHNESS: No doubt, Miguel Cotto is bigger and stronger – a good number of experts including his trainer, say so. Even Pacquiao himself acknowledged this disadvantage. Miguel is expected to climb the ring at 160 lbs while Pacquiao at 150 lbs or a difference of some 10 big poundage. Nonetheless, Cotto has excellent boxing skills which can't be ignored with more importantly, a finishing brutal knock-out power delivered in precise timing and uncanny accuracy most of the time in the middle and later rounds.

Note that the tough Puerto Rican Miguel Angel Cotto is no-ordinary. He is a smart-thinking fighter who can do adjustments while the game is being played. Versatile as he is, he can be a pressure brawler all night or a boxer as well, it depends on the situation. He also can act as a counter-puncher and a monster in his signature sledgehammer body attacks. And if he hits, he hits big!

The once mighty Ricky Hatton, to me, would have no chance with Miguel Cotto. Then history tells us that Miguel Cotto defeated the super-quick and strong Shane Mosley, the powerful Jab Judah, the sleek Joshua Clottey and the rest of real big guys all in their prime in this shark-infested welterweight division. Miguel had been wobbled a few times in his career but emerges as the victor all the time except for one. His only but contestable defeat was in the ‘hard(ened) hands’ of Antonio Margarito. And he could have defeated Oscar dela Hoya had he had the chance of meeting him in the ring.

HUNGER: This time hungrier than Manny, expect the best of Cotto during fight night. After the Margarito debacle and the ‘not-so-great’ performance against Joshua Clottey, he needs to show to the world that he is still the real deal in the division. Note that Cotto is for real at least for now. Cotto is still young. ‘His brutal artistry is both exciting and terrifying to watch. Every shot he throws is with bad intentions and Jab Judah’s face bore witness to the destructive trade that Cotto plied’ as one international boxing analyst beautifully put it.

But he needs to win this one, big! A defeat to Pacman especially via a 'knock-out' one will send him to retirement. His stock will nose-dive to the cellars and nobody will believe in him anymore. On the other hand, a win even by a split decision will propel him to the mega-buck clash with Pretty Boy Floyd. After all, win or lose with Mayweather will ensure him of an income not consumable in his whole lifetime.

SERIOUS TRAINING: Cotto needs stamina to fight the Pacman. In his fight with Joshua Clottey, it went through the distance - in fact, he got a split decision. In that fight, he seemed to have tired in the final rounds. With Antonio Margarito, at the 11th round, he was TKO’d when he was already tired. In his episode with Jab Judah, although he TKO’d Judah in the 11th round, he was visibly losing steam. One thing good in that fight was that Judah was also exhausted from the beatings of Miguel.

Now I understand why Miguel needs to train longer...

Self-determined, he took three months in a regimen of continuous, uninter-rupted training. Ahead of one month, he knew he has to slowly taper his weight down to the catch weight of 145 lbs. Reminiscence of the Dela Hoya lesson must have prompted him. As of the time of this writing, he had arrived at Las Vegas appearing trimmed and seemingly ready for war. But whether or not the fearsome figure is a manifestation of actual power or a weakness as a result of starvation will be interesting to watch. Cotto had been secretive in his training. He could have pulled punches as shown in his 'slow motion' work-outs for the media not to feast on. Hmmm...

ABILITY TO ABSORB PUNISHMENT: In his fights with the all-time great welterweights, backpedalling was never seen in his vocabulary but Miguel had always been focused & composed. As one notable sports writer said, “his relentless determination showed a seeming inability to take a single step backwards, and an apparent indifference to pain. Cotto’s relentlessness was simply too much for Judah; Cotto was all over him, never allowing him time to establish any sort of rhythm”.

I can now imagine, Miguel will do the same signature with Pacquaio. But then, can he endure, in the words of David Diaz, "the bladed twin fists of the Pacman"?

DIRTY TRICKS: In this year’s biggest blockbuster card, Cotto, 34-1, 27 KO’s, will defend his WBO welterweight title against Pacquiao, 49-3-2, 37 KO’s. Although Miguel Cotto is the champion, it’s Pacquaio, the challenger, who is the man to beat. The odds are showing so. But how can Miguel defeat Manny? To beat Pacman, Miguel must be in super-explosive physical condition and should not weather out until the last round. With three straight months of training, that no doubt I assumed has been achieved. Miguel's chances, to my mind, would be the famed sledgehammer left hooks to the body in the late rounds, granting he survives Manny's early on-slaughts.

But last, not the least - the dirty tricks! When Judah stunned Miguel with a lead left uppercut in the first round, Miguel resorted to burly low blows. And it happened again in the later rounds. I am not sure if he did it intentionally but many believe he is capable of doing such tricks. In a must-win situation, that brought me to the thought that ala Pretty Boy Floyd, Miguel will report for duty at 147 lbs. Even with a $ 2 million penalty, what’s important is the win! If that happens, I would not be surprised...


READING THE HOUSE OF CARDS

This time the Pacman is in his expedition to affix his seventh world championship diadem in seven weight divisions never before accomplished by any gladiator in the sport. Will history be kind to the Pacman?

Well, it has to be. Pacman is the all-time favourite in this match-up. Majority of the so-called connoisseurs are for Pacman’s triumph. I am for it. My friends of course are in it.

But Pacman’s recent fights are not without intrigues and hi-octane skepticisms. How much threshold can a diminitive Pacman gobble up & swallow more than he can chew in the heavier division? Note that David Diaz was just a lightweight. Oscar dela Hoya was not the same as who he was in his prime. Now 'you know' and we know that Ricky Hatton was over-rated and no way matching with Pacquaio’s level. Now at full welterweight, Miguel Cotto, the Champion could be the real deal.

But what goes up must come down. Pacquiao has been winning fights in a long streak. Pacquiao is undefeated in almost five years, on a 10-bout winnings over the biggest names in boxing and now on the verge of becoming a world champion in seven weight divisions. Gunning for his 50th win and 38th KO’s, now he might have forgotten how it is like to lose. He might be in the cloud nine of the false wisdom of invincibility. As I said in my previous article, he has already been on top of the world. Intoxicatingly powerful in such a mood, is Manny taking Cotto lightly? I hope not.

In these times, nobody can beat Pacquiao, except himself. But Manny’s legendary hard training work ethics is now becoming a sneaking conjecture. With interruptions, his training is perceived not as intense as his training for Diaz, Dela Hoya and the Hatton episodes. Inputting into the equation the now recurring tight shooting schedules for movies & commercials, and the perennial distractions - natural calamities or political or personal; observers quip that Manny must have again back to the old habit of just preparing himself up to the par or the skills of his opponent. Again, is Manny taking Cotto lightly? Is the Baguio stint working for his boxing’s best interest?

Roach’s pronouncements have always been in the positive. But Freddie must have known more and may have withheld some lapses which are not palatable to box-office sensibilities. Understandably, one of Freddie’s jobs is to hype the fight. To Manny’s ledger, Roach is just part of his payroll’s list, as I previously wrote. And Freddie has to keep this lucrative employment intact.

But latest reports are disturbing. Is Pacman’s house in danger of collapsing? I fear to imagine the distraction and the destruction of focus created by these recent scenes. Sleeping with the enemy, is Team Pacquiao's downfall creeping from within? Even Coach Par Excellence Freddie Roach himself and Conditioning Coach Alex Ariza now seem to be in the endangered species - candidates for purging later? Somebody’s undertones must have pierced some of the Boss’ ears. I hope it won’t get through, by the way...

I apologize, but that’s the words of careless whispers creeping in the grapevines of the boxing world! The world knows, even Buboy Fernandez, Pacman’s best friend, doesn’t like 'the guy named Michael Koncz'.


READING THE OUTCOME

It is my belief then that Pacquaio, the world's most exciting boxer, the singer, the product endorser, the model, the movie star, the politician - all rolled into one package, will prevail in this fight. It may not be easy but after breaking down Cotto in the earlier rounds, Pacquiao will win by a spectacular Knock-Out between the fifth and seventh rounds.

A devastating combo punctuated by a finale of left lead uppercuts will do it. And Miguel Angel Cotto will join the likes of Hatton in the Wonderland. I hope I’m not wrong this time.

What goes up, must come down? No, not this time. Probably, during the Mayweather encounter when Manny trains himself. If that happens, it's not bad for retirement, anyway...


Doods
11/03/09

See you again in this blogsite come November 16.