Cotto will win

[PDittie]

Not my personal opinion, but one very hard to disagree with.

Firstly Cotto has a tight defense, both gloves held high to his ears, leaving him susceptiable to the uppercut, as demonstrated in the Margarito fight. I feel his defense will hold him in good stead against Manny though, as I don't think his uppercut will threat Cotto, and Cotto's defense should negate Manny's left and right hooks. Because his defense is tight against Manny's best weapons he can stalk him without being overly fearful. And Cotto stalking is Cotto at his best.

Cotto is a very versitile boxer, And Manny isn't comfortable with versitile boxers, note JM Marquez. Cotto can switch hit seamlessly, I feel he has the better jab. Manny will fight to his strenghts, speed and power, lateral and straight line movement. But I think Cotto has had the experince from Mosley and Judah that will help him deal with Manny. Cotto will hit Manny, Oscar or Hatton never did, i think there are big questions about how Manny will deal with being hit by someone as powerful as Cotto, I don't think Manny will have the resistance of a Clotty or Margarito.

Cotto to win mid to late stoppage, with Manny winning on points up until the stoppage.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A59574298

I request Water Man's humble O.

[H2O Man]

1. I have an OP/thread

on the fight. I tend to give Pacquiao an edge, but am able to make a serious case for Cotto.

One of the most interesting things will be where the fight takes place in the first three rounds. (Assuming, obviously, that it goes three or more rounds!) Pacquiao needs to keep the fight in the middle of the ring. Cotto wants to put Manny on the ropes.

A huge factor in this is going to be physical strength. Pacquiao is very strong, but he may find it extremely difficult to deal with Cotto on the inside. If that's the case, then Cotto's chances of forcing Manny to move in a manner that exposes him to Cotto's left hook to the liver increases. We've seen Cotto leave very good fighters twitching on the canvas with that punch, unable to use their legs for longer than that ten count.

Cotto is -- and I only mean inside the ring -- a predator. His loss to Margarito has convinced many that he isn't as good as people expected him to be. The truth is that besides the hand wrap business (and Margarito definitely was loading his hands for many fights), Margarito was much taller, had a significant reach advantage, and entered the ring as a big super middleweight. Having the weigh-ins 36 hours before a fight is both wrong and potentially very dangerous. In this fight, we can expect Cotto to enter the ring as a middleweight. I spoke with someone last night, who confirmed that Cotto is putting on weight, and will be very, very strong tonight. I respect his opinion, and he believes that while Manny should be favored, it could be that Cotto will simply maul him. He said that if that happens, fans will discredit Cotto's victory, because of the size difference.

I have a lot of friends coming over tonight. Any DUers in the region are certainly invited.