Manny Pacquiao VS Miguel Cotto

A big opening ticket sale of Manny Pacquiao vs Miguel Cotto Fight! A Pay-per-view showdown. The fight is entitled as “Firepower” less than 1,000 tickets remain at the 16,200-seat MGM Grand Garden Arena. All of the 9,000 seats at $150, $350 and
$500 are completely sold out. The available seats are at the $1,000 and $75 price categories. CEO of Top Rank Bob Arum was elated with the huge response. “We are looking forward to making Pacquiao vs Cotto as one of the greatest box office and Pay Per View successes of all-time,” he said.

An approval from the WBC Board of Governors by a unanimous vote that November 14 welterweight clash between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto (contract weight 145lbs) will be the first ever for the WBC Diamond Belt. “The Diamond Belt has received a tremendous positive response from promoters and media around the world, and we at the WBC are very excited and proud that this important and historic fight will be the first for the Diamond Belt,” said WBC President Jose Sulaiman. “The WBC will not charge a sanction fee on this extraordinary occasion.”

Manny Pacquiao on UFC!

UFC has decided to air UFC 105, on November 14^th from the UK, for free via tape-delay on Spike TV. This is the same night Manny Pacquiao fights Miguel Cotto.

Fight Card

Early indications have UFC loading up the fight card knowing that they face strong competition in Manny Pacquiao. BJ Penn is “penciled” in to headline the event. Penn is one of UFC’s most popular fighters. Michael Bisping, arguably the UK’s biggest MMA draw, is also rumored to be on the card.

Recent Numbers

Pacquiao is without a doubt boxing’s best fighter and arguably its top PPV draw. His last fight drew about 850,000 PPV buys, depending on the source. But, UFC 100 doubled those numbers bringing in round 1.7 million, also depending on the source. In fact, UFC’s last PPV (UFC 101) had over 900,000 PPV buys.

Pacquiao to lose over Cotto

Amidst the snowballing prediction of a Manny Pacquiao win over Miguel Cotto in their November 14 showdown at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, there’s a single voice bold enough to go against the current tide.

Former world champion Paul Malignaggi is betting his money on a Cotto victory over Pacquiao three months before the blockbuster bout is held.

As early as last June when a meeting between Cotto and Pacquiao was still unthinkable, Malignaggi already picked the tough Puerto Rican to walk past the Filipino ring superstar considered today as the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

Now that the face-off has become a reality, the 28-year old American from Brooklyn, New York stands by his earlier choice.

“I still stand by what I said," Malignaggi said in an interview with BoxingScene a day before he takes on former three-time world champion Juan Diaz in a 12-round bout at the Toyota Center in Houston.

“I think Cotto would knock him (Pacquiao) out…..Wait until everyone gets their reality check on November 14."

Although facing a natural welterweight in Cotto for the first time, the 30-year old General Santos City native has been initially installed as a 2-1 favorite to win the bout, owing to his status as the most feared fighter in the world today and to the string of victories he had scored in the last few years that saw him annihilate the likes of Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Marco Antonio Barrera, Eric Morales, David Diaz and Juan Manuel Marquez.

But none of that would make Malignaggi change his mind and switch loyalty to Pacquiao.

For him, Cotto is just too strong for Pacquiao to topple.

“The guy hits like a beast," said the one-time International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior welterweight king.

Malignaggi is an authority when it comes to Cotto.

Both undefeated back then, the two clashed for the World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior welterweight belt in 2006 at the famed Madison Square Garden, with Malignaggi suffering a 12-round decision loss to Cotto, who sent the New York native to the canvass in the second round.

At the end of the fight, Malignaggi had a broken right cheek bone, a bleeding nose and a cut around the left eye caused by a headbutt.

He admitted that the 28-year old Cotto is so far, the best fighter he ever faced in his career.

Malignaggi saw Cotto at his best again as he was at ringside when the Puerto Rican eked out a split decision win against Ghana’s Joshua Clottey to retain his WBO welterweight belt two months ago at the Garden.

“I’ve said it that Clottey would be a tougher fight for Cotto than Pacquiao," he pointed out.

“I think if they even put Pacquiao in the ring with Clottey, Clottey would knock him out also." – GMANews.TV