According to Arum, Pacquiao vs. Cotto II is likely to happen

By ESB - 08/06/2012 - Comments

By Vitali Shaposhnikov: With the available roster of opposition for Manny Pacquiao, picking a fight should not be too complicated as far as the fight itself goes, but of course there are always financial negotiates, which can stall or even prevent a good fight from coming together. It is safe to assume at this point in time, that Mayweather Jr. vs. Pacquiao fight will not happen until sometime around summer of 2013, and even that is an optimistic hypothesis.

So what will Pacquiao do next? Who will be his next adversary in November of this year?

According to an article on ESPN, Pacquao’s promoter Bob Arum stated the following:

“We could do a Cotto rematch, assuming we can come to an understanding on the weight. Cotto is talking about going to 160 to fight somebody, but we’ve been talking to Gaby and we’ll sort it out. I think Manny would be willing to do it at 150.”

Maybe to some this is not a surprise, but to me it’s definitely an unexpected turn of events. Of all the three main opponents in the running to face Pacquiao next (Timothy Bradley, Juan Manuel Marquez, Miguel Cotto), Arum and Pacquiao might actually give Cotto a re-match.

I see this as a very promising fight, and would love to see Cotto get another shot at Pacman. Having said that, the weight issue is making me think that team Pacquiao might want to drain Cotto again, and will unlikely fight Cotto at his optimal weight. Although since Arum stated that they would be willing to make it at 150lbs, this might turn out to be a dangerous fight for Manny, and a better experience for Cotto.

It is hard to say what will happen, but this is a better fight than Marquez or Bradley in my personal opinion. I would love to see Marquez get another shot, but I just feel that Cotto deserves it more and at the right weight will prove to be a more explosive event.