On June 13 at the Madison Square Garden in New York, the Manny Pacquiao sweepstakes is in full swing as Puerto Rico's Miguel Angel Cotto [33(27)-1(1)-0] will defend his WBO Welterweight title against former IBF champ Joshua Clottey [35(20)-2(0)-0] of Ghana. This could've been a unification fight if Clottey did not unintentionally relinquish his title. A blog entry on April 17 describes the circumstances behind the relinquishment as well as my 2 cents. Both boxers' last loss was against the controversial Antonio Margarito so if you ask me, Cotto's undefeated and Clottey only has one blemish in his record. Cotto is favored specially with the crowd behind him on Puerto Rican day. A win will also likely give him the inside track to secure the biggest purse of his career. Cotto and Pacquiao, as well as Clottey, are Top Rank stablemates which would make it easier for Bob Arum to finalize a fight between them than against Golden Boy fighters or Floyd Mayweather Jr. Clottey has been barely mentioned as a possible Pacquiao opponent but he can state his case if he upsets Cotto. Clottey has more than a legitimate chance of pulling it off. HBO will televise starting at 10:35 pm ET.
In the undercard, Ivan Calderon [32(6)-0(0)-0] also of Puerto Rico will defend his WBO Mini Flyweight and Ring Strawweight titles against Rodel Mayol [25(19)-3(2)-0] of the Philippines. Unfortunately, HBO is not picking this up in its TV coverage. That means I got to keep tabs with boards that normally have threads announcing streaming videos. The normally active Calderon has been out of the ring in more than nine months due to a badly lacerated forehead in his last fight against Hugo Fidel Cazares. He could either be fresh and revived or rusty and vulnerable. Mayol hopes for the latter as this is his best chance to finally capture a title after two tries. Having lost 3 of his last 6, Mayol is lucky to get another title shot. A Calderon-Brian Viloria unification bout is highly probable if Calderon survives this fight unscathed.
My Predictions:
Cotto only by decision because he'll be more active and it is difficult to knock Clottey out.
Calderon by decision because he's a technician not a KO artist.
In the undercard, Ivan Calderon [32(6)-0(0)-0] also of Puerto Rico will defend his WBO Mini Flyweight and Ring Strawweight titles against Rodel Mayol [25(19)-3(2)-0] of the Philippines. Unfortunately, HBO is not picking this up in its TV coverage. That means I got to keep tabs with boards that normally have threads announcing streaming videos. The normally active Calderon has been out of the ring in more than nine months due to a badly lacerated forehead in his last fight against Hugo Fidel Cazares. He could either be fresh and revived or rusty and vulnerable. Mayol hopes for the latter as this is his best chance to finally capture a title after two tries. Having lost 3 of his last 6, Mayol is lucky to get another title shot. A Calderon-Brian Viloria unification bout is highly probable if Calderon survives this fight unscathed.
My Predictions:
Cotto only by decision because he'll be more active and it is difficult to knock Clottey out.
Calderon by decision because he's a technician not a KO artist.
No comments:
Post a Comment