The Curse of the Smiling Albatross
That’s it then.
No matter how many rounds he’s put in the bank……no matter how many hours Papa Cotto studies his opponent’s defence……how well he has repaired his shattered ego….. or how finely he’s tuned his left hook to the liver…..Miguel Cotto is doomed.
Oscar De la Hoya has tipped him to win.
Like death himself, shrouded in raven, grinning beautifully and waving a huge, foreboding scythe, the one time boxing superstar has cast the murkiest of shadows over the Puerto Rican’s chances by picking him to triumph over the incredible Manny Pacquiao.
Here are a selection of Oscar’s recent Nostrodamus-like predictions:
Juan Manuel Marquez v Floyd Mayweather
“Marquez has a tremendous jab and will to win. If Marquez does for 12 rounds what I did [against Mayweather] for seven rounds, he can win the fight easily. It doesn’t take all the power in the world; it just takes planning your shots right. It takes smarts. And that’s what Marquez has. He’s one of the smartest fighters on the planet…….Mayweather will want to prove that he can stand in front of a smaller guy with no problem. That’s when things will start to unfold in Marquez’s favor. Mayweather is not invincible. I truly feel Marquez will expose him”.
Ricky Hatton v Manny Pacquiao
“I’m gonna go with my guy,” said De La Hoya, who was sent into retirement with a savage beating by Pacquiao last December. “I believe in Ricky, I believe in my trainer that I have for many years, Floyd Mayweather Sr.I respect Manny Pacquiao, I respect Freddie Roach. Great fighter, great trainer, but I’m gonna go with Ricky Hatton.”
Ricky Hatton v Floyd Mayweather
“Put me against a wall and ask me who I think will win, I’ll pick Ricky Hatton. “I can see Floyd being over-confident. Ricky is younger and hungrier and he wants to prove to the whole world that he is a real fighter and can beat the best. I don’t see it difficult at all for Ricky to win. I’ve been in there with Floyd and I know that his punching power is limited. I was actually leaving my head for him to hit me and honestly I didn’t really feel anything”.
and his latest………..bookmakers take note……….
Miguel Cotto v Manny Pacquiao
“Cotto has a good chin and a big heart. He’s a natural welterweight who hits hard and is also smart and fast. Pacquiao doesn’t hit hard enough to knock anyone out in the welterweight division. I’m basing that on my fight against Pacquiao. I could’ve stood there and put my face in front of him and he couldn’t have hurt me. I think Cotto is a smart fighter. I think he’ll get through those first few rounds and in a smart way he’ll walk down Pacquaio and possibly stop him in the later rounds”.
Okay, okay I get it. In all of the above tragic selections, Oscar was merely picking the fighter he held an interest in but let’s be honest, there are ways and means of backing your man without subjecting youself to an egg facial. It could be the most emaciated of thinly veiled attempts to woo a fighter in Cotto, who may or may not, be miffed at being thrown to the wolves against a stablemate his promoter sees more mileage in, but nonetheless an Oscar pick is bad news for the pickee.
Also, what to make of his comment that the Filipino buzzsaw can’t hurt welterweights? Last I remember, he made a light middleweight quit on his stool with a bashed in face and put a big light welterweight into la la land for the full count of 10…….thousand……oh yeah and the light middleweight was De la Hoya.
- I’m struggling mightily to put a coherent article together which encapsulates my travels in October and therefore don’t have time to post up previews for a couple other scraps occurring this weekend. Firstly I think Chad Dawson will again outpoint the Jason Vorhees of light heavyweights Glen Johnson, in spite of his annoying habit of taking full rounds off at a time. I don’t see much changing from the first bout, Johnson’s like that, he doesn’t let you do much more than arguably outpoint him, the guy’s a monster. Fair play to ‘Bad’ Chad for getting back in there with him.
- Martin Rogan finally gets his chance of revenge over Sam Sexton tomorrow evening in Belfast, a fight I originally had tickets for before an injury to ‘Rogie’ pushed it back a month. I think Rogan will be too intense for Sexton and with a rollicking crowd behind him, will stop his man late in what will in all probability be another rousing affair.
- David Haye has caught the imagination of non-fight fans in a big way. There have been people jabbering about his fight with Russian behemoth Valuev all week at work…..hell there are people having Haye-Valuev parties!!!
Boxing needs a spectacular Haye victory like Oscar De la Hoya needs Marty McFly’s sports almanac.
