Boxing Updates: Latest Boxing Event

Finally, Bob Arum’s Top Rank Promotions officially confirms, July 20, 2009, that the Manny Pacquiao versus Miguel Cotto fight is sealed. The super-fight is scheduled this November 14 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas at a catch-weight of 145 pounds. This is the result of what has been a really interesting negotiation between both camps.

The legitamcy of the match-up, the purse split, and the amount of interest it generates are just some of the issues that slowed down the development of the Pacquiao-Cotto fight. Sugar Shane Mosley and along other fighters in the ‘Pacquiao Derby’ complicated things when they called out for a fight against Manny Pacquiao. But, Cotto is the number one contender for Manny Pacquiao. Both fighters were eager to face each other, making the negotiations relatively simple after Pacquiao agreed to the 145-pound weight limit insisted upon by Cotto’s trainer.

“With Manny, you don’t tell him who to fight,” Arum said. “He tells you who he wants to fight. He’s not afraid of anything. There’s a lot of easier guys he could fight, but he doesn’t want that. He wants the best, and that’s Miguel.”

This is perhaps one of the greatest challenges that the pound-for-pound fighter will be facing. Miguel is a highly ranked and a very skilled opponent. Miguel Cotto had beaten Joshua Clottey of Ghana via a split decision, suffering a serious cut on an accidental head butt during their fight. But his performance during that fight was not that bad. He still proves to be a grave threat to Manny Pacquiao.

Everybody knows the kind of speed that Manny Pacquiao has and it might still be his advantage against Miguel Cotto, who is clearly slower compared to the former. But Miguel Cotto is very skilled, a good body puncher and has a high knockout percentage. Technically, either fighters have any advantage, as of this moment, against the other going into this fight.

However, we are still plagued with so many questions. Will Cotto be able to handle his weight drop to 145 lbs.? Will Pacquiao be able to handle the punches of the biggest and strongest man he has ever faced? Will Cotto be able to keep up with Manny Pacquiao’s speed? Who will emerge victorious?

Tickets for the Pacquiao-Cotto super-fight will go in sale this coming August.

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Amir Khan (21-1, 15KOs), 2004 Olympic silver medalist, proved to the whole world that he can bring superfights in the Junior Welterweight boxing division after easily defeating Andreas Kotelnik (31-3-1, 13KOs). Amir Khan took out Kotelnik by a 12-round unanimous decision, acquiring Kotelnik’s WBA light welterweight title at the M.E.N. Arena, in Manchester.

During the fight, Amir Khan had shown his huge improvement under his new trainer Freddie Roach. Amir Khan definitely improved his speed over Kotelnik, which gave him control of the pace of the fight. Khan started aggressively, but Kotelnik gave a strong late outburst. Generally, Khan dominated Kotelnik in terms of power and speed, but mostly in terms of power. In addition to that, Khan was more defensive in his fighting style. His habit of exposing his chin was lessened as he would tuck his chin and move around to keep out of Kotelnik’s punching range.

Unfortunately, Kotelnik became very complacent, giving Khan the chance to find his groove. He should have given his best from the start. In boxing, you can’t allow your opponent to establish his rhythm, or else you will be in great danger.

Another thing that I had noticed was, it seemed that Andreas Kotelnik lacked power during that fight, since Kotelnik’s punches after round six did not seem to have any effect on Khan. He needed a punch that could upset Khan’s rhythm and style, but he was never able to find that punch.

Kotelnik had difficulty with Khan’s speed, making it hard for him to quickly shift from defense to offense and vice versa. But he still did a good job of not getting too overwhelmed by Khan. Andreas Kotelnik should be given credit for not giving up so easily.

The judges’ scores were 120-108, 118-111, and 118-111.

Khan-Hatton

After defeating Andreas Kotelnik, Khan’s trainer Freddie Roach says that his fighter could be looking at a possible fight with another British boxer, Ricky Hatton. However, promoter Frank Warren had advised Ricky Hatton to retire and avoid the showdown with the current WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan.

Frank Warren was Ricky Hatton’s former promoter, but they split and Warren is now Amir Khan’s current promoter.

Ricky Hatton is still in the hospital for some unknown reason and there is still no telling if Ricky Hatton would insist on challenging Amir Khan for a super fight.

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Former British boxing champion Ricky Hatton, 30 years old, remains in the hospital in Manchester with a suspected stomach virus. He was admitted early Tuesday to Tameside General Hospital when he had complained about severe stomach cramps and chest pains.

Some fans had thought that Ricky Hatton have caught the dreaded swine flu, but doctors had already ruled swine flu out. The doctors also initially believed that the former IBF junior welterweight champion Ricky Hatton was suffering from a bad case of food poisoning. However, tests are still being conducted to further validate their diagnosis.

“He suffered sever stomach cramps and was in absolute agony. It was thought at first he had swine flu but it seems he had caught some kind of gastric bug,” Ray Hatton explained.

His agent Paul Speak said: “He is still waiting for the results, but he could be allowed home on Friday.”

Ricky Hatton’s father, Ray Hatton, was told by the doctors that his son might have had the virus for a while now but was not able to realize it.

Ricky Hatton should keep watch of his lifestyle from now on, because his body is also his money machine. If Hatton loses his health, he will also lose income. He should take care of his body and be more careful of what he eats, because he is not getting any younger. And just maybe, he is applying to much pressure to his body.

Right now, there is a possibility that Ricky Hatton (45-2, 32 KO’s) will be returning to the ring this November to face the unbeaten WBA welterweight champion Vyacheslav Senchenko (29-0, 20 KO’s). But to me, Senchenko is not the best choice for him to fight. Ricky Hatton could be in big trouble against him, since Senchenko has the winning momentum on his side. In addition to that, Senchenko is a really skilled boxer.

Amir Khan is also one of his potential opponents, however he has to win against Andreas Kotelnik this Saturday night to be able to get a receptive fight with Hatton.

Hopefully, Ricky Hatton will get well soon and get his desired comeback fight.

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