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The potential match between Cotto and Manny is not far from happening. Manny’s promoter Bob Arum has informed the media on Wednesday that he had met with Cotto’s management representatives just recently, and is looking forward to get things ironed out. He is hoping to have the two fighters be paired on November 28 for a fight.

However, there would only be a few setbacks that might get in the way of arranging the fight. Freddie Roach and Manny Pacquiao wants the bout to take place at a catch weight. Cotto would also have to bring back his former self, because he does not seem to be the same fighter that he was, before his loss against Antonio Margarito. Besides that, Cotto is still nursing a bad cut over his left eye. Cotto’s cut would have to heal before the fight, and it would probably take a miracle for it to hold up in training camp for a bout against Manny Pacquiao in just five months.

Cotto will be in great trouble if his cut reopens in a fight against Pacquiao. He might as well surrender, because the blood might cover fifty percent of his vision. If Cotto will not give up, he might only take a beating from the quicker Filipino fighter. This will probably be Pacquiao’s greatest advantage against Cotto.

Right now, the weight could be the biggest issue. But the hero of the Philippines has not been intimidated by size lately, since he fought Oscar de la Hoya at 147 and Ricky Hatton at 140. He simply used his superior speed and punching ability to overcome any size advantages those two might have had. Roach believes that Pacquiao is unbeatable at 140 lb, and dragging the bigger boxers down should be to the advantage of the Filipino pound-for-pound champion.

Some critics are saying that Pacquiao’s sudden interest in Cotto is due to the fact that Manny can get a good payday fighting Cotto without the high risk of being beaten as he would against Mosley or Mayweather. They are saying that Pacquiao vs Cotto, because he is fresh from a fight and is still nursing some battle scars that he had acquired from Clottey and even from Margarito.

For sure this fight will still be a memorable one if it will come to reality. But for now, we will just have to wait for the decision of both camps.

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“My dream was to come here to England and it has come true,” Pacquiao told the British newspaper The Sunday Telegraph. “I also have the desire to take the light welterweight title, and it’s a big honor to be in another fight which the fans want to see.”

Manny Pacquiao will be after Hatton’s International Boxing Crown on the May 2 – “The East vs the West” slugfest. Having the winner of the said match the chance of being the light welterweight kingpin of the Ring Magazine.

“Every time I fight, I have to win because millions of Filipinos are hoping for victory,” said Pacquiao, who wore a suit. “Millions of people look to me to win. I have to go out and give everything.”

Hatton was more optimistic in front of his countrymen who naturally made up majority of the estimated 6,000 fans.

“On May 2, I’ll be the new pound-for-pound king,” Hatton vowed. “I’ve never been beaten at 10 stone (140 lb). This is my weight. This is where I do best. I promise all my fans I’ll win for Manchester!”

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Two of boxing’s biggest stars will meet in the ring in what could be the year’s biggest pay-per-view event. Five-division world champion MANNY “Pac Man” PACQUIAO and Ring Magazine and IBO World Junior Welterweight champion RICKY “The Hitman” HATTON will rumble for Hatton’s World Junior Welterweight Championships Saturday, May 2 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas. These two boxing artists will have a 20 x 20 foot canvas to paint a black and blue masterpiece that the world has been waiting to see. Pacquiao and Hatton boast a combined record of 93-4-2 (68 KOs), a winning percentage of 94% and a victory by knockout ratio of 73%.

Pacquiao vs. Hatton, a 12-round bout for Hatton’s Ring Magazine and IBO World Junior Welterweight titles, is promoted by Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions in association with MP Promotions and Hatton Promotions.

Pacquiao (48-3-2, 36 KOs) secured his claim as the 2008 Fighter of the Year, a year reminiscent of what Hall of Fame fighter Henry Armstrong did in 1937-1938, winning three fights in three different weight divisions, two of which were world titles. Armstrong is the only man to hold three world championships simultaneously, capturing world titles at featherweight, welterweight and lightweight (in that order) during a nine-month span between November 1937 and August 1938. Pacquiao, officially proclaimed a National Treasure by the Philippines, captured the WBC World Super Featherweight title last March by defeating Juan Manuel Marquez and the WBC World Lightweight title in June by knocking out defending champion David Diaz. He completed his personal trifecta by stopping Oscar de la Hoya in a welterweight battle on December 6. Pacquiao’s last two victories were in his debut fight in each weight division with the latter fight being two full divisions above his previous fight. Pacquiao, 30, has won 24 of his last 25 bouts, blitzing through boxing’s best fighters since 2003 including Erik Morales (TKO 10, KO 3,), Marco Antonio Barrera (TKO 11, W 12), Marquez (D 12, W 12,), Diaz (TKO 9) and De La Hoya (KO 8). Pacquiao was previously named the 2006 Fighter of the Year by the Boxing Writers Association of America andRing Magazine.

The storied career of Hatton (45-1, 32 KOs), an international superstar hailing from Manchester, England, began in 1997 and for the last 12 years he has been thrilling fight fans around the world with his aggressive style in the ring and down to earth attitude outside of the ring. Owner of victories over world champions Kostya Tszyu, Vince Phillips, Paulie Malignaggi, Luis Collazo, Jose Luis Castillo, Juan Urango and Carlos Maussa, Hatton is a two division world champion. He fell short of the pound-for-pound best fighter title and world welterweight championships in his 2007 super-fight against Floyd Mayweather. However, the 30-year-old bounced back impressively at his natural weight of 140 pounds last May when he scored a near shutout 12-round unanimous decision over Juan Lazcano. His most recent fight was a scintillating shutout performance against world champion Malignaggi last November, ending with an 11th round TKO for “The Hitman”. Hatton was honored as the 2005 Fighter of the Year by Ring Magazine and the Boxing Writers Association of America.

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“Is he crazy? (Ricky) Hatton will beat the f**king socks off of (Manny) Pacquiao.” So opined the ever loquacious Floyd Mayweather Sr. in an interview Monday with Boxing Scene’s Rick Reeno.

Conventional thinking would agree with Sr.’s sentiment.

Convention though is the opposite of what a Hatton-Pacquiao bout would represent. At least convention as it is known in the 21st century. Elite fighters who started their careers thirty pounds apart, facing off while both are still near their physical prime, is something that boxing hasn’t seen much of in the last seventy years or so.

The original Joe Walcott, a Welterweight, knocking out future Hall of Famer Joe Choynski, a Light Heavyweight, in 1900? Sure why not.

Middleweight Sam Langford versus Heavyweight Harry Wills? Almost twenty times? Hey, what else were two permanently ducked black fighters to do from 1910-1920?

The former lineal World Flyweight and Featherweight king Pacquiao (45-3-2, 35 KO, Ring Magazine #1 at 130 lbs.) challenging reigning World Jr. Welterweight champ Ricky Hatton (43-1, 31 KO) in 2008? I’m pretty sure I agree with Sr. that it’s crazy…but sometimes crazy is a hell of a show.

If he retired today, Pacquiao already has his slice of history. He’s the first and only fighter in history to reign as champion at 112 and 126 lbs. Along the way, he’s knocked out two Hall of Fame titans in Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales and slain a slew of other competent-to-notable foes. He doesn’t need a Hatton fight.

That doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be worth a look to see him try. It’s an unlikely scenario for Manny Pacquaio to win a Hatton fight but not entirely inconceivable. If the marginally possible became the recently occurred, it would be the sort of achievement that could become truly transcendent; this generation’s Henry Armstrong triple-crown. Could this fight really happen?

While the talks with the HBO suits about this match have allegedly been serious thus far, there are of course two reasons not to pay much attention to the chatter. The first isn’t a reason but a man, one Juan Manuel Marquez (48-3-1, 25 KO, #2, WBC 130 lb. titlist). He and Pacquiao have the small issue of their rematch on March 15. Most will recognize the winner as the true, new World champion, replacing the long-reigning vacant at Jr. Lightweight, and there’s no telling who that winner will be. A Marquez victory will end the discussion of Hatton and send Pacquiao, hat in hand, looking for rubber match with Marquez.

There is another reason this fight may not come off and it’s all about Hatton. Specifically, the public should find this idea unacceptable for Hatton and I have a feeling that the backlash from the press and punditry would not be pretty. I’d expect something worse than the blow back to the once-rumored bout between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Cory Spinks.

While it is understandable that Hatton would want to maximize his likely increased earning potential with a more winnable fight than his last against the Welterweight champion Mayweather turned out to be, he is still the champion at 140 lbs. and should be held to those obligations or at least to fighting men near his natural size. Fellow Brit Junior Witter (36-1-2, 21 KO, WBC titlist) is far and away the most deserving contender in his weight class. Heck, Witter would have an argument as the most deserving contender to any champion in any weight class. Economics isn’t that big an argument either; Hatton-Witter would fill a soccer stadium overseas.

In other words, a lot of punches have yet to fly before we need to think too hard about whether Hatton would “beat the f**king socks off” of Manny.

Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com

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