Pacquiao camp checks out Cotto for possible fight

MANILA, Philippines – There’s a new entry in the Manny Pacquiao sweepstakes: Welterweight champ Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico. According to Top Rank boss Bob Arum, the Filipino superstar himself has expressed interest in possibly duking it out with Cotto (33-1, 27 KOs) after he’s done with his business with Ricky Hatton on May 2 in Las Vegas. But to get himself in the running for a coveted lucrative fight with the world’s top pound for pound fighter, WBO 147-lb kingpin Cotto would first have to dispose of Joshua Clottey of Ghana in their June 13 title fight at the Madison Square Garden. Pacquiao and trainer Freddie Roach will be at the Big Apple at that time to receive their awards as Fighter and Trainer of the Year, respectively, from the Boxing Writers Association of America and they will take the opportunity to look at Cotto. “Manny Pacquiao said he wants to watch that fight. If Cotto wins that fight, Manny wants to check out Cotto’s style and then we’ll argue about a catch-weight underneath 147 and maybe make that fight," said Arum, in Manila for “The Flash & The Furious" card at the Araneta Coliseum. Cotto is the latest among the names floated as possible opponent for the 30-year-old ring sensation, apparently aimed as a dig at comebacking Floyd Mayweather, Jr. who’s reportedly asking for the moon should he fight Pacquiao. Arum had maintained that given the big superstar that he is now, the Pacman deserves the lion’s share of the pie against anybody. It’s also seen as Top Rank’s a way of cornering sole promotional rights and earnings as Cotto belongs to the same stable as Pacquiao, just like another Top Rank fighter earlier floated, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. For before he could think about Cotto, Mayweather, Chavez, Sugar Shane Mosley or even Juan Manuel Marquez, Pacquiao still has an important business at hand – Hatton. – Olmin R. Leyba, GMANews.TV