Hopkins says Pacquiao will 'bust up' Cotto

A Manny Pacquiao hater before, now a certified "Pacman" lover. Former undisputed middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins has come out in the open and declared the Filipino boxing superstar will beat Miguel Cotto in their highly-anticipated Nov. 14 showdown in Las Vegas, Nevada. The 44-year-old boxer from Philadelphia and a known associated of the great Oscar De La Hoya in his Golden Boy Promotions made his prediction of a Pacquiao victory during an interview on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights. “I just like Pacquiao because Pacquiao’s proven fight after fight after fight that he can answer the call. He is the legitimate pound-for-pound fighter right now until something else happens," Hopkins said, as quoted by FightHype.com.

The fighter known as “The Executioner’" previously went against Pacquiao when the Filipino icon took on De La Hoya in 2008, saying there’s no way the “Pacman" was going to beat “Golden Boy." But Pacquiao scored a sensational eight-round technical knockout, apparently turning Hopkins into a believer. So much so that when the pride of General Santos City penciled a showdown with Englishman Ricky Hatton, Hopkins was already on his side – and rightly so as Pacquiao destroyed Hatton inside two rounds. Now Hopkins sees the same thing happening to the 28-year-old Cotto, a Puerto Rican who is the reigning World Boxing Organization (WBO) super-welterweight champion. “Basically, I see Cotto busted up. I don’t think his face is gonna hold up through 12 rounds of the fight," said Hopkins. Cotto’s stunning loss to Mexican Antonio Margarito last year and his unimpressive split decision win over Joshua Clottey of Ghana recently doesn’t augur well in his 145-pound slugfest with Pacquiao, Hopkins pointed out. “Cotto’s game. He’s a game fighter. We all know he comes with that Puerto Rican pride. He’s coming in to try and win the fight, but I just think the Margarito fight, where he suffered punishment from round one to the end, and also the last fight he just fought, he showed grit and he showed guts and he pulled it out, and he had a nasty cut. “Too many things working against him, not for him, and he’s fighting a guy who’s going to take advantage of all those opportunities," said Hopkins. In contrast, everything appears going in favor of the "Pacman." “Pacquiao is a sharp shooter. He punches in angles. He’s got Freddie Roach, who’s going to give him all of the teachings and the smarts to be able to basically give Pacquiao the edge," Hopkins said. - GMANews.TV