LAS VEGAS -- Miguel Cotto is a star in Puerto Rico, just not the major attraction that Manny Pacquiao is in his native Philippines.
And among the contributing reasons is that while Cotto's nation has a long list of fighting predecessors against whom to compare him, Pacquiao's essentially has none. [See note at bottom.]
"The Puerto Ricans have a whole collection of stars and they're not wrapped up in one guy like the Filipinos are in Manny," said promoter Bob Arum, listing former Puerto Rican greats such as Felix Trinidad, Wilfredo Gomez and Wilfred Benitez, among others.
"To Filipino fans, Manny's just absolutely incredible. Manny comes from a poor, impoverished country where he is the icon of hope and he represents their country on the world stage," said Arum.
"Puerto Rican fans want Cotto to win, but it's much more rational," said Arum. "Manny's situation is a lot different from being simply the best fighter in Puerto Rico."
Former Olympic gold medalist, Andre Ward, calls upcoming rival, Mikkel Kessler, of Denmark, "absolutely, without a shadow of a doubt the most skilled" fighter that he will have faced over the course of his nearly five-year professional career.
"He's the champion. He's very tough. I take nothing away from Mikkel Kessler," said Ward, who will put his 20-0 record with 13 knockouts on the line in pursing Kessler's WBA 168-pound title on Nov. 21 before a partisan crowd at Oracle Arena in Oakland. "At the same time, this is what it's all about -- taking the challenge and rising to it. And I plan on doing that 11 days from now."
Their first-round clash is part of Showtime's Super Six Middleweight World Boxing Classic.
For Puerto Rican champion Miguel Cotto (34-1, 27 knockouts) and Filipino challenger Manny Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37 KOs), there never has been a more career-defining moment than this one.
Each will be battling for the pride of his countrymen as well as his status among boxing's best fighters, pound-for-pound, when the combatants step into the ring for Saturday night's mega-fight at The MGM Grand In Las Vegas.
After the jump, some of the most knowledgeable sources in the boxing world offer their predictions for a clash at the same site where Floyd Mayweather easily decisioned Mexican great, Juan Manuel Marquez, in September.
Perhaps Glen Johnson's best attempt at head-games during the buildup to Saturday night's 175-pound rematch with IBO titlist Chad Dawson is his refusal to admit defeat.
The facts are that Johnson was not only judged the loser of their first light heavyweight clash in April of 2008 by scores of 116-112 on all three cards, but that the decision was rendered before a partisan crowd in Miami -- not far from the native Jamaican's current home in Hollywood, Fla.
But Johnson's insistence that he was "robbed" clearly rankles Dawson's promoter, Gary Shaw, and if nothing else, has Dawson so chagrined that he has vowed to turn up the heat when they face off at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn., near the champion's hometown of New Haven.
Former world champion Winky Wright will return from an eight-month layoff when he enters the ring against Grady Brewer on Dec. 11 at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan.
A southpaw who will turn 38 on Nov. 26, Wright is coming off of consecutive losses by decision to Bernard Hopkins and Paul Williams in July 2007 and this past April, respectively.
Wright (51-5-1, 25 knockouts) owns victories over former world champs Shane Mosley and Felix Trinidad, and fought to a disputed draw with former undisputed middleweight (160 pounds) champion Jermain Taylor.
On this week's edition of The MMA Hour, we were joined by Dan Hardy, who faces Mike Swick in a No. 1 contender's match at UFC 105 on Nov. 14. Hardy talked about getting a shot to fight for the title early in his UFC career, MMA's popularity in the United Kingdom, and his recent criticism of Bernard Hopkins after the boxing legend blasted MMA.
LOS ANGELES -- As is usually the case in the world of UFC president Dana White, a lot is happening on a daily basis. Not only is this weekend UFC 104, but news continues to break on a whole host of topics. FanHouse spoke to White on Thursday about whether Dan Henderson will re-sign with the organization or head to Strikeforce, Bernard Hopkins' recent negative comments about MMA, "Big" John McCarthy not working at UFC 104 and Chuck Liddell's fighting future.
White discussed all those issues and much more. Check out the video interview (which includes mature language) below.
Paul Williams is pursuing a fight with either WBO junior middleweight champion Sergiy Dzinziruk or Sergio Martinez on Dec. 5 in Atlantic City now that his scheduled bout for the same night, against Kelly Pavlik, has been canceled, his promoter, Dan Goossen, and his trainer and manager, George Peterson, told FanHouse.
Pavlik (35-1, 31 KOs) has a staph infection in his left finger that has plagued him for months, having led to the second postponement of his WBO and WBC middleweight title defenses against Williams (37-1, 27 KOs), a two-time welterweight and one-time junior middleweight champion.
Showtime's Sports general manager, Ken Hershman, said that he is "thrilled" concerning the success of last weekend's two super middleweight bouts of the Super Six World Boxing Classic tournament, even as he expressed concern and well-wishes toward Jermain Taylor, who was diagnosed with a concussion following his 12th-round knockout loss to Germany's Arthur Abraham.
After losing to Abraham (31-0, 25 KOs) in a clash of former middleweight (160 pounds) champions, Taylor (28-4-1, 17 KOs) was hospitalized for a few days in Germany following their 168-pound battle.
Stop me if you've heard this one before: a legendary figure from the boxing world has decided to take a couple of shots at MMA. This time its Bernard Hopkins who has decided to join the MMA bashing party.
Speaking to BoxingScene.com, "The Executioner" took a page out of Bob Arum's handbook, comparing MMA to "entertainment porno."
LAS VEGAS -- Miguel Cotto is a star in Puerto Rico, just not the major attraction that Manny Pacquiao is in his native Philippines.
Former Olympic gold medalist, 
Perhaps 
Former world champion 
LOS ANGELES -- As is usually the case in the world of UFC president 
Paul Williams
Showtime's Sports general manager, 
Stop me if you've heard this one before: a legendary figure from the boxing world has decided to take a couple of shots at MMA. This time its 
