Although he strongly believes that Manny Pacquiao should be fighting him instead of Miguel Cotto, welterweight champion Shane Mosley thinks there's a good chance that the Puerto Rican superstar could very well pull off the upset and knock the Filipino phenom from his pound-for-pound throne. "Cotto can very well beat down Manny Pacquiao because Manny Pacquiao is going to be smaller than Cotto," he stated as he shared his thoughts on the upcoming November 14th clash between Pacquiao and Cotto.
Mosley thinks it will be a close fight that either man could win, but ultimately, Cotto's size advantage will play a major role in the final outcome of the bout. "I mean, if Manny wins, he's a great fighter. He can win the fight. He's a good fighter. Cotto's been weather-beaten a little bit. He's been beaten down a little bit by myself. He's been beaten down by Margarito. He's been beaten down a little by Clottey. And he's had a little bit of problems here and there so he's been beaten up a little bit. He's not the same, refreshed Cotto that we know," said Mosley, "but Cotto is good with fighting smaller, southpaw guys. Zab Judah, he beat him down, he beat up Carlos Quintana, which I think these are big welterweights and welterweights that can hit. Zab can hit and Zab gave Mayweather some trouble."
Mosley continued, "It's not going to be the same like a Ricky Hatton or a Oscar De La Hoya where Oscar is going in the ring at 147 and Manny's going in the ring at 148. You best believe Cotto is going to be bigger than Pacqiao going in the ring this time." Judging from the outcome of last Saturday's bout between welterwight Floyd Mayweather Jr. and lightweight Juan Manuel Marquez, Mosley brings up a very valid point. After all, it wasn't that long ago, roughly 15 months ago actually, that Pacquiao was stepping into the ring as a lightweight himself to face then champion David Diaz. Since that victory, Pacquiao moved on to face and defeat bigger opponents in Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton, but neither man was considered to be as tough of a challenge as Cotto, a bigger fighter that's still in his prime.
"I agree with Cotto when he says that Manny is fighting a real welterweight now. He's not fighting a guy that's...it's not going to be easy," Mosley added, "He's fighting a real welterweight. I agree with Cotto on that. That's really why I wanted to get to Pacquiao first because I was scared Cotto might beat him." Check back shortly for part 2 of the full interview to see what else he had to say about Mayweather, Pacquiao, Cotto and much more.
CLICK HERE FOR PART ONE OF THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH SHANE MOSLEY
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