The insistence of Miguel Cotto not to put his world title at stake when he fights Manny Pacquiao is being blamed on Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum.
Pacquiao lawyer Franklin Gacal said on Friday that Arum's hasty decision to come out with an announcement about the Pacquiao-Cotto fight scheduled Nov. 14 in Las Vegas early last week could be one of the reasons behind the insistence of Cotto to stand firm on his decision not to stake the World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight crown.
"I don't know why Bob made the announcement when in fact we haven't seen the (official) contract," said Gacal when asked about the other pertinent details of the contract.
Arum has both Pacquiao and Cotto under the promotional banner of Top Rank.
Cotto's decision not to risk the WBO 147-lb crown stems from the fact that the fight is going to be at a catch weight of 145 lbs and that during the negotiations, Team Pacquiao did not bother to raise the issue.
THE editor in chief of Ring Magazine, regarded as the bible of boxing, believes that Filipino ring idol Manny Pacquiao may become no. 1 in the magazine’s pound-for-pound rankings, “if he looks good in his next fight.”
Nigel Collins told Viva Sports/Standard Today that it was “impossible to demote Floyd Mayweather Jr. immediately after he beat Oscar de la Hoya in the richest fight in boxing history.”
Pacquiao, who was rated no. 3 behind Mayweather and Winky Wright but was elevated to no. 2 after crushing Erik Morales in the third fight of a classic trilogy.