INQUIRER Global Nation

CALIFORNIA, United States?"Pacquiao Cotto" sounds like some kind of Filipino dish at the local point-point joint. Next to the Crispy Pata.

But this fight should be a real gourmet treat for boxing fans, as Manny Pacquiao attempts to become the first fighter in history to win world championship titles in seven different weight classes.

And now I have no doubts that Pacquiao will achieve his goal against Miguel Cotto.

I just saw a video of Pacquiao singing on the ?Jimmy Kimmel Show.?

If you saw it, you know what I mean.

I think this was done to make everyone realize how great a boxer Pacquiao is.

As a boxer, the guy is immortal. As a singer, well?

While it?s true, that in these digital times you can make anyone into a one hit wonder with synthesizers, echo chambers, and a danceable beat, Manny went on live with a band on the ABC late night show and showed the courage of a lion.

And, I?m sorry to say, the singing talent of William Hung.

You be the judge. It is painful to watch. Probably more painful than seeing Manny get beaten to a pulp and lose.

Mind you, I absolutely love Manny Pacquiao. He is the ?Great Filipino Hope.? But without the audio sweetening you can do in a studio, seeing him sing on the Kimmel show was like watching Manny willingly walk into a left hook.

He just shouldn?t do it.

The audience responded lovingly, cheering him to hit the high notes on as they would an opponent in the late rounds of a fight.

The song? Of course, the love anthem from 1977, Dan Hill?s ?Sometimes when we touch.? Or should that we be ?clench.?

There were a lot of high notes. Manny touched most of them. But maybe as the song goes, ?the honesty is too much??

His greatness in boxing is made so apparent. All you need to do is watch that video. If he has time to sing, he must feel he is ready to do what he must do on Saturday night. Let?s hope it?s that and not a sign of complacency and taking Cotto too lightly.
I?ve watched Miguel Cotto fight thanks to the replays the cable channels are showing. That was some tough fight against Clottey when Cotto was cut and blood was gushing from his eyebrow for most of the fight. Cotto has heart. He may also win when it comes to tattoos. But as a boxer he is the kind of power plodder that is made for Pacquiao.

Pacquiao is a ducker and a dancer. He has hand speed and foot speed. He knows what to do with a bigger guy like Cotto.

Cotto is really the first boxer over 130 pounds in his prime that Pacquiao has faced. But the power edge of Cotto may be overstated. Cotto?s strength shouldn?t matter if he can?t land a punch on Manny, the moving target.

Can Manny dance that many rounds while still dishing out some punishment of his own on Cotto? If he can, then this fight should be similar to the De La Hoya fight, where the bigger De La Hoya couldn?t keep up with the speed of Pacquiao.

If Manny is singing two weeks before the fight, I?d say, he?s pretty relaxed going in. That?s not false confidence . Maybe in his singing, but not in his fighting.

Manny prevails in the late rounds. The 10th by TKO? There I said it.

But the man who prevails the most? Promoter Bob Arum. As the man who represents both Pacquiao and Cotto, he straddles both camps and can?t lose.

This is one of boxing?s ?acceptable? conflicts of interest that has always befuddled me. But it?s the reality when the field of boxing at the highest levels is a relatively small subculture. The chances of all the top guys being controlled by a single promoter are great. There may not be anything fishy going on, but it sure reeks to me.

Such are the challenges of the fight game. Now the top promoter has discovered there?s actually more interest in these normal-sized fighters. Not the heavyweights (if only there were heavyweights these days who capture the imagination like Pacquiao?). There aren?t any. Pacquiao?s rags-to-riches story is a ready-made legend. And Saturday should be the historic seventh championship and his evolution up boxing's eight class divisions.

At the core of it all is diversity marketing at its finest. The Filipinos love Pacquiao. On the East Coast, Cotto is the Puerto Rican God. The two countries tied to the US through the Spanish-American War, have been brought together again. Only this time, the imperializer is boxing promoter Arum.

Ordinarily that would make me cringe.

But I?ve seen the Manny singing tape.

Now I just want to see him box.

E-mail: emil@amok.com

Copyright November 11, 2009 all rights reserved.