Arum: No huge disaster if Pacquiao is upset by Cotto

There’s not much that Uncle Bob Arum hasn’t seen in his 78 years of living.

Arum, who once described himself as “a lawyer gone bad” to a New Jersey judge, has participated in or witnessed the good, the bad and the ugly in 40 years of being one of the all time great fight promoters.

So I didn’t expect the hyperkinetic one to hit any panic button Wednesday afternoon at Madison Square Garden when I asked him if it would be a terrible disaster should Manny Pacquiao lose to Miguel I’m No Angel Cotto on Nov. 14 in Las Vegas.

Arum didn’t even blink. He knows the consequences and he’s carefully considered them.

“When I first went to my matchmaker (Bruce Trampler) on this one, he said it’s a 50-50 fight. I think the odds are out of whack with Manny heavily favored.

“But, even if Pacquiao loses this fight, he is still Manny Pacquiao. He is still an icon. He is still the idol of the Filipino people.”

Still, even though Cotto is also Top Rank chattel, Arum thinks Pacman will shine brightly against the double tough Puerto Rican.

Arum, who I accused only yesterday of treating Cotto like the proverbial red-headed stepchild while pampering Pacman, will be at the Cotto camp in Tampa next week. Not many guys his age would bounce from Baguio to Tampa in the same week but somehow he withstands the rigors of such air travel.

Arum thinks Pacquiao will prove against Cotto that he did not just beat down a dried out Oscar de la Hoya.

“A lot of it (criticism) comes from that fight, saying that Oscar was totally dehydrated. It’s ridiculous. Three weeks before the fight in training camp, Oscar weighed 145. So he wasn’t weakened losing weight at the last minute.

“It wasn’t that, it was Manny hitting Oscar and then Oscar couldn’t find him. It was the speed.

“If Manny can do the same to Cotto, then Miguel is in trouble.”

Source: examiner.com