The biggest boxing match of the year is set. Pound for pound champion Manny Pacquiao will take on welterweight powerhouse Miguel Cotto at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Saturday, November 14th, 2009.
Pacquiao vs. Cotto is a great fight and can be seen live on HBO Pay-Per-View. Pacquiao is the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world, but Cotto, the WBO welterweight champion, is a real threat to him.
The fight will be fought at a catch weight of 145 pounds. The weight was one of the biggest factors holding up the creation of this fight, as Pacquiao’s camp wanted Cotto to come down even farther. Finally the two sides agreed on 145, 2 pounds lighter than the welterweight limit.
Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao
49 (37) – 3 – 2
Height: 5′6″ Reach: 67″
Current Pound for Pound Champion
Last 5 fights: 5-0 with 3 knockouts against Ricky Hatton, Oscar De La Hoya, Juan Manuel Marquez, David Diaz and Marco Antonio Barrera, spanning four weight classes from super featherweight to welterweight
Miguel Cotto
34 (27) – 1
Height: 5′7″ Reach: 67″
Current WBO Welterweight Champion
Last 5 fights: 4-1 with 2 knockouts against Joshua Clottey, Michael Jennings Alfonso Gomez and Shane Mosley with the defeat coming against Antonio Margarito
A Fight Preview: Pacquiao vs. Cotto
Manny Pacquiao’s opponent for his November fight was unknown for quite some time. Finally it appeared that Shane Mosley would be the man to step into the ring with him. However, Team Pacquiao and Team Cotto were able to finalize the deal, made all the easier since both men are promoted by Bob Arum and Top Rank Promotions.
Pacquiao will have the clear speed advantage in this bout. He showed the world what his speed could do even at the higher weight classes against the likes of Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton.
Miguel Cotto on the other hand will come into the ring as the naturally larger man, having fought at junior welterweight and welterweight for his entire career. He also has superior boxing skills, while Pacquiao is the more dynamic offensive fighter. Team Pacquiao is also hoping that forcing Cotto to cut weight down to 145 pounds will leave him weaker, and Pacquiao more able to capitalize on that vulnerability.
Which man will have the edge come fight night? Some people wonder how much Miguel Cotto has left in the tank after his beat down from Margarito, however, he has rebounded and gutted out a tough win against Joshua Clottey. And isn’t there ever going to be a limit on Pacquiao, on the size and caliber of the fighters he can continue taking out so impressively?
We’ll have to wait for fight night to see the winner of this exciting match between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto. The winner will have the world at his fingertips, and may end up facing Shane Mosley, Juan Manuel Marquez or Floyd Mayweather.
Fantasy football fanatics from far and near will descend upon Las Vegas this weekend for the Main Event of the 8th Annual World Championship of Fantasy Football, a premier fantasy football contest with over $2,000,000 in prizes to be awarded.
The contest begins on Friday, September 11, 2009, and ends on Tuesday, December 29, 2009, spanning the first 16 weeks of the NFL season. Up to 100 leagues will hold their Draft on Friday, September 11, 2009 and Saturday, September 12, 2009.
Some leagues will draft in Las Vegas, NV. Others will draft in Atlantic City, NJ, Orlando, FL or Dallas, TX. Each league will be composed of 12 teams, and each draft will last for 20 rounds, with each team selecting a player in each round in a serpentine fashion.
The Crew from VegasFantasyFootballPicks.com, one of the Internets most visited fantasy football sites, will be Twittering LIVE for the duration of the draft in Las Vegas on September 12th. Be sure to check out their tweets on this day at their Twitter site @vegasfootball
World Championship of Fantasy Football (WCOFF) is a fantasy football contest of skill that offers guaranteed cash awards to participants.
Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s eagerly anticipated showdown with Juan Manuel Marquez on Sept. 19 will be showcased live in about 170 theaters nationwide, promoters announced Monday. The fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas will also air on HBO pay-per-view.
Richard Shaefer of Golden Boy Promotions said he’d been considering theater feeds for several years, ever since a trip to the movies with his kids. Unaware that live boxing has a long history on the big screen, Shaefer’s children asked him whether it was possible today.
“I always try to see ways we can expand the message in the sport of boxing and increase the distribution,” Shaefer said during a conference call.
“Actually,” he added, “my kids said, ‘Wouldn’t it be great?’”
Mayweather (39-0, 25 KOs), considered one of the sport’s pound-for-pound kings, will be fighting for the first time since ending a brief retirement. The flamboyant six-time world champion will be taking on a five-time champion in Marquez (50-4-1, 37 KOs), headlining a stacked card that includes two other title fights.
Veteran rockers Kiss have announced plans to bring a big-budget, Cirque du Soleil-style stage show to Las Vegas with at least a $40 million to $50 million budget, according to those behind the planned production.
The show, which will purportedly be titled “Kiss: Carnival of Souls,” is being devised by Kiss’ Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, with L.A. comic book publisher Radical Publishing and its Singapore-based sister company Storm Lion also involved in putting it together.
Details still are emerging about the show, but according to Barry Levine, co-founder of Radical, it will be an all-encompassing affair.
“It involves every aspect of music, movement, lighting, stage design and special effects,” Levine says via e-mail from Singapore. “Since Kiss is the epitome of theatrical rock, we need to make sure it represents the Kiss brand. The Kiss brand has endured and sustained itself like no other group for the past 35 years.”
