Arum Justifying Pacquiao-Cotto Match in November

Top Rank promotions chief Bob Arum has been trying to justify his actions in endorsing a Pacquiao-Cotto match by listing some reasons why he thinks the Pacquiao-Cotto match is the fight that will sell and favored by boxing fans.

Manny Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum thinks that a Pacquiao-Cotto match is better than a Pacquiao-Mosley fight in terms of crowd-drawing capability and pay per view receipts. Arum justifies his choice of Cotto over Shane Mosley by citing the following reasons as reported by abs-cbn news.

“Manny Pacquiao has saw for himself how immensely popular Miguel Cotto is,” said Arum in an interview over dzSR’s Sports Chat with Dennis Principe.

“Miguel has always done extremely well on pay per view… Cotto brings more to the table than Mosley,” he added.

Arum said that just like Filipinos, there are many Puerto Ricans in the US, all of whom will be rooting for their champion.

Arum also explained that Cotto is more likely to agree to a fight purse that will give Pacquiao a much bigger share. Arum hinted that a possible fight between Mayweather and Mosley can follow after Pacquiao is finished with Cotto. Arum is convinced that Cotto will bring in the pay-per-view target and gate receipts with the Pacquiao-Cotto fight. The Pacquiao-Cotto fight is planned for November 14 at the Madison Square Garden in New York City. Arum thinks that many Puerto Rican fans of Miguel Cotto including a substantial number of Puerto Rican residents in New York and nearby states will bring in the crowd that can fill the Madison Square Garden. Arum has been pushing for a Pacquiao-Cotto match since the pound –for-pound king won over Ricky Hatton last May 2, 2008. Shane Mosley thinks that Arum has vested interest in the match saying that Arum is committed to book Cotto because the Puerto Rican fighter’s contract with Arum’s Top Rank may be due to expire and one way to make him stay with Arum is a mega fight with Pacquiao.