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PACQUIAO-COTTO…while so many aspects of our life are ruined by political correctness and timidity, the realm of pugilism remains an oasis of free spirited argument and discussion. Boxing personalities are eager to put their opinion on the record as part of the festivities before a big fight. It is refreshing and makes for thoroughly compelling reading.

Trainer Nazim Richardson (Bernard Hopkins and Shane Mosley) believes the strong relationship between Pacquiao and his trainer Freddie Roach is an enormous edge. He points to the trust that exists between the two and the keen analytical adjustments that the pair can make during the course of a fight. A very intriguing point made by Richardson concerns the way Manny distributes his energy. The Pac Man will switch things up and fight with different levels of aggression throughout the fight. It makes it very hard for his opponent to stick to their own game plan while dealing with the ebbs and flows of Manny’s attacks. Richardson picks Pacquiao and, like most people, believes a cut could be a critical component of Saturday’s brawl. Many are shuddering at the prospects of Manny’s slashing punches colliding with Cotto’s fragile skin.

Trainer Ronnie Shields (Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson, the late Vernon Forrest, Juan Diaz, Rocky Juarez) is laudatory towards both contestants, praising two fighters who routinely overcome adversity. Shields, however, feels that Cotto’s power will be the deciding factor. Pacquiao, he feels, will not be able to hurt Cotto (a ballsy comment after Pacquiao’s savage elimination of Ricky Hatton). In a further contrarian assertion, he boldly asserts that Cotto has been cut so often that it no longer bothers him; he simply fights through the blood.

Mike Tyson picks Pacquiao by knockout. George Foreman speaks of Pacquiao settling into a pattern of complacency and overconfidence (George is really always talking about himself and his problems before facing Ali in Zaire) and being stunned by the hunger of Cotto. He sees a twelve round verdict for the Puerto Rican.

Fighters in Cotto’s corner include Winky Wright, Shane Mosley and Felix Trinidad. Those liking the Pac Man have Joe Calzaghe, Bernard Hopkins and Chad Dawson nodding in agreement.

Carrot Top picks Pacquiao by early knockout. In case you were wondering…

ICE..Alex Ovechkin, Roberto Luongo, Daniel Sedin and Devin Setoguchi could all be pack on the pond by the weekend…firestorm erupted in Montreal when back-up goalie Jaroslav Halak’s agent (Allan Walsh) commented that Habs starter Carey Price has a mere ten wins in his last 42 starts. While most condemned the nature of the interference, I was astonished to realize just how poorly Price has been playing. What’s worse, word around the campfire points to a remarkably indifferent attitude from Price, the Hab’s resident saviour…nope, watched none of the Hall of Fame festivities before the Saturday night Leafs-Red Wings game. I have as much interest in retired players as they do in me; zilch…the Leafs have moved to 25^th on the Sporting News Power Poll. The publication adds this tidbit, “We’re starting to understand why Brian Burke spent so much time in Sweden luring Jonas Gustavsson”…

GRID IRON..the New England Patriots have used rookie Sebastien Vollmer at left tackle for the last four games. His play has been so stellar that Pats coach Bill Belichick claims it is no sure thing that incumbent Matt Light (knee) will retain his position when he returns to play. Interesting. But let’s watch Vollmer against Mr Dwight Feeney of the Colts this weekend before preparing his bust at Canton…the Washington Redskins will be shuffling their offensive line again (the fifth time in ten games)  in preparation for this weekends loss to the Denver Broncos…Detroit Lion rookie QB Matthew Stafford looks to have hit the wall. Stafford “nursed” a 17-0 lead over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday by throwing five interceptions. The Lions, losers to the St Louis Rams the previous weekend, are continuing their inept play…for a defending Superbowl Champions, aren’t the Pittsburgh Steelers remarkably below radar? The sex appeal teams include New Orleans, Minnesota, Indianapolis and New England, but the rock solid Steelers just quietly chug along, looming a formidable challenge for any team vying for a date in the Superbowl…after a date with the Steelers this Sunday, the Cincinnati Bengals face Oakland (away), Cleveland and Detroit. They should be 9-3 heading into a Week 14 date in Minny…my pick in the Suicide Pools last week was the New Orleans Saints, a choice that turned out to be quite stressful. The Saints were down 14-0 in the blink of an eye and never really found their groove. They played solid football while waiting for Jake Delhomme to do something stupid. Jake obliged, of course, by fumbling the ball into the end zone and setting up the Saints final touchdown…Week 10 Suicide pick is Minnesota, at home to the Lions of Detroit. I have never seen such a large percentage of pool players still alive at this point in the schedule…

PUG LIFE..the alphabet soup sanctioning bodies situation just became laughably worse. In addition to the World Boxing Foundation, a new group is calling itself the World Boxing Federation. That’s right, two WBF’s. The nonsense with all the different organizations (WBA, WBC, IBF, IBO,WBO for starters) has stripped the average sports fan of the ability to recognize a legitimate champion. The resulting lack of interest has sent boxing into a tailspin…Kelly Pavlik, who pulled out of a million dollar fight Dec 5^th with Paul Williams, has announced he will now fight Dec 19^th against the local grocer (Miguel Espino 20-2 with 9 Ko’s). Pavlik’s camp is keen to get him back in the ring and away from his nocturnal endeavours. Amazing how the hand that held up the Williams fight will be miraculously healed a mere 14 days later, non? Glug, glug, glug, the lads problems go way beyond his roughed up paw…