Should Pacquaio get credit for beating Cotto at 145

[Bilbo's Mom]

No, he should not recieve full credit. Now if he was to fight Cotto at 147 with none of these phoney strings attached I would give him full credit for the win. Manny is looking for big money fights whilst trying to avoid risk by bringing WW's down from their optimum fighting weights. There are no more big money fights at 140 for him so he is trying on this tactic.

I refuse to give him much credit for that kind of carry on.

Miles you are simply wrong mate.

Had Oscar beaten Hopkins you wouldn't have credited him with that win?

As he lost, does that mean he's fucking useless as Hopkins must surely have been weight drained at 158 lbs and Oscar still got knocked out?

What about Hopkins win over Tarver? Tarver had just dropped down from heavyweight, Hopkins just beat a shell?

What about Pavlik losing to Hopkins? That fight was at a catchweight of 170 lbs. Pavlik was dominated by a weight drained Hopkins who gave up double the amount of weight than the two pounds Cotto might have to.

What about Joe Calzaghe's win over Hopkins? That was fought at 173 lbs so again Hopkins was weight drained. Why didn't they fight at the full 175 limit, does Calzaghe get no credit for that win?

I honestly think you guys are just letting your hate overtake your common sense.

I'm not clouded by hate in the slightest. I just happen to like the divisions we have and don't see the purpose nor point in having fighters not fighting at the given weights. If a 140 fighter is unable to get up to 147 then why should another fighter come down to a catchweight just to give the other guy more of a shot at pulling out the win. It's a lame move and I fail to see any merit in it.

Anyway, this thread is talking about Pac against Cotto, so in this situation I see NO reason why Manny couldn't find Cotto at 147 pounds. Why even bother having negotiations trying to buy Manny a more favourable weight deal? If he can't deal with the weight then piss off and fight a 140 fighter.

It's a simple logic.

You are completely missing the point. The weight classes and belts exist for fighters to fight and get recognition as being the best in that weight class.

When you reach the level of elite p4p fighter you transcend the weight classes and belts and move onto being an elite fighter.

Then the challenge is to fight other elite fighters who also have proved themselves the best in their weight class.

The whole world then wants to see these elite fighters fight each other, they become megafights.

You are just putting obstacles in the way of great fights how can you not see that?

If Cotto was still fighting at 140 you'd have no problem, you'd just be psyched because you were going to see a great fight.

But because he's moved to 147 you willingly submit yourself to some strange rules bondage and can no longer enjoy any fight between them unless it takes place at 147 lbs exactly and meets all the terms and requirements as laid down by the WBO Boxing Organisation.

Why does it matter about a weight class or a belt? Is the WBO strap really that important to you?

Manny is the 140 lb champ and Cotto is the 147 lb champ. It's not about Manny moving up to become the 147 lb champ he doesn't care about the WBO belt or the weight class, he want to beat Cotto.

So they fight at a catchweight agreeable to both fighters. If heaven forbid, there's no WBO belt on the line I think we can cope with that.

Think of all the great fights in history? How many do you look back on and can think ah yes this was for the WBC and IBF belts, and this took place in the junior lightweight division?

When we are talking about elite fighters who fight in many weight classes and win many belts it's not the belts and weight classes that are important, it's the fights.