Manny Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto Reach Agreement to Meet Nov. 14

Miguel Cotto has officially won the Manny Pacquiao sweepstakes.

Though numerous boxers have been campaigning to take on the Filipino dynamo, the fight that promoter Bob Arum claimed he favored all along is the one that materialized. As reported by ESPN's Dan Rafael and the Associated Press earlier today, Pacquiao and Cotto will face off on November 14.

The bout will be held in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand and shown on pay-per-view by HBO. Rafael also wrote that while Pacquiao and his team tried to get the fight to happen at 143 pounds, it was eventually agreed that the two men will meet at 145 pounds.

Those two pounds don't seem like a lot, but they may have been key to making the fight come together. While Pacquiao has moved around in weight for each of his last three fights, Cotto has fought exclusively at welterweight since June 2006.

Pacquiao's only previous fight above 140 pounds came last December, when he surprisingly carried more weight into the ring than Oscar De La Hoya, who he knocked out in eight largely one-sided rounds. Cotto has never tipped the scales at less than 146 pounds in any of his eight career welterweight fights.

Arum, who promotes both men, told Rafael that tickets would go on sale for Pacquiao-Cotto in August, with a three-city press tour to promote it kicking off right after Labor Day.

Posted by The Franchise