Bet on Pacquiao to win vs. Cotto

I would not go so far as to call the betting line mispriced in Saturday’s fight between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto at the MGM Grand, particularly as it continues to drift higher in favor of Pacquiao.

Still, I am comfortable making a case for Pacquiao in the welterweight title bout at the Grand Garden Arena.

Pacquiao-Cotto a worldwide draw

When Manny Pacquiao was hailed as the hottest boxer in the sport at Wednesday’s prefight news conference at the MGM Grand, it was not just lip service.

If anything, it was an exercise in understatement.

'A chip and a chair' axiom lives on in Cada's World Series of Poker victory

The night before play began at the final table of the World Series of Poker, I spoke with Tony Shelton, seeking a vintage Las Vegas perspective on the tournament.

A semiretired poker insider, Shelton used to run the high-stakes cash games at the World Series for Jack and Benny Binion at the Horseshoe downtown.

Shelton likes to say he has no larceny in his heart, but he does have a good deal of hustle in there. That’s probably why he has been a confidant to the gambling world’s outlaws as well as its straight-laced corporate executives.

Cotto says cut is now an asset

In broad terms, Saturday’s showdown between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto shapes up as a classic clash of speed versus power.

Pacquiao, seeking a world title in a seventh weight class in the welterweight fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, has the speed.

Cotto, with his naturally larger frame, brings the power.

Freddie Roach talks tough; Manny Pacquiao backs it up

LOS ANGELES — Freddie Roach has earned a reputation as boxing’s finest trainer. More than this, in recent years Roach has become a master of psychological gamesmanship.

Roach has developed a knack for making just the right remark to get into the heads of his opposition before a fight, for playing those mind games — “pushing the barriers, planting seeds,” as ringside color commentator John Lennon put it.

Cotto turns up the heat preparing for Pacquiao

LOS ANGELES — On orders from Miguel Cotto, the heat was turned way up inside the Pound 4 Pound Gym on La Cienega Boulevard this week.

The strategy was to replicate the hot and humid conditions in Tampa, Fla., where Cotto spent the bulk of his training camp before a late swing to the West Coast.

Here at the Pound 4 Pound, a clean, well-lighted place that kisses L.A.’s historic South Carthay neighborhood, Cotto was putting the finishing touches on preparations for his Nov. 14 showdown against Manny Pacquiao at the MGM Grand.

Tyson shows talent ringside, on the mike

The most surprising and delightful performance of Saturday night’s fight card at Treasure Island was not Yonnhy Perez's upset victory against Joseph Agbeko in an outstanding bantamweight title bout in the main event.

It did not even take place inside the ring.

Rather, it took place deep on the nontelevised portion of the undercard, just outside the ropes, where Mike Tyson was handling the color commentary for the Internet pay-per-view feed of the preliminary bouts on promoter Don King’s Web site.