Expectations.

When Ricky Hatton made his second attempt to gain P4P supremacy on May 2nd, the burden of proof fell on the Hitman to make it through the early rounds, which would have given him a chance to make the fight a brawl in the later rounds. Manny put Hatton to sleep before he had the chance...

The same burden of proof fell on undefeated Cris Arreola, who needed to eat enough punches to get inside and brawl with Vitali Klitschko, the heavyweight champ with the highest KO percentage in boxing history, now 38 wins by 37 KO's.

But the Mexican-American fell short. He did last 10 rounds, which is more than the majority of Klitschko's other opponents can say. Vitali simply changed up his game-plan to frustrate the inexperienced challenger, using that huge reach advantage to maintain distance with the jab, conserving energy by throwing mostly "arm" punches, which seem to do as much damage as any other fighter who turns his weight into his punches.

Although I was hoping that Arreola could make it a dog fight while it lasted, I knew without question that the fight would end this way, though I didn't envision Arreola weeping...

The same goes for last week's fight with Mayweather taking on Marquez. Although I hoped the older, smaller fighter would be able to capitalize on enough of Mayweather's disadvantages (his long layoff, his injured ribs, the extended training camp, etc.) to make a difference, clearly these hopes were pipe-dreams.

And that seems to be my biggest reason for anticipating the November 14th showdown between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto: there is no easy pick.

Sure, Manny has the P4P throne, the speed, footwork, and angles. But Cotto brings his destructive power, infamous body punches, ring generalship and offensive pressure. Plus he's the naturally bigger and stronger man--a natural welterweight.

In a fight with so many factors, it would be irresponsible for anyone to predict the winner before the bell sounds. And that's what excites me--what excites any true boxing fan. Pitting the best one man can give against another, forced to expect the unexpected.