It’s a funny world out there in the blogosphere. Thanks to Twitter, I started following Kaelan, who was heavy in boxing training and had quite the way with words. There are few people who can stay witty in 140 characters and she’s one of them. Yep, I said she.

I found out that she also wrote a blog called “A Girl’s Guide To Violence” where she opened up quite a bit about how hard her training is and why she stays on course even though it would be easy to quit. It’s a great read.

I asked for some of my favorite folks to send me their predictions for the fight between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto. She wrote such a great piece, that I decided to give it its own post. Thanks Kaelan.

Read below:

It’s always unfortunate, getting caught up in another man’s hurricane. He’s busy becoming some sort of transcendent sports legend, and there you are, stranded in a ditch on the highway as he buzzes by, throwing you a derogatory wave. All those belts, Miguel. All that training, that work. And you’ll be throwing punches at another man’s coattails.

It’s not that Cotto is a lesser man. Stronger, by even Pacquaio’s admission. He’s earned his right to glory in the sweat-draped gloves of the dozens of great boxers who’ve raised one bloodied eye to glare at him from the ring floor, where he felled them. But even a mediocre fight geek knows strength per pound is – maybe — a third of what you need to work with. Once you get to this level of the game, where your entourage swells from filling a small-coffeehouse to nowadays a medium-to-large-arena, strength is a given. Hell, they’re all going to be strong.

Boxers. They’re all strong, and they’re all fast, faster than anyone you’ve seen. And they’re flashier, too. If you’re one of the lucky few to walk into the lights of Vegas carrying a fighter’s heart in your chest, you’re the best athlete most people are lucky enough to come across. We revel in your work ethic and live vicariously through your victories. You are, if you are a world class boxer, the athlete we all dream of being.

But to be an artist, that takes something more. To raise what’s a Science to an Art, that’s the extra step that can’t be trained in or rubbed out.

For all Cotto’s heart – and he has plenty – he is missing the creativity of Pacquiao. That spontaneous largesse. And albeit for one or perhaps two rounds, he’ll suffer at the hands of an undeniable artist, all Saturday night long.

Prediction – Pacquiao by decision, wins all but two rounds

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