BY JUN MEDINA SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Experts and fans alike are picking pound-for-pound king Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao to beat Puerto Rican welterweight champion Miguel Angel Cotto in their title fight on Saturday night (Sunday morning in Manila) at the MGM Grand Arena. At least two out of three boxing pundits favor Pacquiao on the basis of his sensational knockout wins in his last three fights against top flight opponents in a span of 14 months. The Filipino icon stopped World Boxing Council lightweight champion David Diaz in nine rounds, forced former boxing top draw Oscar De La Hoya to retire in the eighth round, and destroyed International Boxing Organization and Ring magazine titlist Ricky Hatton in two.

3-1 betting odds

The odds in most of Las Vegas’ gambling outlets have also widened to 3-1 in Pacquiao’s favor, from 2-1 betting lines soon after the match was firmed up.

And online polls reflect the same trend, with a Yahoo! Sports live survey showing 77 percent of respondents choosing PacMan to win, including 65 percent who predicted the Pinoy superstar will win by knockout.

The poll by the world’s most popular website showed that a total of 23 percent of those who joined the live survey believe Cotto will win, most of them or 17 percent (almost three out of four) think he will win by a knockout.

But Pacquiao brushed his llamado tag aside, stressing that they don’t mean much when he and Cotto square up in the ring.

“I prefer not to look at myself as the favorite, because the odds can be misleading,” Pacquiao said in Filipino.

Star power

Veteran HBO boxing commentator Larry Merchant said the odds are influenced by Pacquiao’s growing popularity: being on the cover of Time magazine’s Asian edition, a hit guest appearance on ABC’s popular late-night show Jimmy Kimmel Live; and increasing global coverage of Pacquiao-Cotto, which is considered the year’s biggest boxing event.

“I think part of the odds reflects Manny’s star power. This is the 10th big fight he has fought in the United States, three against Erik Morales, two against Juan Manuel Marquez, two against Marco Barrera, and the fights against David Diaz, De La Hoya and Hatton . . . That’s great, but I think it’s a toss-up fight,” Merchant said.

A Ring magazine poll of 20 boxing experts composed of current or former champions, trainers and boxing writers from the United States, the Philippines and Puerto Rico showed 14 of them picking Pacquiao.

Three of the five active boxers polled by The Ring—Andre Berto, Timothy Bradley and David Diaz—chose Pacquiao, while two, junior welterweights Kendall Holt and Paulie Malignaggi, picked Cotto.

“I say Pacquiao, just because Cotto is pretty stationary and Pacquiao has mastered the art of keeping his distance and throwing combinations,” said Berto, the undefeated World Boxing Council welterweight champion.

Holt: Cotto by KO

But Holt, former World Boxing Organization junior welterweight titlist, thinks Cotto will stop Pacquiao because the Puerto Rican is naturally bigger plus the fact that he has beaten Shane Mosley and Zab Judah, two of the fastest and strongest welterweights in the world.

Prominent trainer Naazim Richardson, who trains Mosley and Bernard Hopkins, dismissed Cotto’s supposed heft advantage and predicted Pacquiao will win by decision.

“I don’t see [Pacquiao] as a little man. Pacquiao can hit Cotto, but I don’t know if Pacquiao will be there for Cotto [to hit],” Richardson said.

USA Today boxing writer Michael Falgoust thinks Cotto will stop Pacquiao in the eighth round because Cotto is the best fighter Pacquiao has ever faced.

But Falgoust gave a caveat: “If Pacquiao can do to Cotto what he did to Hatton—Pacquiao is an all-time great pound-for-pounder because that would be remarkable.”

Another poll compiled by Top Rank Promotions suggests more top-flight fighters favoring Pacquiao, including Mike Tyson, Joe Calzaghe and Bernard Hopkins.

Hopkins, a two-division world champion, called Pacquiao “the Bruce Lee of boxing” and said his agility and speed would carry him to victory on fight night.

Tyson: Pacquiao by KO

Tyson, the youngest world heavyweight champion, picked Pacquiao to stop Cotto in the seventh or eighth round, saying “Manny just has too much for Cotto.”

Another heavyweight standout, four-time champion Evander Holyfield also favors Pacquiao because of the Filipino’s speed and overall ring savvy.

But former two-time heavyweight champ George Foreman thinks Pacquiao may have been overconfident going into this fight and forecast Cotto winning by decision in a thrilling fight.

Surprisingly, even legendary Hector Camacho, a four-division Puerto Rican-American world champion, envisions Pacquiao stopping Cotto on account of his unorthodox style, speed and punching power.

“I see him having no problem against Cotto . . . He has an unorthodox style, with punches coming from all over. I see Pacquiao possibly stopping him,” said Camacho, who at 47 is the oldest active boxer today.