FORMER world welterweight champion Antonio Margarito thinks Puerto Rican star Miguel Cotto will suffer the same fate as legendary boxer Oscar dela Hoya when he fights pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao at 145 pounds on Nov. 14 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Dela Hoya faced Pacquiao last Dec. 7 in a bout that turned into a one-sided battle and showed the 36-year-old fighter was just a shell of his former self.

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Margarito, who gave Cotto his lone defeat, said the same thing will happen to his former nemesis.

“I think Cotto is giving away too many advantages to Pacquiao if the fight is done at 145 pounds and even more if the fight was to happen at 143 like what Pacquiao wants,” Margarito said in a report posted at Boxingscene.com.

The 30-year-old Pacquiao forced de la Hoya to retire in the eighth round in a lopsided fight.

Margarito thinks Cotto would lose his strength in trimming down in weight and will be dominated by the Filipino boxing icon from the start.

“From the very first round, the advantage will be for Pacquiao because (Cotto) would be dehydrated like Oscar de la Hoya,” he said.

Contract

Margarito is the only fighter to defeat Cotto. He stopped the World Boxing Organization welterweight champion in the 11th round.

On the other hand, the contract for the Pacquiao vs. Cotto fight is on its way to Pacquiao and it is being brought to the Philippines by his adviser Mike Koncz.

“I’ll relay the offer to Manny when I get to the Philippines, but we’re in the same ballpark with (Arum),” Koncz said in a report posted at the ABS-CBN website.

Koncz believes the offer by Top Rank is advantageous to Pacquiao.

“We’re really not that far off. I can’t say for sure, though, because Manny makes that decision, but I think it looks good.

This is the fight Manny says he wants,” said Koncz.