Cotto and Pacquiao fight details released

Though the November 14 showdown between Miguel Cotto and Manny Pacquiao was announced in late July, details have been vague up until this point, including information about ticket sales and whether or not it will be a welterweight title fight.

As of Monday, ESPN.com's Dan Rafael reported that tickets for the bout will go on sale August 17 at 1 p.m. ET, priced at $1,000, $750, $500, $300, and $150. The tickets in the $1,000, $750, $500, and $300 range are limited to 10 per person, while the $150 tickets are limited to two per person, with a total ticket limit of 12 tickets per person.

Cotto and Pacquiao have agreed to fight at a contracted maximum weight of 145, which is still the weight of a welterweight fight. This would ostensibly mean that Cotto would be fighting to defend his WBO welterweight title, but whether or not this is actually the case has been unclear. Cotto has been hesitant to put the belt at stake, since he is coming in under the division limit of 147 pounds, but Rafael claims that a source closely involved in the fight told him on Monday that regardless of whether or not Cotto agrees to defend it, the title will be at stake. Should Cotto not agree to defend the title, however, it is currently unknown whether or not he will give it up or if he will be stripped of it and thereby allow Pacquiao to ultimately fight for the vacant title. Regardless of the scenario, Rafael's unnamed source says that the title will "definitely" be at stake for Pacquiao.

Pacquiao and his trainer, Freddie Roach, have been hoping that the title would be on the line, because a victory for Pacquiao would give him titles in a record-setting seven different weight classes (flyweight, junior featherweight, featherweight, junior lightweight, lightweight, junior welterweight and welterweight).

Source:http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=4389940&name=rafael_dan