LAST week, Last Rounder Louie Rusiana (who is a pretty good writer himself) posited the query as to whether there is a penalty clause in the event Miguel Cotto fails to make the stipulated weight in his much awaited clash with Manny Pacquiao.

Well, it was all over the news just the other day. The penalty is reportedly a hefty $1-million fine for every pound missed. However, if he exceeds the 147-pound limit for the welterweight division, Manny’s team wields the exclusive option not to push through with the fight.

So will Cotto intentionally come in over the contracted weight limit so he can fight comfortably and just pay the fine?

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SUSPICI0N. “Money” Mayweather set the precedent when he intentionally missed the weight and proceeded to flummox diminutive Juan Manuel Marquez.

Maybe it’s just me, but I have a nagging suspicion that Cotto may replicate the dastardly deed for the following reasons:

1. $1 million is a lot of money, but if you consider how much money Miguel Cotto is going to make after you factor in the monstrous pay-per-view sales the fight is expected to generate, the perspective could change. The fine might then be viewed as a wise investment, assuming of course, that he wins;

2. A Cotto win makes him the top dog in the sport which will open up multi-million dollar opportunities for the young Puerto Rican superstar. A win over Manny Pacquiao will be sensational and if his team might think that if they had to pay $1 million to achieve the feat, then so be it. Ultimate boxing glory has a price tag and in this case, it happens to be $1 million per pound;

3. Big-boned Miguel might genuinely have a hard time making 145 pounds. He’s been a welterweight since 2006, and the kid probably walks around at 170. Rather than weaken himself on the biggest fight of his life, he might opt to come in at a weight where he is stronger and able to fight better—damn the financial consequences.

Of course, at this point this is just speculation, but the possibility of it happening is definitely quite intriguing.

SUPER SIX. Hardcore boxing fans are abuzz about Showtime’s ongoing “Super Six” Super Middleweight Tournament and rightfully so.

No less than six of the best super middleweights in world are involved in this one-of-a kind tournament.

Mikkel Kessler, Arthur Abraham, Andre Ward, Jermain Taylor, Andre Dirrel and Carl Froch will be fighting it out to determine one world champion.

Both the WBA and WBC diadems are at stake and each fighter will fight three times in a points based, round robin competition.

A win is worth two points with a one-point bonus for a KO/TKO. A draw is one point while a loss nets a zero.

The top four will advance with the first and fourth seed facing off and the second seed paired with the third seed.

Arthur Abraham is off to a roaring start after scoring an emphatic knockout at 2:54 of the 12th and final round over the fading Jermain Taylor.

Taylor started out fast, but began to tire in the middle rounds. Eerily it seemed like a repeat of his late fold against Carl Froch in his previous fight where he was also knocked out in the dying seconds of the 12th round.

Abraham came back strong in the middle rounds and at the time of the knockout was ahead on the scorecards. The other bout between Andre Direll and Carl Froch was too close to call but Froch got the nod via split decision.

Up next is Kessler versus Ward on Nov. 21.

My beer money is on the talented Ward to win it all, but Abraham and Kessler are the heavy favorites.

LAST ROUND. It’s on Carla Juris Narvios Tanco of the Office of the Ombudsman Visayas who celebrates her birthday this week. Cheers!

(jingo_quijano@yahoo.com)