Las Vegas, Nevada, November 14, 2009 - Manny Pacquiao has once again established why he has all the right to be called the pound for pound boxing king by toppling Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday. The match rode for months on a tidal wave of hype and anticipation and ended with a superb climax, albeit a disappointing one for Cotto. Manny was all force and speed all throughout the fight, never stopping until the referee had to pull the plug in order to prevent him from beating Cotto into a bloody, senseless pulp.
Both fighters came to La Vegas confident and raring to win. Cotto expressed his readiness to face the pound for pound king, telling reporters, “I feel good, I’m in excellent condition and it’s going to be a great night for all boxing fans in general, but specially for the Latino fans, and most of all the Puerto Ricans. We’re prepared for everything and specially to win.”
Coot started off strong, landing a few hits and winning the first round. However, Manny’s speed ultimately proved to be too much for the Puerto Rican, who went down on the third and again on the fourth with a strong left hand from Manny. His face was bleeding midway through the match as Pacquiao dished out one fast hook after another, seemingly from almost every direction that Cotto later remarked, “I didn’t know from where the punches were coming.”
Everything went downhill for Cotto after the second knock down on the fourth, but Many was unstoppable, nearly pulling off a stoppage soon after the eleventh round when Joe Santiago, Cotto’s trainer, stepped in and started waving the towel at referee Kenny Bayless. Bayless’ and ring physician James Game’s decision to let the match continue only prolonged the agony that Pacquiao was ready to dish out. Cotto injured his shoulder on the eighth round, and he was bleeding so hard that his wife had to leave the ringside during the ninth. The Puerto Rican was fighting Manny backwards towards the later part of the fight, just trying to survive, his offense nonexistent.
In the end, Manny dished out twice as much punches as Cotto was able to pull at 336-172. He has also done what no other fighter has done before, and that is win a belt in a seventh weight class, cementing his title as the ultimate pound for pound king of boxing.
Fans began chanting Mayweather’s name as soon as the fight was over, indicating that they want Manny to face the American next. But it seems that the welterweight division is the last division for him, saying, “This is the last weight division for me. It’s history for me and more importantly a Filipino did it.”
This is Pacquiao’s seventh title after his previous spectacular victories over Oscar de La Hoya and Ricky Hatton early in the year. Cotto’s most recent fight was against Antonio Margarito, which he lost amidst speculations that Margarito’s boxing gloves were loaded. For the fight with Pacquiao, Cotto had to come down two pounds lower than his natural weight.
Saturday’s match made Pacquiao $13 million richer, while Cotto walked away with $7 million.
