Manny Pacquiao solidified his claim as the best fighter in the world by stopping brave Miguel Cotto in the twelfth round at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Saturday night before a crowd of over 16,000. The time of the stoppage was 0:55. Cotto was well behind on all three cards when referee Kenny Bayless stepped in to halt the contest.
For nearly three rounds, however, Cotto fought Pacquiao to a standstill. Cotto, 145, looked sharp early and jolted Pacquiao with a powerful jab and some left hooks in the first round. He pressed forward behind his jab and appeared to have tightened his defense for the occasion. Pacquiao, 144, was more conservative than usual opening the fight and appeared to get the worse of some of the exchanges in mid-ring. Later he would say that he was merely seeing what Cotto had to offer before going to work. It certainly appeared that way. Early in the third round Pacquiao, 30, dropped Cotto to all fours with a right to the side of the head. Cotto beat the count and survived the round, but was already beginning to develop some bruising around his right eye.
In the fourth round, Cotto, once again proving his professionalism and heart, rebounded with left hooks and a stiff jab. At one point he drove Pacquiao to the ropes, where the Filipino covered up for a stretch before firing back with pinpoint accuracy. He punctuated a blistering combination with a ferocious left from his southpaw stance. Cotto froze momentarily, like a man whose foot had just touched the third rail, and collapsed to the mat. This time there was no doubt that he was in serious trouble. Cotto beat the count, however, and the bell rang before Pacquiao could cause further damage.
From that point on, Cotto was never in the bout. More and more Cotto began to retreat, and Pacquiao, in hot pursuit, landed with dozens of straight lefts and right hooks. When he began to mix in thudding shots to the body during the middle rounds, Cotto decelerated precipitously. Occasionally Cotto, Caguas, Puerto Rico, would still land his jab or an isolated left hook, but he was going downhill fast as the rounds went by.
Again and again Pacquiao beat Cotto to the punch, and by the ninth round it was merely target practice. Pacquiao, General Santos City, Cotabato del Sur, Philippines, hammered Cotto around the ring, snapping his head back and drawing a spray of blood with each punch he landed. Cotto, 29, was beginning to look like a gory mess. Considering what happened to Z Gorres the day before, this fight could have been stopped after the ninth round without protest. Cotto had already been floored twice, was bruised and bloodied, and was in full retreat while taking big shots from the best fighter in the world. For him to suffer an extra seven minutes of punishment was unnecessary. To his credit, Cotto, now 34-2 (27), asked to go on in the later rounds, but his corner–a decidedly minor league one, at that–should have intervened to spare him further damage. When Cotto was rocked by another straight left against the ropes, referee Kenny Bayless had seen enough.
Despite the one-sided nature of the last eight rounds, this was the toughest fight Pacquiao has had since he outpointed Juan Manuel Marquez in 2008. He took his fair share of blows and suffered damage to his right ear as proof. Final Compubox figures even revealed that Cotto landed more punches against Pacquiao than Marquez did against the Filipino in either fight. The difficulty that Cotto presented for Pacquiao, at least in the early rounds, only makes this victory all the more impressive.
What makes Pacquiao, now 50-3-2 (39), such a difficult task in the ring–besides his speed, power, and southpaw stance–is his ability to improvise at almost any moment. One second he appears to be retreating or out of position, and the next he is landing a hard blow from some outlandish angle. Cotto would later admit that he could not see many of the blows that had left him bruised and aching. It seems safe to say that many other fighters will feel the same way in the future when they step into the ring with the supernaturally gifted Manny Pacquiao.
