IN THE STREETS & ON THE WEB
PACMAN EATS UP COTTO!
LAS VEGAS - The MP Express rolled on Saturday night as Manny Pacquiao steam-rolled Miguel Cotto on a TKO that came at 55 seconds of the 12th round to win Cotto's WBO welterweight title before a capacity crowd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Almost immediately after the decision was announced, the crowd began chanting, "We want Floyd!" It was a message that was being sent for Pacquaio, the current No. 1 pound-for-pound king, to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr., the former No. 1 pound-for-pound king. "Manny's speed was too much. And his in and out motion was too fast. Manny broke him down," said Freddie Roach, Pacquiao's trainer.
It was a dominant performance for Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs), who has stopped Cotto, Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton by KO or TKO and Saturday night won his seventh title in his seventh weight class. He established himself early against Cotto, knocking him down in the third and the fourth rounds. "I didn't know where the punches were coming from and I didn't protect myself from his punches," Cotto said.
Cotto (34-2, 17 KOs) was never able to handle Pacquiao's speed and pressure. Pacquiao's volume of punches was a major problem for Cotto. Plus, Pacquiao seemed to absorb every shot that Cotto landed. He would take one of Cotto's shots, pause for half a second and reload.
"He hit harder than we expected and he was stronger than we expected," said Cotto's trainer Joe Santiago.
Cotto returned to the scene of the first loss of his career - an 11th-round TKO at the hands of Antonio Margarito on July 26, 2008 - in an effort to reestablish himself as a dominant force in the welterweight division. Cotto was viewed as damaged goods after the severe beating that Margarito administered to him.
Pacquiao punished Cotto just as much as Margarito did, but Pacquiao did it with speed, power and precision whereas Margarito is suspected of using loaded gloves during the match. The beating was so disturbing that Cotto's wife and son left their ringside seats after the ninth round as Cotto's face was a swollen, bloody mask and he was spitting out blood from a cut lip, the result of Pacquiao's unrelenting assault.
Santiago waved to referee Kenny Bayless at the end of the 11th round, signaling that perhaps he wanted to stop the fight. But Bayless didn't see him. Pacquaio didn't seem to want to punish Cotto anymore than he already had and at a couple of points during the final two rounds stopped throwing punches. When he did land some furious flurries in the 12th, Bayless mercifully stepped in and stopped it.
It was a mega-fight that harkened back to the days when welterweights like Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran and Tommy Hearns fought each other. Hearns and Duran were ringside. And for a week Las Vegas was abuzz with the kind of big-fight atmosphere that the place hadn't seen since Mike Tyson's heyday. A star-studded crowd was sitting ringside.
Cotto, who earned $7 million, needed a victory to regain his welterweight cred and Pacquiao, who earned $13 million, needed a win to establish his. It was a high-stakes fight befitting a town whose economy is driven by gambling.
Pacquiao scored the first knockdown when he caught Cotto with a right to the jaw in the third round. It didn't seem to hurt Cotto, who was up quickly and actually had a strong round, landing a sharp uppercut that split Pacquiao's defense.
Pacquiao went to the rope-a-dope in the fourth round and allowed Cotto to pound him on the ropes. And then he came firing off the ropes and dropped Cotto with a left hook that caught Cotto square on the jaw. Cotto was clearly hurt this time as he staggered back to his feet. Time ran out in the round before Pacquiao could finish what he started.
On the undercard, Yuri Foreman of Brooklyn scored a 12-round unanimous decision over Daniel Santos to win the WBA super welterweight championship. Foreman, who lives is Brooklyn and is studying to be a rabbi, became the first Orthodox Jewish boxer to win a world title since Jackie (Kid) Berg in 1932. Foreman (28-0, 8 KOs) dropped Santos (32-4-1, 23 KOs), a former champion from San Juan, Puerto Rico, once in the second round and again in the 12th as Santos was desperately trying for a knockout.
Almost immediately after the decision was announced, the crowd began chanting, "We want Floyd!" It was a message that was being sent for Pacquaio, the current No. 1 pound-for-pound king, to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr., the former No. 1 pound-for-pound king. "Manny's speed was too much. And his in and out motion was too fast. Manny broke him down," said Freddie Roach, Pacquiao's trainer.
It was a dominant performance for Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs), who has stopped Cotto, Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton by KO or TKO and Saturday night won his seventh title in his seventh weight class. He established himself early against Cotto, knocking him down in the third and the fourth rounds. "I didn't know where the punches were coming from and I didn't protect myself from his punches," Cotto said.
Cotto (34-2, 17 KOs) was never able to handle Pacquiao's speed and pressure. Pacquiao's volume of punches was a major problem for Cotto. Plus, Pacquiao seemed to absorb every shot that Cotto landed. He would take one of Cotto's shots, pause for half a second and reload.
"He hit harder than we expected and he was stronger than we expected," said Cotto's trainer Joe Santiago.
Cotto returned to the scene of the first loss of his career - an 11th-round TKO at the hands of Antonio Margarito on July 26, 2008 - in an effort to reestablish himself as a dominant force in the welterweight division. Cotto was viewed as damaged goods after the severe beating that Margarito administered to him.
Pacquiao punished Cotto just as much as Margarito did, but Pacquiao did it with speed, power and precision whereas Margarito is suspected of using loaded gloves during the match. The beating was so disturbing that Cotto's wife and son left their ringside seats after the ninth round as Cotto's face was a swollen, bloody mask and he was spitting out blood from a cut lip, the result of Pacquiao's unrelenting assault.
Santiago waved to referee Kenny Bayless at the end of the 11th round, signaling that perhaps he wanted to stop the fight. But Bayless didn't see him. Pacquaio didn't seem to want to punish Cotto anymore than he already had and at a couple of points during the final two rounds stopped throwing punches. When he did land some furious flurries in the 12th, Bayless mercifully stepped in and stopped it.
It was a mega-fight that harkened back to the days when welterweights like Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran and Tommy Hearns fought each other. Hearns and Duran were ringside. And for a week Las Vegas was abuzz with the kind of big-fight atmosphere that the place hadn't seen since Mike Tyson's heyday. A star-studded crowd was sitting ringside.
Cotto, who earned $7 million, needed a victory to regain his welterweight cred and Pacquiao, who earned $13 million, needed a win to establish his. It was a high-stakes fight befitting a town whose economy is driven by gambling.
Pacquiao scored the first knockdown when he caught Cotto with a right to the jaw in the third round. It didn't seem to hurt Cotto, who was up quickly and actually had a strong round, landing a sharp uppercut that split Pacquiao's defense.
Pacquiao went to the rope-a-dope in the fourth round and allowed Cotto to pound him on the ropes. And then he came firing off the ropes and dropped Cotto with a left hook that caught Cotto square on the jaw. Cotto was clearly hurt this time as he staggered back to his feet. Time ran out in the round before Pacquiao could finish what he started.
On the undercard, Yuri Foreman of Brooklyn scored a 12-round unanimous decision over Daniel Santos to win the WBA super welterweight championship. Foreman, who lives is Brooklyn and is studying to be a rabbi, became the first Orthodox Jewish boxer to win a world title since Jackie (Kid) Berg in 1932. Foreman (28-0, 8 KOs) dropped Santos (32-4-1, 23 KOs), a former champion from San Juan, Puerto Rico, once in the second round and again in the 12th as Santos was desperately trying for a knockout.
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