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Pagdating Ng Panahon

by Aiza Seguerra

Created on Oct 10,2008.
You are visitor no.

SXSW 2008

Pacquiao dominated the fight , knocking down Cotto twice and turning his face into a bloody mess before finally stopping him at 55 seconds of the 12th round.

Pacquiao used his
blazing speed and power from both hands, 
became the first fighter to claim seven titles in seven weight classes.

By the third round, Pacquiao dropped Cotto with a right hand early but he wasn't badly hurt and came back to finish the round strong. Here was Pacquiao (50-3-2), the savage, speedy southpaw, deconstructing yet another formidable opponent. Cotto kept smacking Pacquiao in the thighs, trying to slow him down. It proved futile. In the fourth round, Pacquiao landed a powerful left hand — half uppercut, half hook — and Cotto’s face went backward, twisted in a grimace, as he fell to the canvas once again.

The fight was billed as a 145-pound classic, and in the early rounds it didn't disappoint. The two went after each other with a vengeance and Cotto more than held his own as they traded punches in the center of the ring before a roaring sellout crowd at the MGM Grand arena.

 But after Pacquiao put Cotto on the canvas with a big left hand late in the fourth round, the Puerto Rican was never the same again.

Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach, said, "Manny fought Cotto's fight too much in the beginning and stayed on the ropes too long. As the fight went on, Manny's speed was too much for him. Manny dictated the fight. They should have stopped it three rounds sooner when Cotto began to run.

"We put pressure on him all night. That was our game plan."

Pacquiao dropped Cotto with a straight right early in the third round, and again with a powerful left hook near the end of the fourth round. That was the beginning of the end for Cotto."Our plan was not to hurry, but to take our time," Pacquiao said. "It was a hard fight tonight and I needed time to test his power."

"I didn't know from where the punches were coming," Cotto said. “He hit harder than we expected,” Joe Santiago, Cotto’s trainer, said. “He was stronger than we expected. Manny broke him down.”

Cotto fought gamely, but in the later rounds he was just trying to survive as blood flowed down his face and Pacquiao came after him relentlessly. Santiago tried to stop the fight after the 11th round, but Cotto went back. Cotto was receiving too much punishment in the hands of Pacquiao that referee Kenny Bayless was forced to halt the fight just a little over 2 minutes left in the 12th Round.

Cotto's wife and child, who were at ringside, left after the ninth round, unable to watch the beating any longer. They later accompanied him to a local hospital for a post-fight examination.

"My health comes first. I just want to make sure I'm fine, but I feel great. I'm swollen but that's all," Cotto said.

His face swollen, Cotto was bleeding from his nose and his cuts, and he simply couldn't stop Pacquiao from bouncing inside and throwing both hands at will."I respected Manny before the fight and I respect him a lot more now," Cotto said, both eyes nearly swollen shut. "He's probably the best fighter I ever fought."

Cotto's trainer, Joe Santiago, said he and his fighter were surprised by Pacquiao's strength. "Early on, Pacquiao took some good shots, which was a surprise. We knew he was fast, but he was a lot stronger than we thought."

Pacquiao earned a minimum $13 million, while Cotto got $7 million.

This was more than just another knockout. This one was historic. “Manny will be the MAN! Period!”

Related video:

Pacquiao Defeats Cotto Via 12th-Round TKO